This historic blacksmithing term describes iron or steel that shatters, cracks, or crumbles under the hammer while glowing red. It happens when impurities like sulfur concentrate at the grain boundaries and melt at forging temperatures. Metallurgists and smiths generally use the term hot-short to describe this exact condition.
This batch of wrought iron tends to redsear if you don't get the temperature exactly right before striking.
High-sulfur iron is notorious for redsearing. Adding manganese to the melt helps tie up the sulfur and prevents the metal from tearing under the hammer.
Also heard as
- red-short
- hot-short
Related terms
Hot-short
Prone to cracking or breaking when deformed at high working temperatures.
Cold short
Describes a metal that becomes brittle and prone to cracking when worked or stressed at low temperatures.
Forgeability
The ability of a metal to undergo plastic deformation without cracking.
Intergranular
Located or occurring between the microscopic grains of a metal.