Chapter VI
Invention of Cast Steel—Benjamin Huntsman
Conversion of iron into steelEarly Sheffield manufacturesInvention of blistered steelImportant uses of cast-steelLe Play’s writings on the subjectEarly career of Benjamin Huntsman at DoncasterHis experiments in steel-makingRemoves to the neighbourhood of SheffieldHis laborious investigations, failures, and eventual successProcess of making cast-steelThe Sheffield manufacturers refuse to use itTheir opposition foiledHow they wrested Huntsman’s secret from himImportant results of the invention to the industry of SheffieldHenry Bessemer and his processHeath’s inventionPractical skill of the Sheffield artisans