Faggoting

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Faggoting or faggoting and folding is a metalworking technique used in the smelting and forging of wrought iron, damascus steel, and other steel. Faggoting is a process in which rods or bars of iron and/or steel are gathered (like a bundle of sticks or "faggot") and forge welded together. The faggot would then be drawn out lengthwise. The bar might then be broken and the pieces made into a faggot again or folded over, and forge welded again.

Wrought iron which had been faggoted twice was referred to as "Best"; if faggoted again it would become "Best Best", then "Treble best", etc. Faggoting stretches chemical impurities within the metal into long thin inclusions, creating a grain within the metal. "Best" bars would have a tensile strength along the grain of about 23 tons per square inch (317 MPa). "Treble best" could reach 28 tons per square inch (386 MPa). The strengths across the grain would be about 15% lower. This grain makes wrought iron especially tricky to smith, as it behaves much like wood grain-prone to spontaneous splitting along the grain. In old, very rusted pieces of wrought iron, the grain is revealed, making the iron bear a striking resemblance to reddish-brown wood.

Blister steel that has been faggotted was known as shear steel; if fagotted twice, as double shear steel. Steel that was intended to be treated this way was carburised rather more than usual, presumably because it was slightly decarburised in the course of faggoting.

[edit] References

Bealer, Alex W. (1995). The Art of Blacksmithing. Edison, NJ: Castle Books, 28-35, 355. ISBN 0785803955.