The True Story of Cast Steel (Was Bessemer a liar?)
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 25 июн 2024
- When the English clockmaker Benjamin Huntsman pulled his first crucible of melted steel out of a furnace in the 1740s, he had no idea the ripples it would send through history. Its status as one of the top tool steels has been obscured by a narrative that I (and maybe you) have always assumed was true. This is the true story of crucible cast steel.
If you like this video, you'll love this newsletter: woodenplanes.substack.com
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:17 Breathing Through Rags Held in Their Teeth
5:30 Armor Piercing Shells
8:45 "His Satanic Majesty"
13:50 I Know Charts Are Boring. I'm Really Sorry.
Antique vs contemporary steel:
Rex Kruger: Modern vs. Vintage Plane Irons: • Modern vs. Vintage Pla...
Stumpy Nubs: Why a lot of tool steel is bad: • Why a lot of tool stee...
Download Barraclough's history of crucible steel and steelmaking in Sheffield:
Vol 1: abrahamhyatt.com/assets/steel/...
Vol 2: abrahamhyatt.com/assets/steel/...
Appendix Vol 1: abrahamhyatt.com/assets/steel/...
Appendix Vol 2: abrahamhyatt.com/assets/steel/...
Sources:
Barraclough, Kenneth Charles. The Development Of The Early
Steelmaking Processes, An Essay In The History Of Technology. 1981. University of Sheffield. PhD dissertation.
Barraclough, Kenneth Charles. The Development Of The Early
Steelmaking Processes, An Essay In The History Of Technology, Supplementary Volume. 1981. University of Sheffield. PhD dissertation.
Burnham, T. H. and Carnegie, David. Liquid Steel: Its Manufacture And Cost. Longmans, Green And Co. 1918G. O. Hoskins. Iron And Steel In Britain 1870-1930. George Allen & Unwin, 1943.
Davies, Rodger. "Links Between the Mechanic Trade." Tools and Trades Newsletter, no. 52, 1996.
Gordon, Robert. American Iron, 1607-1900. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019.
Harris, J.R. The British Iron Industry 1700-1850. Macmillan Education. 1988.
Sources related to Bessemer's claim about scrap steel:
The Journal Of The Iron And Steel Institute. No. 2. The Iron And Steel Institute, 1880.
The Journal Of The Iron And Steel Institute. No. 2. The Iron And Steel Institute, 1881.
The Journal Of The Iron And Steel Institute. No. 2. The Iron And Steel Institute, 1884.
First Report of the Royal Commission Appointed To Inquire Into The Depression Of Trade And Industry_ Royal Commission On The Depression Of Trade And Industry. 1886.
Final Report of the Royal Commission Appointed To Inquire Into The Depression Of Trade And Industry. Royal Commission On The Depression Of Trade And Industry. 1886.
Bessemer, Henry. _Sir Henry Bessemer, F.R.S., An Autobiography. Offices of Engineering, 1905. 
Наука
Aaaaand I put the wrong newsletter link in the video.🤦 If you like this video, you'll love this: woodenplanes.substack.com/
A really interesting video, Abraham. I really enjoyed watching such a well researched video. Just one point, and someone may already have pointed this out. You mentioned some research from the 1980’s by Kenneth “Barclaw?” I suspect that the gentleman’s name is Baraclough which is a typical name around Sheffield. It’s actually pronounced “Barracluff”. We Brits have some pretty strange family names and the pronunciation isn’t always obvious. Try to attempt pronouncing Featherstonehaugh. I’ll lay money you won’t get it! 😂
It’s pronounced “Fanshaw” 😂
yeah this was a very good balanced video ,very informative without getting boring ,
this was the first video of yours i have ever seen and it will not be the last
I was just at the Hawley Collection in Sheffield last week! I really enjoyed your video, and am looking forward to the newsletter. One subject of particular interest to me is the story of Henry Sorby, who inherited a lot of money when his father died (also Henry, the H in I&H Sorby tools from 1829-1844) and used it to do microscopic analysis of steel, among other things. There's a microscopy lab dedicated to him at the University of Sheffield, and--as I understand it--Bessemer et al were very dependent on Sorby's analyses for the development of mild steel.
