Deformation characteristics of high purity iron was studied through both tension and rolling. The surfaces of the deformed specimens were observed by optical microscopy at magnifications up to 2000. Slip characteristics were studied for the tensile specimens up to 17% strain and for the cold rolled specimens up to about 72% reduction in thickness. Increasing the per cent of deformation gradually increased the dislocations density. It was observed that in case of tension the dislocations took the form of regular rows of parallel lines, which was not the case in the rolled specimens. α/β brass bicrystals made by the solid state diffusion tech-nique, have been used to clarify the slip characteristics in both α - and -β brass. The change of the slip traces morphology in α -iron (bcc) and β-brass (bcc) was attributed to the different constraint conditions in each case.