tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26819831680484889832024-02-19T18:44:44.124-08:00Iron Blooms to Bars - An OAC Projects GrantIn 2012 Darrell Markewitz of the Wareham Forge applied for - and received - a grant from the Ontario Arts Council. The purpose of this Craft Project - Creation and Development Grant was defined :
"... is to cover three months of dedicated time to allow me to develop a practical understanding of how to convert ten year's production of raw iron blooms into working bars".
This blog will be an ongoing record of this project...the Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681983168048488983.post-10121972265601685052020-12-04T05:41:00.000-08:002020-12-04T05:41:04.784-08:00Staying Active : Google Blogs<p style="text-align: center;"> <span>Friday, October 23, 2020</span></p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a name="5352141755581304091"></a></div>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://warehamforgeblog.blogspot.com/2020/10/rendering-some-blooms.html">Rendering some Blooms</a></h3><h3 class="post-title entry-title"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Google just announced that they will be deleting stored content which they deem 'inactive'.</span></h3><h3 class="post-title entry-title"><span style="font-weight: normal;">It is not entirely clear (from a brief overview of the published policy information) how this relates to previously published blogs. </span> </h3><h3 class="post-title entry-title"><span style="font-weight: normal;">As 'Blooms to Bars' contains documentation of a specific, short term project, it is unclear if the content presented here will fall victim to this change (deadline of June 1, 2021). </span></h3><h3 class="post-title entry-title"><span style="font-weight: normal;">In an effort to ensure that this documentation remains available, I will occasionally include some references to the continuing and related work still actively being undertaken here at the Wareham Forge. For those interested in the whole subject of bloomery iron, I would recommend taking a look at the extensive (and regularly updated) information presented :</span></h3><h3 class="post-title entry-title"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The main <a href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/index.html" target="_blank">Experimental Iron Smelting</a> web site</span></h3><h3 class="post-title entry-title"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The regular blog <a href="https://warehamforgeblog.blogspot.com/">Hammered Out Bits</a> </span><br /></h3>the Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681983168048488983.post-57881592411953918502012-07-07T14:53:00.002-07:002012-07-07T14:53:33.846-07:00Continuing to Objects...<i>Although the Bloom 2 Bar Project is officially completed, I thought I might continue the occasional posting here that would relate directly to the work of the project. </i><br />
<br />
I really wanted at least *something* new for the Goderich Celtic Festival, and Summerfolk
the weekend following (Only three clear days between them, and there is
an offload and re-pack in there too.)<br />
<br />
The ideal would be to have something as completed objects that represented the three months I spent on the <a href="http://warehamoacgrant.blogspot.ca/">Bloom To Bar</a> project: <br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO45Dc1BJvaRNsW6W6oJtT6g5yBjPa8eOc7LnfGvmuWS0ZfYa6vC0YrPss2KleP-FVibdOSlmxiPEfXN9dreUTUoSqOmDcqu0nodrL1jl4yYjN1eU_hFjhWHrlGbKCg3tv5QjdCbyWXCy4/s1600/bloom-knives-start.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO45Dc1BJvaRNsW6W6oJtT6g5yBjPa8eOc7LnfGvmuWS0ZfYa6vC0YrPss2KleP-FVibdOSlmxiPEfXN9dreUTUoSqOmDcqu0nodrL1jl4yYjN1eU_hFjhWHrlGbKCg3tv5QjdCbyWXCy4/s400/bloom-knives-start.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Starting billets - bloom iron with spring steel cores</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaTl_8ZiAqpdEFgZxxQGf8Umv8UDzrPutweNbbDYMUbaGqBkJg4pU6TeyB5oUChW9r7RY9wqB4pJURKHHm9Eku54lOU0oZKbA_oQgX2A5YInmG8TPLR_N4b6fitd-IkI_o5J3XDqbcBEYz/s1600/Bloom-knives-rough.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaTl_8ZiAqpdEFgZxxQGf8Umv8UDzrPutweNbbDYMUbaGqBkJg4pU6TeyB5oUChW9r7RY9wqB4pJURKHHm9Eku54lOU0oZKbA_oQgX2A5YInmG8TPLR_N4b6fitd-IkI_o5J3XDqbcBEYz/s400/Bloom-knives-rough.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rough forged blade blanks</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I had prepared two billets I intended to lead to a very specific <a href="http://warehamoacgrant.blogspot.ca/2012/03/object-ideas-one.html">bladesmithing design</a>. The top one is iron from <a href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/November11/november11.html">Slag Pit 2</a> ( # 49 , November 2011 ) an the bottom from <a href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/report02-06.html">Black Rock</a>
(# 14, February 2006 ) In both cases the iron was deliberately used
before much welding and folding had been done, specifically to allow
cracks and irregular edges. I actually had gone a bit *too* far on the
Slag Pit 2 iron, ending up with most all the flaws removed. For the
second attempt, I was able to restrain my natural desire to forge in all
the imperfections.<br />
<br />
In the lower image, the two blanks are at different stages in completion.<br />
The top blade has had the blade profile roughed out, and the first pass
on forging the edge completed. The hilt is only vaguely shaped at this
point however.<br />
The bottom blade is complete in its forging. I had ground the rough
forging to the basic lines I wanted for the finished knife. I find it
easier to check for warps and wobbles if I do this first. Then the blade
was forged again, first to correct any irregularities, second to refine
the edge. (Forge thin - grind thinner). It is now ready to be surface
ground, then the finished surface to be created on the belt sanders.
