You can find American iron production exhaustively documented in Robert
Gordon's superb American Iron: 1607-1900 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
University Press, 1996).

David Killick
Associate Professor
Department of Anthropology
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721-0030
U.S.A.
phone (520) 621-8685
fax       (520) 621-2088

-----Original Message-----
From: Arch-Metals Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Bart Torbert
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 1:42 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Falling Creek IW

This discussion brings up a side question.

What was the iron production in pre-Revolutionary America?  The question is
relative to the Americans ability to  provide war needs from native sources.

Bart

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Steve Gray <[log in to unmask]>
> The precursors of the furnaces are more likely to be Welsh rather than
English, 
> from such counties as Carmarthenshire, Glamorgan and Gwent.
> Yours Steve Gray
>   ----- Original Message ----- 
>   From: Peter King 
>   To: [log in to unmask] 
>   Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 10:08 AM
>   Subject: Re: Falling Creek IW
> 
> 
>   The precursors of the furnace would inevitably be English.  I cannot
think of 
> evidence from 1620s or earlier, but later English furnaces had systems for

> draining water from below the furnace, but I think the foundations would
have 
> been in stone.  However, at that period, timber-framing of buildings was
still 
> common in England, with lath and plaster between the timbers.  It is thus
quite 
> possible that other parts of the furnace buildings would be of timber, not
to 
> mention the waterwheel.  
> 
>   The traditional view is that furnaces went into blast in the autumn and
blew 
> until the early summer.  While this was not invariably done in places
where the 
> water-supply was good enough, it almost certainly has an element of truth
in it.  
> I would have expected May to be the anticipated end of the first blast,
not its 
> start.  On the other hand, if the furnace was in blast at the time of the 
> massacre, I would expect it still to be (or have been) there and full of
its 
> large charge.  
> 
>   This is of course all speculation.  
> 
>   Peter King
>   49, Stourbridge Road, 
>   Hagley, 
>   Stourbridge
>   West Midlands
>   DY9 0QS
>   01562-720368
>   [log in to unmask]
>     -----Original Message-----
>     From: Arch-Metals Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf
Of 
> James Brothers
>     Sent: 23 January 2007 02:47
>     To: Peter King
>     Subject: Falling Creek IW
> 
> 
>     Lyle Browning, the Falling Creek IW archaeologist, has proposed a
number of 
> possible explanations for the timbers recently discovered at the site.
While 
> much of the equipment at an ironworks (e.g. wheel, bellows, anvil, and
hammer) 
> rested on substantial timber structures, is there evidence elsewhere for
heavy 
> wood foundations for blast furnaces? Or is this more likely to be part of
the 
> wheel support/foundation or some other part of the water power system? Or
is 
> there another possibility that hasn't been thought of yet? If Winchester 
> Cathedral could be built on a raft, why not a blast furnace? 
> 
> 
>     James Brothers, RPA
>     [log in to unmask]