I jump all over the place with vids. THIS was GREAT. I didn't wander at all. Def worth a second watch to pick up what I missed the first go.
A very interesting - and decently researched video, completely new to this channel.
Im a Sheffield chap, not living there any more but I grew up there, was born in chesterfield(next door) have family there and I went to uni there. I can assure you that despite the massive layoffs in the 70's through 90's the production of Sheffield crucible steel is more than what it was historically - so it absolutely has been HEAVILY automated. Sheffield steel is now owned by a dutch/norweigan company which also owns the mines in northern Europe as well as the mines in Sheffield and its surrounding areas.
In addition to still producing more crucible steel than it ever has, Sheffield also produces a hell of a lot of electric furnace steel and iron along with various alloys.
Sheffield and its surrounding towns also contain multiple competing companies and have since the 2n'd world war, these days the universtiy owns most of the land these companies operate on and they supply the high tech industry that the city is known for today - making steel/iron/alloys for satellites, aerospace, military, medical etc etc.
My father was one of the most renowned metallurgists in the nation, frankly in the world, worked in both Steel industry and Iron Industry, I worked in the aforementioned high tech industries supplied by the steel industry.
The phrase by the locals is "Shit in, Shit out" and that phrase is still used today, something my dad applied to more than just steel production - often applied to business and politics.
If you have any questions Im happy to answer them.
This video is AMAZING. I was absolutely captivated the whole way through and I learned a ton. Excellent work. More! More!
I second that motion!!! 🤠👍
Totally. I normally get bored with long format videos where someone is just staring at the camera talking, but he did a great job of staying interesting and never rambling.
I third this motion!
yeah this was a very good balanced video ,very informative without getting boring ,
this was the first video of yours i have ever seen it will neither be the last
Same here. This was wonderful to learn. Thank you.
I used to go to Sheffield with my father in the early 1980's, he would carry steel billets made in Brymbo Steelworks (Near Wrexham in North Wales) to a Massive forge in the industrial area. These billets were forged into crankshafts for petrol/ diesel engines for the car industry. I used to be overawed by these massive machines stamping up and down shaping out the parts. Thanks for the video, I really enjoyed it, and I think others may well have enjoyed also.
Fantastic video !!! I'm a blacksmith by trade and all of what you've presented here has been of importance to the restoration / reproduction part of my work over the past 50 years.
There are so many twists and turns in this history. Like the fact that one of the most important things in the cast steel process was being able to produce crucibles that would withstand the temperatures required for the process. Early cast steel crucible clays were natural bodied clays. By a fluke of nature deposits of a clay which could stand these temps was near by Sheffield. These clays not being found anywhere else stifled other manufactures ability to produce cast steel.
Your interest here stems from would working and plane irons. Another interesting associated history is Disston and his search for steels for saw blades
Really like this. Lots of small details of these tools (like what they mean by "cast steel") go missing over the years without us nerds... keep it up!
Great presentation - my knowledge of cast steel was rudimentary (like many was under the impression its production phased out in the mid-1800s) and this helped a lot to understand the process and history. Would really like to see more presentations like this
I second that motion!!! 🤠👍
Thank you for sharing! I have about twenty one years as a cnc machinist. Your lesson in the history of great metals has always fascinated me. Also wood crafting is always more fun when with each cut I can appreciate the passed down passion and wisdom in my tools edge. This content is greatly appreciated!
Mild Steel largely replaced Wrought Iron not high carbon steel
Great stuff! I’ve been a professional craftsman for more than 40 years, a big fan of history, and still learning all the time. My youngest daughter has just finished up her third year studying materials engineering - I love sending her stuff like this, as she enjoys learning the history of the processes that have brought us the great tools we use today, with an eye on what the materials used to make those tools are evolving into for the future. Your presentation style and content are both informative and engaging, thank you for your effort, and all the best in your work!
This was awesome! Thank you for your research, this is something I might have never known about had you not released this.
Charts Aren't boring! I really appreciate the effort you put in to this video, all the research and clearly laying out the time line of cast steel. Thank you so much!
Chart is worth 1000s words!
