| Iron and steel have become part and parcel of our | | | | seventeenth- and eighteenth-century examples can |
| daily life in this modern world. They are used in | | | | be found. |
| different ways and for different purposes these | | | | Firearms have received a great amount of study in |
| days. And here we are going to look at some of the | | | | the last few years, and the value of a good pistol |
| ways in which iron and steel has been used from the | | | | has risen enormously. The subject is a very wide one |
| ancient times as well. | | | | and cannot be dealt with briefly. Mechanisms for firing |
| Iron and Steel | | | | the charge of gunpowder and ejecting the missile can |
| Iron can be divided into two types: with little carbon | | | | be divided into recognizable types that make dating |
| content it becomes malleable and is steel or | | | | possible, but only within wide limits. |
| wrought-iron, and with more than the minimum of | | | | From the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries the |
| carbon remaining in its composition it is cast-iron and | | | | powder was ignited by means of a wheel-lock, a |
| inclined to be brittle. | | | | hardened toothed wheel which attempted to strike |
| Probably the greatest use of the metal in the past | | | | sparks from a piece of flint comparable to a |
| was in the making of Armour and arms. Armour was | | | | cigarette-lighter. Its successor, introduced early in the |
| used both for protection in battle and in jousting, and | | | | seventeenth century, was the flint-lock, in which a |
| for ceremonial purposes. In the first instances it was | | | | piece of flint gripped in steel jaws was sprung down |
| designed not only to resist blows from lances and | | | | on to the powder and ignited it as it struck the steel |
| cudgels but to deflect them and upset the | | | | powder-pan. |
| opponent's balance. | | | | This method endured until early in the nineteenth |
| Ceremonial equipment on the other hand, displayed | | | | century, when a small cap, containing chemicals that |
| the art of the armourer to the best advantage and | | | | detonated on being hit, known as a percussion cap, |
| exhibited his prowess at ornamenting a suit in the | | | | was invented. The cap was placed near the powder, |
| most striking manner. Fine Armour of either type is | | | | and when the trigger was pressed the hammer fell |
| now extremely rare outside museums, and even if it | | | | and the cap exploded the gunpowder. |
| was available very few collectors have space in | | | | We have seen how iron and steel were used to |
| which to display it adequately. Embellishment takes | | | | show power through the armours of the kings and |
| the form of engraving, gilding, raised patterns, and | | | | his soldiers that proves their might and power. We |
| damascening: inlay in gold and silver. | | | | have also seen how the making process involved has |
| Swords and other hand weapons were often highly | | | | progressed from the time it has been extensively. |
| decorated; early ones of fine quality are rare, but | | | | |