Welding and Cutting Metals

Iron.--Iron, in its pure state, is a soft, white, easily worked
metal. It is the most important of all the metallic elements, and is, next
to aluminum, the commonest metal found in the earth.
Mechanically speaking, we have three kinds of iron: wrought iron, cast iron
and steel. Wrought iron is very nearly pure iron; cast iron contains carbon
and silicon, also chemical impurities; and steel contains a definite
proportion of carbon, but in smaller quantities than cast iron.