You pushed all the right buttons in this video: Old tools, history, woodworking, metalworking, and books. Fascinating history lesson about steel and tools. This is the first video I have seen from your channel and I was blown away. Great job!
As a Chemist- Educator and a Blacksmith I think this was very well done. More please!
Appreciate the enormous amount of work you put in to make this informative video!
Fascinating storytelling, nicely laid out research. I enjoyed this as much or even more than the restoration videos. Thank you for experimenting!
Not sure what I was expecting when I clicked on this video, but you had my interest.
Keep up the good work.
You asked in the video if you should make more like this...........definitely YES! This was absolutely of great interest. Nice work!
This was the first time I’ve seen one of your videos in my algorithm. I’m encouraged to watch some restoration videos now. Thanks for being so insightful.
Hmm - did a detailed look into the references you provided - you certainly did a lot of research to produce this video, much appreciated - you have me hooked now
Loved the video. Fascinating stuff. Please continue to put out these sorts of videos.
Really interesting content here. Would love to continue hearing stories of plane making history.
With a lifelong interest in history, and some interest in metallurgy I was pleased to stumble onto your channel. Your storytelling skill make this subject very interesting to many. I agree the chart was informative. Ill' be checking out your playlist. thx
That was useful, incredibly informative, and well worth every second of my time I spent watching it. Thank you. I subbed!
I knew most of this already because I was lucky enough to know people in aerospace and toolmaking who were huge history nerds. Good concise coverage here.
What caught my attention was the old photo at 8:27 showing cast steel propellers for ships. On the left, is that one of those “new” toroidal-blade props?
I noticed that too, had to go back and check.
What is the history behind that picture? Where, when, who... The text on the two props. say "PATENTED". Can we find that patent?
Absolutely wonderful! Exceptional content. Well researched, clear points, balanced argument. Well done. Love to see more like this!
I have never seen any of your videos before. I found it interesting. Good luck in the future.
Fascinating subject and the historical aspects of it all just glued it all together. Thank you.
Superb synopsis of a historically important and interesting technology! More please!
The final 10 seconds gave me goosebumps, please make more
I've never heard of your channel, but it came up on my feed. You told a fascinating historical tale very well and I loved it. Incidentally, charts are NOT boring if used well.
Keep up the good work. 👍
This was amazing! Please do more. Subbed! If I'm not mistaken, the primary issue with the cast steel made from Bessemer's steel (that had been carburized) turned out actually to be embrittlement from phosphorus. The reason the Swedish steel performed so really due to the lack of impurities in the ore.
Amazing video. Thank you for the effort and time you put into making it.
that's my main reason why i'm on youtube! please more of it and don't worry about the length- it's all really worth knowing points and now I have the opportunity to brush down a few people I know
Thank you, super knowledge transfer! Plus, you picked up a new subscriber. Diving into your library now, loving it! 👍👍👍
Fantastic video. Subscribed. More videos like this, please.
P.S. Charts are awesome.
Glad to see a new video on your channel. I've watched all your previous videos and have enjoyed them all. I've been on the hunt for decent wooden planes but they are either way too expensive or not worth having, in my area. I'm sure something will turn up sooner or later.
Congratulations on the new set. Looks like a different location too. All the best 👍😎🤠🇺🇸
New location, new workshop that I just finished building. Thanks for watching all my videos!
@@WoodenPlanes You're welcome, sir 🤠
RUclips just served this up to me, and I loved it! You're gonna get some subs from this one! Restoration is one thing, understanding the thing you're restoring is something else (and that's what makes it interesting!)
Great use of u tube time and resources, much appreciated!
Very interesting and well presented. Please make more videos!
I've never seen you before. I came here for the history lesson. You did a good job. Not to long. Well paced. Do more. Hopefully you will get rewarded by the YT algorithms.
Great video.i had no idea there was so much drama behind the development of mild steel.very educational
It's an interesting perspective. As an Australian tool collector (Mainly made in England), this has been an obvious joy to watch.
I have a MASSIVE antique hand cut rasp, over 2' in length, and a simlilar sized engineers screwdriver. I was walking towards the gate of the show where I bought them at, and a friend I know who was at the gate from a distance (Who also knew I was into medieval reinactments) thought I was dual wielding two short swords :) He freaked out until he came closer and realised I wasn't :p
I like the way you're telling the story. Highlighting what's important and what are side notes to the history.
