Craftier fabrication, without, at present, containing iron (6)
I believe the answer is:
ferric
'containing iron' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
I don't understand the rest of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ferric that I've seen before include "Containing iron" , "made of iron" , "Relating to one form of iron" , "Of trivalent iron" , "Of iron with a valency of three" .)