Reply #15: elastic point

[sabbat hunter]

at a blacksmiths forge it depends what he wants to do with the metal. the more he wants to bend it, the hotter he needs to make it. at a lower temperature it will be brittle and crack, higher temps it becomes more elastic.

every substance has a different point and range for this. mercury is liquid at room temperature.

iron/carbon steel used by a blacksmith. higher carbon steel have a lower melting point.

as steel heats up it loses its strength and hardness. it doenst have to get to its melting point 1370 degrees C (2500°F), to lose its strength. that is when it becomes a liquid.

it starts to lose its strength far before then. as you can see from a blacksmith forge, the metal is no where near its melting point, but it becomes hot and softer and far easier to work with. the blacksmith in general wants to get it as hot as possible so he has to use less force to shape it.

from my speaking with blacksmiths at ren faires, the iron/steel needs to be around 1300-1600 degrees F to be worked with effectively. much higher and the metal can actually be too soft, splattering instead of shaping when hit with a hammer. too low and it becomes brittle and cracks.

the highest temps a blacksmith will work steel at is 2400 when he wants to join to pieces of steel togehter (the welding temp).

but if a blacksmith wants at least 1300 degrees so he doesnt have to work to hard to shape the metal, that doesnt mean the steel hasnt lost much of its strength at a far lower temperature.