An iron founder (also iron-founder or ironfounder) in its more general sense is a worker in molten
ferrous
In chemistry, iron(II) refers to the chemical element, element iron in its +2 oxidation number, oxidation state. The adjective ''ferrous'' or the prefix ''ferro-'' is often used to specify such compounds, as in ''ferrous chloride'' for iron(II ...
metal, generally working within an
iron foundry. However, the term 'iron founder' is usually reserved for the owner or manager of an iron foundry, a person also known in Victorian England as a 'master'. Workers in a foundry are generically described as 'foundrymen'; however, the various craftsmen working in foundries, such as moulders and pattern makers, are often referred to by their specific trades.
Historically the appellation "founder" was given to the supervisor of a
blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being supplied above atmospheric pressure.
In a ...
, and persons who made castings in iron or other heavy metal.
Edward Hazen, Reuben S. Gilbert, Abraham John Mason, John Ludlow Morton, Stephen H. Gimber, Raphael Hoyle, Charles Burton Uriah Hunt, 1837
/ref> The term is also often applied to the company or works in which an iron foundry operates.
See also
* Foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...
* Casting (metalworking)
In metalworking and jewelry making, casting is a process in which a liquid metal is delivered into a Mold (manufacturing), mold (usually by a crucible) that contains a negative impression (i.e., a three-dimensional negative image) of the intende ...
* Bellfounding
Bellfounding is the casting and tuning of large bronze bells in a foundry for use such as in churches, clock towers and public buildings, either to signify the time or an event, or as a musical carillon or chime. Large bells are made by cast ...
* Coremaking
* Foundry sand testing
* Smelting
Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron-making, iron, copper extraction, copper ...
References
Casting (manufacturing)
History of metallurgy
Metalworking occupations
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