Then heat treated. Then finish polishing. (The actual forging out of the
knife shape is by far the fastest part of the whole process!)<br />
<br />
Stay tuned for images of the completed knives...<br />
<br />
<i>(Edited from a <a href="http://warehamforgeblog.blogspot.ca/2012/07/some-recent-work.html">longer post on Hammered Out Bits</a>.) </i>the Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681983168048488983.post-86911963197112545852012-05-24T04:55:00.000-07:002012-05-24T04:55:49.263-07:00Forging 'the custard'<br />
<i> Edited from my ongoing on <a href="http://forums.dfoggknives.com/index.php?">Don Fogg's Bladesmithing Forum</a></i> <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Darrel
so when you say 'weld in all the edges'... do you mean basically
turning it on it's side and hammering down all the little bits at
welding heat? I'm assuming this is easier with lower carbon steel and
iron. On my very high carbon stuff.. those little bits just fall off. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://forums.dfoggknives.com/index.php?showuser=29363">Scott</a> </blockquote>
<br />
I would most certainly *not* hold my working methods up as the ideal!<br />
<br />
That
being said, I'm just coming off a two month research / learning project
called 'Bloom to Bar'. So for while there all I was doing in the shop
was working up some of my big pile of blooms (!)<br />
So, that being said, take a look at :<br />
<a href="http://warehamoacgrant.blogspot.ca/2012/04/typical-work-session.html">'A Typical Work Session'</a> (earlier on Bloom 2 Bar)<br />
<br />
<b>Jesus Hernandez</b> also has a good <a href="http://jhbladesmith.com/making-steel/aristotle-furnace.html">visual tutorial</a> over on his web site.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0y3AzbVFsN8WNONhaejcPpXALaogCEV-uQNxAiUeHwMef1VirwnLcrwBAVPjBpdCmls1xA5yJMB1Or1L-xdrgyJHtaYwyM4lzoclVRdMkbZyD1xJdiO7RsskHyeKdVfVoMuMrF-1eLS0-/s1600/20290.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0y3AzbVFsN8WNONhaejcPpXALaogCEV-uQNxAiUeHwMef1VirwnLcrwBAVPjBpdCmls1xA5yJMB1Or1L-xdrgyJHtaYwyM4lzoclVRdMkbZyD1xJdiO7RsskHyeKdVfVoMuMrF-1eLS0-/s1600/20290.jpg" /></a><br />
I have also seen on this forum some good advice given by <b>Lee Sauder</b> on this same topic.<br />
<br />
Blooms have a structure that Lee describes as 'like a custard' - think of a lemon meringue, turned upside down. <br />
The
centre is a hard 'nut' of iron, often quite dense, with a spongy layer,
often with a lot of air spaces and more slag included around the
outside. As you might guess, a larger bloom might be cut apart, so more
like a wedge of pie than the whole thing like you see on a small bloom. <br />
<br />
(There
is a variation in carbon content within a single bloom as well. Lets
just leave that one. If anything, this carbon variation exaggerates the
effects.) <br />
<br />
Of course, the two different densities of
metal move at different rates. That's one reason a press, squeezing in
one direction does work more effectively than hand tools. The raw size
of the mass also works against anyone attempting this process working
alone. With excellent skill and co-ordination between a master hand and
striker, of course the compaction process can be carried out by hand.
