The Difference Between Malleable and Cast Iron Door Hardware.

There is often confusion about the difference between malleable iron and cast iron hardware. There are many cheaper cast iron products for sale now, many of which are identical in size, shape and general appearance to quality door and window hardware. The difference is that cast iron will break. Kirkpatrick Ltd for Walsall in the UK, has been synonymous with the production of high quality malleable iron builders's ironmongery for over 140 years. Producing an extensive range of Black Antique and Plain Gothic styles. Kirkpatrick's malleable iron products are hand-made in the their foundry in Walsall using green sand casting process. At this stage the castings are hard and brittle and cannot be hammered, so they are subjected to a heat treatment known as 'annealing'. In this process the castings are surrounded by an inert haematite ore within iron drums and loaded into ovens of six to eight tons capacity. The ovens take about two days to reach the annealing temperatue of 980 C. The castings are then soaked at this temperature for around 80 hours, after which they are allowed to cool naturally. During this process the carbon structure of the iron is changed. The resulting castings are no longer hard and brittle, but soft and malleable. After shot blasting and grinding to remove any rough edges the castings are then assembled into finished or semi-finished products. Following assembly a rust proofing finish may be applied and a two-coat paint process is carried out, before being passed for final inspection. Kirpatrick malleable iron products you can be confident that you are getting a product which is both functional and highly decorative and one that, well maintained, will give many years of service and pleasure. Have a look at the wide range available at http://www.arciron.com