I was glued to my screen! Great presentation and content.
A magnificent presentation and explanation. A lovely flow to it and enormously informative. Thank you so much.
First video of yours I ever watched. You have a new subscriber. Please do more like this.
What an outstanding video! It’s truly brilliant, Abraham. I would LOVE to see more vids like this. Thank you very, very much for the time and effort you put into your research to make these presentations possible. Bravo!
Thank you very much!! I took several decades to study how naval face-hardened side armor of cruisers and battleships was made from the middle-1890s (Krupp Cemented nickel-chromium armor steel in several varieties made by manufacturers in several nations (US, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan). I had to develop several parameters that isolated different steel properties from one-another to decide which were contributing to which final result, good or bad. The last WWII armor of this type used a standard 1.00 for their general steel "quality" prior to the processing of the steel into the final heavy armor plates, which were sorted by me into various levels of how good the armor was under various conditions. I used US nickel-chromium average armor-class steels made by the US firms of Midvale, Bethlehem, and Carnegie-Illinois in WWII for that part of the steel and then sorted out what was done to these steels (used for tank armor and the other softer armor class naval steels, too). Older WWI-era steels of this type were somewhat inferior, as can be imagined, due to the lower metallurgical expertise back then, as I found (with a couple of exceptions). However, as I said, I carefully sorted out each important parameter as to its effects on the final tested product and, for example, found some WWII Japanese experimental face-hardened armor (never used on a ship) to have the WWI-era steel quality but still ended up the best plates ever tested by the US or Britain after WWII (they never figured out why, to my knowledge!). The baseline steel quality of British face-hardened side armor used in its new WWII largest warships only came to 0.93, significantly lower than the US average 1.00 for steel quality, but the British armor turned out somewhat better than the US armor of this kind due to variations in the things like hard face thickness that the British did a better job exploiting. Thus, steel "quality" is more than just the internal metallurgy of the metal itself, but how it is processed to make the final product, which can make somewhat inferior steel give superior results, anyway.
My phone number is 1-805-649-4952, if you are interested in my take on this huge topic.
damn, i kinda feel like calling. nice write up! this guy face-hardens
@@-IE_it_yourself I started this hobby to make the armor rules in a miniature ship naval wargame based on an expanded version of the 1930s Fletcher Pratt Naval War Game designed by Ivan Travnicek as THE GAME OF ADMIRALS in the early 1970s. Good miniature ship game but had poor information on armor penetration rules. I had a GIGANTIC amount of luck on this and was able to more-or-less solve most of it, the face-hardened armor part all by myself since I found it had never been done by anybody in all of those huge navies, with they only knowing pieces of the puzzle.
As an interesting side note about Japanese steel from WW2, their Arisaka bolt action rifle was mocked by everyone as being junk made from inferior steel. In the 1950's an American gunsmith by the name of P. O. Ackley ran a series of tests on many military bolt action rifles to see which ones could withstand the most pressure before failing. Most actions would ultimately fail in various ways due to severe overloaded cartridges. However, the Arisaka action was the only one that remained intact and was returned to service by simply changing the barrel. No matter the overload the barrels would fail before the action could be destroyed, Ackley even used special high strength barrels but the Arisaka action did not fail, it was the strongest bolt action that Ackley ever tested.
