Decorative Hardware Ironmongery tools
Ironmongery
Once a specific reference to the iron goods produced for domestic rather than industrial use, "ironmongery" has come to mean a much wider range of useful household items - today produced in all sorts of materials, including the original iron, various other metals and plastics. The word is still widely used in Great Britain, as is the term "ironmonger's" for a supplier of such goods. The equivalents of ironmongery and ironmonger's in the USA are generally "hardware" and "hardware store".
Dealing in ironware has a long tradition, dating back to the first recorded use of the metal to fashion useful objects as long ago as 1200 BC, and studying the movement of such goods around the world, often over long distances, has provided valuable insight into early societies and trading patterns.
By the Middle Ages, skilled metalworkers were highly prized for their ability to create a wide range of things, from weaponry right through tools and implements to more humble domestic items, and the local blacksmith remained the principal source of ironmongery until the Industrial Revolution saw the introduction of mass production from the late 18th Century. This came to a climax in the second half of the 19th century, when Victorian ironmongery offered a treasurehouse of appealing metalwork, with elaborate manufacturers' catalogues offering literally thousands of wonderful objects to meet each and every need, almost all of which sought to combine practicality with pleasing design.
Modern Ironmongery
The second half of the 20th century saw the steady decline of ironmongers' shops. Although every small town in Britain used to have at least one, their fate has mirrored that of many traditional emporia. The number of ironmongers has fallen dramatically with the advent of DIY superstores that offer a complete range of ironmongery and associated products under one roof, and more recently the arrival of comprehensive mail order catalogues and internet suppliers.
However, there has been a simultaneous revival in the fortunes of old-style hand-forged ironmongery, with strong interest in the authentic restoration of period homes leading to demand for items such as traditional iron door handles, door knobs, door knockers, letter plates, locks, hinges, hooks, cabinet fittings and window furniture. There has even been renewed use of "blacksmith nails" - the four-sided hand-made rosehead nails that have so much more character than the modern equivalent. This is typical of a trend that has seen greater appreciation of designs that have stood the test of time, that has allowed hand-forged ironmongery to find a much wider application than use in property restoration - although the practice of incorporating traditional ironmongery into contemporary housing has been helped by thoroughly modern techniques like galvanising and powder coating to inhibit that old enemy of iron - rust.
Materials
When iron ore is smelted into usable metal, a certain amount of carbon is usually alloyed with the iron. (Charcoal is almost pure carbon.) The amount of carbon significantly affects the properties of the metal. If the carbon content is over 2%, the metal is called cast iron, because it has a relatively low melting point and is easily cast. It is quite brittle, however, and is therefore not used for blacksmithing. If the carbon content is between 0.25% and 2%, the resulting metal is tool steel, which can be heat treated as discussed above. When the carbon content is below 0.25%, the metal is either "wrought iron" or "mild steel." The terms are never interchangeable. In preindustrial times, the material of choice for blacksmiths was wrought iron. This iron had a very low carbon content, and also included up to 5% of glassy slag. This slag content made the iron very tough, gave it considerable resistance to rusting, and allowed it to be more easily "forge welded," a process in which the blacksmith permanently joins two pieces of iron, or a piece of iron and a piece of steel, by heating them nearly to a white heat and hammering them together. Forge welding is more difficult to do with modern mild steel. Modern steel production, using the blast furnace, cannot produce true wrought iron, so this material is now a difficult-to-find specialty product. Modern blacksmiths generally substitute mild steel for making objects that were traditionally of wrought iron.