Quote:
Originally Posted by DanHoward
Annealing softens the metal, it doesn't harden it. It is necessary to remove any work-hardening so that the smith can continue to work it. Iron is annealed by heating it up and allowing it to cool slowly. Bronze is annealed by heating it up and quenching it in water.
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You're right of course, I did a very bad job of explaining how steel is hardened or softened and why brass and bronze must be cold worked.
If you want steel to cool slowly, let it air cool, bury it in hot sand, or keep it in a slowly cooled oven. (FWIW, glass and some ceramics must also be cooled in this fashion to keep them from shattering as they cool.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by DanHoward
In any case, the CF is based purely on the material. Bronze costs four times more than iron. Any differences in construction have their own separate CFs.
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This is a big issue. Remember that the primary constituent in a brass or bronze alloy is copper, which is a semi-precious metal. Historical "copper pieces" might have been bits of cast or stamped brass or bronze.
By comparison to copper and tin, iron is extremely common although deposits of iron which are sufficiently rich to make it worth the trouble of mining them are a bit scarcer.