First video I've seen of yours sir. Very interesting topic. The industrialization of the steel industry has had its ups and downs. Thank you for the insight. New sub. 👍🤝
Very interesting and really well presented, more of these please👍
Thank you for a very good video and a nice overview of the processes. I am a metallurgical engineer working in the forging industry for the last 20 years and have been a blacksmith/bladesmith for 25+ years. Within the last few years I have spent a great deal of time researching this very topic and found the same information and references you did, though I have not seen Mr. Barracluagh's thesis, which I am looking forward to reading. There are a few details that might be worth clarifying: The Bessemer process was normally used to make low carbon steels because there was not much control over the process. Initially it was monitored by eye without any special instruments so if was very hard to stop the oxygen blow at just he right time to hit a desired carbon content. Converting 10 tons of pig iron into low carbon steel took about 10 minutes. The Siemens method was much better for fine tuning compositions because it took several hours or more and there was plenty of time to sample the liquid metal and make adjustments before pouring the steel into a mold. The method of melting blister steel was replaced much later by melting iron directly with a carbon source, but this practice was not adopted in until quite late. Harry Brearly, who was another instrumental Sheffeild steel man comments on this in one of his autobigraphies (he wrote 2) and notes that the blister steel would melt at a lower temperature than pure iron with a seperate carbon source like charcoal. This made it easier to achieve the desired melting temperature than to use the method that skips the blister steel. One final point of interest come from the book "The Arms of Krupp". The English really had a lock on the production of cast steel until the 1830s. At this time, Napolean sponsored a prize of 4000 Francs to whoever could replicate the English process. A member of the Krupp family was successful in doing that in the mid to late 1830s, but up until that time, pretty much all the cast steel in Europe and the US came from England.
Interesting that you mention the book The Arms of Krupp. I bought one at a library for 5 dollars. Quite an interesting read.
Awesome. I loved the details and would have enjoyed an even more in depth examination of this subject.
This video, as all your videos are very well researched and interesting. Would only wished you made more videos. Greetings from Canada.
thats a dam good production mate.
well done.
very interesting.
I was the NDT inspector for one of the last steel, hand-fed, rolling mills in the world back in the 1970s. Perhaps, you could do an episode on rolled (and drawn) iron & steel?
Abraham, this was great. More of this, and more restoration videos. Whatever fascinates you will fascinate me.
I found your video by doing a random search, and found you talk to be very interesting and quite informative.
The reason I was looking for an article like this, was that someone, in a recent conversation with me, had made a derogatory comment about cast steel, and although I knew what he was saying wasn't true, I couldn't explain to him exactly why he was wrong. This video has explained the history well enough, that wit this, and some other information, I was able to go back and amplify my arguments well enough to "educate" him on the benefits of cast steel.
Stop apologizing for doing a good job..... :-)
Never seen your vids before, but this is the kind of stuff I like.
Nicely done! You really brought the history to life
just stumbled across this. rekindled an interest in my pittsburgh family history. my great-great-granddad (robert sleeth) came over from ireland and worked in the steel industry. we were always told that he and his partner, siemens, were pivotal in developing the steel industry in iron city. our family certainly provided enough hot air...
FASCINATING !!! I’d no idea of any of this. More like this please !
Great video and very interesting. My maternal grandfather worked in the steel industry for many years making pig iron in South Wales. Years later I was a field engineer responsible for the ongoing maintenance of many of the Yorkshire steel companies' computer control systems including the bar mill at Thrybergh near Sheffield. That plant was using a process called concast (continuous casting). Steel was cast in a continuous flow from the furnace through a massive, water cooled "casting" tube that needed thousands of gallons of water a minute to ensure that by the time the steel bar exited the "casting pipe" it had cooled sufficiently to be able to be run out onto the cooling grid.
The bar had to be robotically cut in a very short time as it reached the end of each loading rail. The multiple acetylene torches took sub second time (they had too) to cut the bar on the fly and liquid steel could then be seen running out of the "hollow" bar.
Fascinating and mesmerising to watch but a realtime programming nightmare. Also the only time preventive maintenance could be done was during furnace reloads after all the steel had "flowed" out to form hot bar with a liquid centre
AFAIK this process could be used to produce any kind of "cast" steel bar from mild steel to special steels but I have no idea of the detail on that.
AWESOME HISTORY! 30+ year woodworker now just getting into hand tool wood working. I've have collected several early Stanley planes, 2 late 19th and a dozen or so from early 20th. My favorite is a 1899 Type 8 hand plane,: a light strop on the blade w/ compound and I'm back making curly shaves.
I’m an electrical engineer with no knowledge of steel or it’s history. You told this tale as if you were there, with nuance often missing from history texts. Fascinating insights into how human nature often bends technological innovations. Thanks for your excellent contribution .
Just found your channel-EXCELLENT VIDEO-very informative, nice presentation.
