Wrought Iron.
Now you are going to see the term “Wrought iron railings” and “Wrought iron gates” all over the internet. But none of it is made from wrought iron, it is all made from mild steel. Usually grade s275 to be precise, which is a low carbon steel. Hence why it is called mild steel.
Wrought iron has not been commercially made for nearly 100 years. So why do almost all website say wrought iron, there is a few reasons for this. Ask almost any one to sum up a decorative and ornate railing. They will most likely say a “wrought iron railing”. It is one of those things that has become ingrained into the English language. Rather like a Hoover or Biro, when what we should be saying is a vacuum clear or a ball point pen.
Because of this most people will use the search term “wrought iron railing” when searching the internet. If you describe your railings as steel railings, Google and most other search engines will ignore that description and show you the ones mentioning wrought iron. Search engines are looking for something that hasn’t existed for nearly 100 years, despite them being AI powered they are basically, not the sharpest tool in the shed.
So it is a lie, one that i have always been uncomfortable with. But you have to decide if it is just a little white lie. The term wrought means to work, to shape or bend by hammering. That is perhaps only true if it is hot forged work. But most pieces of iron work now days are welded and fabricated because it is quicker and more cost effective. The main ingredient of steel is in fact Iron, with other elements thrown in to change its properties. But as it is an alloy of iron, its correct name is steel.
Steel.
There are a lot of different grades of steel. What grade you use depends on what you want to achieve. For general fabrication and steel beams such as RSJs, it would be grade s275 or commonly know as mild steel. The greatest advantage of mild steel is that it is very easily welded. Ok it takes an element of skill to do it, but there are other grades that just do not like being welded together.
It has a good degree of strength, and can usually be bent cold without becoming brittle. This makes it an ideal candidate to use for making gates or railings.
