Russia iron

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Russia iron or Russian iron refers to a type of sheet iron produced in Russia during the 19th and early 20th century.[1] This iron sheeting had a smooth, glossy black surface coating, sometimes greenish-tinged, which did not flake upon bending and made the sheets highly resistant to rusting. As well as its corrosion resistance, the finish would also withstand high heat; these two properties accounted for most of its uses.

This sheet-iron was used in Russia for stove flues and for roofing, among other tasks. Exported in quantity to the United States, it was notably used there for the cladding of steam locomotive boilers, where it found favor because paints of the time could not withstand the heat to which boiler cladding was subjected; its fine decorative finish went well with the brightly painted locomotives of the time.[2] Its heat-resistant finish also brought it use to clad stoves, ovens, heating pipes and other similar tasks,[3] and in the manufacture of baking pans and sheets.[4]

The development of high-temperature paints and the trend towards black-painted locomotives combined to reduce the demand for Russia iron by 1900, and little if any was imported after the beginning of World War I.

[edit] Manufacturing process

[edit] Imitation Russia iron

Much effort was expended on attempting to duplicate Russia iron in the United States, with varying degrees of success. In The Metallurgy of Iron and Steel, by Henry Stafford Osborn, published 1869, describes a process used successfully which is close to descriptions of the Russian method.[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kits, Jerry (1997-01-31). Russia Iron. Retrieved on 2008-01-11.
  2. ^ Matthias Nace Forney (1892). Catechism of the Locomotive. Bridgeport, Connecticut: Frederick Keppy, p. 212. 
  3. ^ International Textbook Company (1922). International Library of Technology, Volume 380. Scranton, Pennsylvania: International Textbook Company, p. 41. 
  4. ^ Lydia Ray Balderston (1919). Housewifery: A Manual and Text Book of Practical Housekeeping. Philadelphia: Lippincott, p. 93. 
  5. ^ Osborn, Henry Stafford (1869). The Metallurgy of Iron and Steel. Philadelphia: Henry Carey Baird, pp. 798–801.