Please do more. History is a messy business and this talk was fascinating. Many thanks Abraham.
Very interested video. I don't know much about the steel industry so this was very interesting. Thanks for taking the time to make the video and bringing us this infomation
Definitely do more videos like this, not just because the algorithm seems to like it; I've been interested in the history of metalworking and how it turned from an art to a science, and this kind of content is always nice to see. It's good to learn something new on the topic, and your exposé was great!
What Rex Krueger says. Just came across this as I am just getting into making a Viking tent using hand tools for the first time. I decided to jump into the rabbit hole and I'm glad I did. This was both entertaining and educational. More please!
That was a very informative video presented exceptionally well you did a great job and taught me some things that I did not know! Thank you and keep up the good work!
Very interesting and well made. Also good storytelling.
That was, without doubt, one of the best videos on RUclips. I come from one of the steel centres of the world, Middlesbrough in Yorkshire, home of Dorman & Long and worked there many years.
Please do more. History is a messy business and this talk was fascinating. Thank you.
Very interesting.
Would love to hear more about similar subjects.
Very interesting.
Would enjoy even more details.
Thank you.
An amazing video! Excellent research, brilliantly presented! Thank you.
This is the first video I've ever seen of yours and I think it was one of the most informative videos I've ever seen in my life I like how well you go into detail you should make more videos
Having been a toolmaker/fabricator working for the UK Admiralty Research laboratory.
There is mild steel which is weldable without heat treatment. Car bodies etc are made from it.
There is high Carbon steel known in the engineering stores as silver steel. Used for surfaces prone to wear. Knives are made from High Carbon steels.
Damascus steel is layers of mild steels with High Carbon steel forged together.
Cast Iron is a high Carbon steel cast. Which is not easily weldable. As it becomes hard as it cools. It is possible to weld cast iron with nickel as nickel is not affected by carbon.
But the cast Iron around the weld is almost not machinable as it is so hard. Heating the Cast Iron to red heat and allowing it to cool down slowly in the furnace overnight will make the cast iron machinable after welding.
Amazing video!
I was making a mauser 98 in the backyeard,mostly by forging, milling,turning,etc..till there was some pieces which were definitely cast steel.I was amazed to find out about how perfect and high quality work they were able to do.They were real magicians .
First time seeing your channel really like this type of content. And I agree it is amazing
Absolutely wonderful video. Videos on historical moments and the evolution of woodworking tools and practices are probably too few and far between; I loved your video on the Ohio Tool Company as well. This was a wonderful condensation of, what appears to be, a good amount of research. It reminds me of a lower division lecture. Kuddos. I look forward to more.
Did i like it? I love it! I subscribed immediately. And I'm looking forward to your restoration video.
Well done! You did a great job explaining a pretty niche subject!
it is my first time here. but an historical voice over while restoring something related to it would be a hit!
Excellent video & content. Appreciate the deep dive into the finer aspects of things that we just take for granted that make things work like we expect them to.
I only discovered your channel and Substack a few months back, and enjoy the content and education you give.
Thanks
Thank you!
An excellent lesson in iron and steel. Well worth my time. Continue helping us understand.
I liked it so much I subscribed. I hope to see more like this.
This was a superlative video. I dont know why you havent put up more nine months later. Enjoy this channel a lot.
I was fascinated. Do more. Please.
Great overview of a brief period of steel industry. I'm going to the links for more info.
Big ups, Really enjoyed your knowledgeable approachable style
Your love of history comes through the video . . Very cool
Great video. I love it. Fascinating story.
This is a really fun video, thanks! I'm a chef knife nerd who loves learning more about steel
Outstanding.
Very informative and interesting.
Thank you.
Great presentation! Really liked the explanations of the various steels, manufacture, as well as the history. Just having a too in your hand and using it for me is not enough, the question of who, how and why give the tool more value.
I really liked your information packed video. Yes please do more.
So great to run into such a knowledgeable source of information. Thank you.
That was good. How we got here is important, if you have more like this please make them.
speaking without notes or a script.. obviously a complete mastery of the subject and detailed knowledge
his delivery was enthusiastic and passionate