Cast Iron
Alloys · Common · Medieval
Iron with a high carbon content, typically 2% to 4%, that makes it fluid enough to cast into complex shapes but too brittle to be forged. Cast iron absorbs and retains heat exceptionally well, making it irreplaceable for cooking and industrial machinery.
Identity
- Source
- Historical alloy: iron and carbon (high content)
- Made from
- Iron
- Aliases
- Grey iron, White iron, Pig iron
Physical Properties
- Appearance
- Dark grey to black, matte surface with a granular texture, extremely heavy for its size
- Luster
- Metallic
- Density
- 7.2 g/cm³
- Melting point
- 1200 °C
- Boiling point
- 2800 °C
- Lighter
- Chromium
- Denser
- Tin
- Magnetism
- Ferromagnetic
- Electrical conductivity
- Medium
Mechanical Properties
- Mohs hardness
- 5
- Tensile strength
- 170 MPa
- Softer
- Palladium
- Harder
- Inconel
- Workability
- Easy
- Brittleness
- Brittle
- Malleability
- Very Low
- Ductility
- Very Low
Chemical Properties
- Corrosion resistance
- low
- Reactivity
- moderate
Lore & Narrative
Chinese smiths mastered cast iron production over 2,000 years before Europeans, using it for agricultural tools and cookware from around 500 BC. European smiths only achieved the technique in the 15th century, when it was immediately applied to cannon founding.
- Notable uses
- Cookware, engine blocks, pipes, ornamental ironwork, historical cannons
- Forge uses
- cookware, machinery, pipes, ornamental work
- Worldbuilding traits
- heavy, brittle, heat-retaining, historical
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