Cast Iron

Pretty sure I have talked about cast iron in depth before, so won’t do an all out thesis about it again! However, a recent brief conversation on the Stu’s Shed Twitter feed reminded me just how much value we place in this material.

It is hard, smooth and heavy, but those are not the only reason we actually value this material. It is also the self-lubricating properties and the vibration absorption that also really makes cast iron useful.

The “worms” in this microscopic view of one form of cast iron is areas of “free” carbon. Graphite. It adds absolutely nothing to the strength of the material (and because it can be like sharp ended voids, it is the reason cast iron is so brittle). However, because it is graphite, this is where the “self-lubrication” comes from, and the microscopic voids are why cast iron is so good at minimising vibration.

Big machines, lots of beautiful cast iron. That’s what we like.