At the end of March Andy and Martin took time out from the busy workshop schedule to visit Chris Topp’s forge in Thirsk, North Yorkshire. Chris Topp and his team were hosting an open day seminar;  ’Introduction to Wrought Iron’ which Andy was keen to attend as Chris Topp is currently the only manufacturer of genuine puddled wrought iron on a commercial scale in the UK. 

In order to make puddled wrought iron Chris Topp recycles the original material, everything from disused bridges to old railings and huge ship chains. The team rework the metal through a sequence of processes. Andy took some footage and shots of the team at work demonstrating their techniques.

Furnace gas powered with blowers to heat the reclaimed metal.

After it has been in the furnace, the wrought iron is pulled out onto a trolley by members of the team.

Creating genuine puddled wrought iron

The next image shows a curved section of reclaimed ship chain link under the 5cwt power hammer.

The next image shows reclaimed wrought iron bars being firewelded together in the forge.

Firewelding the reclaimed ingots in the forge at Chris Topp & Co

CLICK HERE  to take you to our Youtube footage showing the power hammer at work, flattening a piece of ship’s chain so that it can be recycled as puddled wrought iron.

CLICK HERE to take you to footage of the water cooled rolling mills.

CLICK HERE to see footage of firewelding to extend puddled wrought iron bar.

Martin said of his Chris Topp & Co day…”It was really informative. I still can’t believe how simple and uncomplicated the process was. The only modern piece of equipment used in the process were the water cooling rolls. Otherwise they are still re-working metal the way they would have done 200 years ago.”

For more information on Chris Topp & Co Ltd go to www.christopp.co.uk/