Intriguing questions 🤔

[Pblakeney]

And yet they pronounce "buoy" pretty much phonetically.

Boowee.

Same for Bowie.

 

[classic33]

Why Bungle or Rainbow fame walk around naked all day long but then go to bed in pyjamas?

 

[First Aspect]

What actually WAS Zippy?

 

[Seevio]

Why is all the meat in a 'Full English' breakfast dead pig? Was it a brilliant bit of marketing by the Dead Pig Marketing Board, or is there some historic or cultural reason?

Live pig is harder to keep on the plate.

 

[rjsterry]

Why Bungle or Rainbow fame walk around naked all day long but then go to bed in pyjamas?

Because the heating goes off st 11.

 

[rjsterry]

Mine aren't.

Have done a bit more research and yes, some of the old ones do have copper tips set into steel or iron handles. Not sure how they isolated the copper from the ferrous metal. Suspect the etymology is maybe more of a borrowing from other tools called irons.

 

[classic33]

Have done a bit more research and yes, some of the old ones do have copper tips set into steel or iron handles. Not sure how they isolated the copper from the ferrous metal. Suspect the etymology is maybe more of a borrowing from other tools called irons.

They're made in three separate parts.
The insulated handle, wood.
Main shaft, usually steel.
The head, shaped copper.

Mine have the shafts split where the head is, with a steel rivet holding the head in place.

 

[rjsterry]

They're made in three separate parts.
The insulated handle, wood.
Main shaft, usually steel.
The head, shaped copper.

Mine have the shafts split where the head is, with a steel rivet holding the head in place.

Was more thinking that usually when you rivet copper and steel together, the steel corrodes very quickly.

I'm pretty sure I've seen some that have a steel tip used for soldering stained glass cames (?) but all the photos I can find now have copper tips as you describe.

On the etymology, there are quite a few tools referred to as 'irons' that aren't necessarily made of iron.

 

[Pblakeney]

On the etymology, there are quite a few tools referred to as 'irons' that aren't necessarily made of iron.

Plus, not all steels contain iron.

 

[matticus]

Plus, not all steels contain iron.

randomgooglehit disagrees with you: https://www.thyssenkrupp-materials.co.uk/technical-knowledge-hub/iron-vs-steel

Tell me why thyssenkrupp are wrong! Now!!

 

[orraloon]

David Steel? Not that hard.

 

[VinSumRox]

Plus, not all steels contain iron.

Errrr I don't think so! Iron is the base constituent of all steels

 

[Reynard]

Errrr I don't think so! Iron is the base constituent of all steels

Basically, steel is iron with carbon atoms introduced into the metal's crystalline structure by smelting in a blast furnace together with a high-grade form of coal called coke. The percentage of carbon that's incorporated into the molten iron will depend on the what the resultant steel is to be used for.

What the carbon does, is add toughness and "workability" to the metal, simply by acting as a handbrake in the crystalline structure and stopping the iron atoms sliding over each other too easily. Pure iron is very soft and malleable in its wrought form, and brittle when cast.

 

[First Aspect]

Plus, not all steels contain iron.

I agree with you. Apart from the bit that says not all steels contain iron.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Basically, steel is iron with carbon atoms introduced into the metal's crystalline structure by smelting in a blast furnace together with a high-grade form of coal called coke. The percentage of carbon that's incorporated into the molten iron will depend on the what the resultant steel is to be used for.

What the carbon does, is add toughness and "workability" to the metal, simply by acting as a handbrake in the crystalline structure and stopping the iron atoms sliding over each other too easily. Pure iron is very soft and malleable in its wrought form, and brittle when cast.

Depending on exactly what is meant by the terms...

What is normally referred to as "Iron" - "cast iron" or "pig iron" as straight from a blast furnace, and brittle, is high carbon.

Steelmaking *reduces* the iron content:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_oxygen_steelmaking

I don't know about the properties of *pure* iron if cast.