The "bloom"

Molten horse-shoe nails and stubs being formed into a skelp. William Wellington Greener "The Gun and Its Development" 8th edition, 1907 - The horse-shoe nail stub barrel was the first attempt to produce a figured barrel in England. When the twist or scelp method was introduced, it soon gained favour. Scelp or plain rods were first twisted, afterwards the strips of horse-shoe nail iron were twisted in like manner, and the introduction of the Damascus iron followed shortly afterwards (1820). The Damascus iron as first manufactured in England by Mr. Wiswould, of Birmingham, and Mr. Adams, of Birmingham, differed but little in composition from that now used, except that it was made wholly of scrap metal. This was gathered into a bloom and welded under tilt hammers, then drawn out to the required thickness by rolling, as will be afterwards described. Wire twist, often made from a scelp of iron and steel scrap, had a certain vogue.