Refining hammer

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A refining hammer (also a stretch hammer ) was a hammer mill powered by water power from the late Middle Ages until the Second World War , in which early pig iron (from sponge iron or rag ) or crude steel was forged , folded in and forged again to make refining steel , an early one Shape of stainless steel that has been refined .

The raw steel rods, freed from slag by raw steel hammers, were formed in the refining hammers into strips approximately two inches wide, which were then folded over one another several times and, after being heated with the drop hammer, forged back together in layers by means of fire welding . Depending on the required quality of the refining steel, the material was folded in up to 320 layers, resulting in a highly elastic steel for high-quality cutlery, such as rapiers or blades . In some refining hammers, different types of iron and steel were forged together so that Damascus steel was manufactured there.

With the industrial production of higher quality steel in steelworks , the refining hammers quickly lost their importance since the end of the 19th century.

A particularly high distribution of refining hammers was found in the Bergisches Land ( Cronenberg , Remscheid and Solingen ), the Enneperaum and the north-western Sauerland .

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