Gordon, Robert B. (Author)
Field observations and analyses of wastes found at five early ironmaking sites in Connecticut coupled with analyses of artifacts of known age and provenance illustrate aspects of the development of iron makers' techniques and skills from the 17th through the 19th centuries. The data show the difficulties early colonial artisans had making sound metal, how subsequent experience at small bloomery and finery forges enabled New England iron makers to supply the early republic's manufacturers with wrought iron that would pass smoothly through mechanized production processes, and how artisans subsequently learned to adjust the composition and structure of their wrought iron to meet the requirements of specific applications. They made products such as gun iron, phosphorus hardened iron for rails, and phosphorus-free metal for crucible steelmaking. Waste materials collected at the forge sites show how finers at the Mount Riga works developed an early form of the American charcoal-hearth process while, later, those at the Canfield & Robbins forge degraded the quality of their metal when they attempted to substitute anthracite for charcoal in their fining hearths. [1997 Norton Prize winner]
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Article
Ross F. Allen;
James C. Dawson;
Morris F. Glenn;
Robert B. Gordon;
David J. Killick;
Richard W. Ward;
(1990)
An Archeological Survey of Bloomery Forges in the Adirondacks
(/isis/citation/CBB516191123/)
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Richard Sanders Allen;
(1992)
Connecticut Iron and Steel from Black Sea Sands (Research Note)
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Edward S. Rutsch;
Brian H. Morrell;
(1992)
An Industrial Archeological Survey of the Long Pond Ironworks, West Milford Township, Passaic County, New Jersey
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David Landon;
Patrick Martin;
Andrew Sewell;
Paul White;
Timothy Tumberg;
Jason Menard;
(2001)
"... A Monument to Misguided Enterprise": The Carp River Bloomery Iron Forge
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Robert B. Gordon;
Michael S. Raber;
(1984)
An Early American Integrated Steelworks
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James R. Wettstaed;
(2003)
Cutting It Back and Burning It Black: Archaeological Investigations of Charcoal Production in the Missouri Ozarks
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Emory L. Kemp;
(1993)
The Introduction of Cast and Wrought Iron in Bridge Building
(/isis/citation/CBB212245887/)
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Robert B. Gordon;
(1983)
Material Evidence of the Development of Metalworking Technology at the Collins Axe Factory
(/isis/citation/CBB664531148/)
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Victor R. Rolando;
(1992)
Vermont's 18th- and 19th-Century Blast Furnace Remains
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Marieke M. A. Hendriksen;
Ruben E. Verwaal;
(2020)
Boerhaave's Furnace. Exploring Early Modern Chemistry through Working Models
(/isis/citation/CBB089602675/)
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Robert B. Gordon;
(1992)
Industrial Archeology of American Iron and Steel
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Robert B. Gordon;
(1991)
Machine Archeology: The John Gage Planer
(/isis/citation/CBB849908275/)
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Malcolm R. Hill;
(2006)
Russian Iron Production in the 18th century
(/isis/citation/CBB486620866/)
Article
Jeremy Lowe;
(1982)
Housing as a Source for Industrial History: A Case Study of Blaenafon, A Welsh Ironworks Settlement, from 1788 to c1845
(/isis/citation/CBB235731368/)
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Dan Trepal;
(2009)
The Gun Foundry Recast
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Helen Schenck;
(1992)
The Upper Forge at Valley Forge
(/isis/citation/CBB230748281/)
Article
Dennis J. De Witt;
(2012)
Conspicuous Iron and the Cochituate Aqueduct Gatehouses: The Earliest Extant American Wrought-Iron Roof and Roof Trusses, and the Earliest Extant Cast-Iron Staircases for Public Use
(/isis/citation/CBB654179466/)
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Michael S. Raber;
(1988)
Conservative Innovators, Military Small Arms, and Industrial History at Springfield Armory, 1794-1918
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Robert Gordon;
Robert Knopf;
(2002)
The Aldrich Change Bridge: Evaluation of the Strength of Historic Bridge Iron
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Article
Nicholas Honerkamp;
(1987)
Innovation and Change in the Antebellum Southern Iron Industry: An Example from Chattanooga, Tennessee
(/isis/citation/CBB139477612/)
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