Setting the table and learning a term...
Thinking of holiday dinners, we forged a rather medieval looking, yet striking, napkin ring. Maybe appropriate for a "King of Thrones" dinner? But then again, maybe they didn't use napkins back then. In creating this piece (and the five others in the set), we started with a piece of quarter inch square stock. Heated it in the forge, tapered the ends, heated it again and placed one end in the vise while we twisted the entire piece to create the turned edge. After heating it several more times, we wrapped it around a solid piece of 1/2 inch steel to create the coil. One step in the process I enjoy is comparing my original piece of iron with the end result. The change that takes place comes from heat, strength, method and precision. This transformation is where the term "wrought" comes from. A piece of iron is not "wrought iron" until it has been worked by a blacksmith's hands. Now when I set the table with my new napkin rings, I can honestly say and mean they are Wrought Iron Napkin Rings.
~Reliance Foundry: "To be truly designated as wrought iron, however, a metal piece must be forged by a blacksmith who heats it and hammers it into shape."