<P> Coke pig iron was hardly used to produce wrought iron until 1755 - 56, when Darby's son Abraham Darby II built furnaces at Horsehay and Ketley where low sulfur coal was available (and not far from Coalbrookdale). These new furnaces were equipped with water - powered bellows, the water being pumped by Newcomen steam engines . The Newcomen engines were not attached directly to the blowing cylinders because the engines would not produce a steady air blast . Abraham Darby III installed similar steam - pumped, water - powered blowing cylinders at the Dale Company when he took control in 1768 . The Dale Company used several Newcomen engines to drain its mines and made parts for engines which it sold throughout the country . </P> <P> Steam engines made the use higher - pressure and volume blast practical; however, the leather used in bellows was expensive to replace . In 1757 iron master John Wilkinson patented a hydraulic powered blowing engine for blast furnaces . The blowing cylinder for blast furnaces was introduced in 1760 and the first blowing cylinder made of cast iron is believed to be the one used at Carrington in 1768 that was designed by John Smeaton . Cast iron cylinders for use with a piston were difficult to manufacture; the cylinders had to be free of holes and had to be machined smooth and straight to remove any warping . James Watt had great difficulty trying to have a cylinder made for his first steam engine . In 1774 John Wilkinson, who built a cast iron blowing cylinder for his iron works, invented a precision boring machine for boring cylinders . After Wilkinson bored the first successful cylinder for a Boulton and Watt steam engine in 1776, he was given an exclusive contract for providing cylinders . After Watt developed a rotary steam engine in 1782, they were widely applied to blowing, hammering, rolling and slitting . </P> <P> The solutions to the sulfur problem were the addition of sufficient limestone to the furnace to force sulfur into the slag and the use of low sulfur coal . Use of lime or limestone required higher furnace temperatures to form a free - flowing slag . The increased furnace temperature made possible by improved blowing also increased the capacity of blast furnaces and allowed for increased furnace height . In addition to lower cost and greater availability, coke had other important advantages over charcoal in that it was harder and made the column of materials (iron ore, fuel, slag) flowing down the blast furnace more porous and did not crush in the much taller furnaces of the late 19th century . </P> <P> As cast iron was became cheaper and widely available, it began being a structural material for bridges and buildings . A famous early example was the Iron Bridge built in 1778 with cast iron produced by Abraham Darby III . However, most cast iron was converted to wrought iron, which was turned into hardware items such as nails, wire, chains, agricultural implements, tools and wagon tires . </P>

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