(Watch Lee and Mike McCarthy work some time!)<br />
<br />
So your
first step is just pressing downwards at welding heat, collapsing the
air spaces of the outside 'meringue' and forcing them on to the hard nut
in the centre. <br />
This does help on the edges however, which remain
ragged. I have had some luck placing the then flat disk on its edge and
pressing in / down. Its a tall thin shape, with soft edges, so the
press tends to slide it sideways and I certainly find that process hard
to control. Also the press works in a flat plane, and most often the
bloom disk is round or oval. <br />
<br />
Taken together, I had
found it just as effective to hand hammer the edges in. I would place
the disk flat on the anvil, then lean way over so I can fire blows
almost dead horizontal from the far side of the anvil back towards the
disk and my tong hand. This also allows you to both heat and forge on
section of the bloom disk at a time. <br />
<br />
Clear as mud?<br />
<br />
<i>Technically, the Bloom 2 Bar Project ended (at its most generous) May 15.</i><br />
<i>I will however, continue to cross post items from my regular blog (Hammered Out Bits) here, for topics directly related to the theme of bloom into bar - and beyond.</i>the Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681983168048488983.post-40999874748056049482012-05-14T08:23:00.000-07:002012-05-14T08:23:34.726-07:00Papers, Publishing & Research SourcesDay 72<br />
<br />
If judged by the budget included with my OAC Project proposal, the last actual 'grant day' would have been 43 days ending April 26. I decided to extend the project work to cover two last major elements. One was the iron smelt covered in the last couple of posts here. The second was an academic paper to be delivered at the <a href="http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress/">International Congress on Medieval Studies</a> at Kalamazoo Michigan. The conference ran from May 9 - 13, with my specific paper to be presented Thursday May 10.<br />
<br />
I've referenced the paper itself in an earlier posting here. I had given a <a href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/LAM/Vinland-Series/">first draft version</a> at <a href="http://www.fitp.ca/index.php">Forward Into the Past</a> at Laurier University on March 31. Obviously I consider the various public presentations of both research and practical method, plus ongoing communications like this blog an esencial part of the entire Bloom to Bar project.<br />
<br />
The revised text of my paper 'An Iron Smelt in Vinland' will be eventually be published. Session organizers <b>Ken Mondschein</b> and <b>Michael Cramer</b> are working with <a href="http://www.freelanceacademypress.com/">Freelance Academy Press</a> to collect a number of papers from the past 'If Those Bones Could Talk' sessions into a volume. <br />
<br />
Not to get too (!) side tracked, what I wanted to detail here was some other excellent reference sources for those seriously interested in bloomery iron smelting.<br />
<br />
Method :<br />
<br />
<b>A Practical Treatise on the Smelting and Smithing of Bloomery Iron</b><br />
Lee Sauder & Skip Williams <br />
Historical Metallurgy, vol. 36 (2). 2002 <br />
A version will be available by hunting around on <a href="http://iron.wlu.edu/">Lee's Iron Smelting site</a><br />
<br />
<b>If You Don't Get any IRON...</b><br />
Darrell Markewitz<br />
EXARC. vol. 2012-1<br />
Available <a href="http://journal.exarc.net/issue-2012-1">on line</a> (with subscription)<br />
<br />
<i>Remember there are some links to instructional methods to your top right!</i><br /><br />
References :<br />
<br />
<b>Iron in Archaeology - The European Bloomery Smelters</b><br />
Radomir Pleiner<br />
80-86124-26-6<br />
David Brown Books in the US is currently contacting the original publisher to see if they can acquire some copies of this volume. They are also attempting to get some of Pleiner's 'Iron in Archaeology, Early European Blacksmiths / 808612462-2'<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Prehistoric & Medieval Direct Iron Smelting in Scandinavia and Europe </b><br />
Lars Christian Norbach<br />
13 9788772887746<br />
Available from <a href="http://www.isdistribution.com/BookDetail.aspx?aId=412">ISD Distributing</a><br />
The book costs $60 plus shipping<br />
<br />
<b>Iron and Steel in Ancient Times</b><br />
Vagn F. Buchwald<br />
8773043087<br />
Available from the <a href="http://www.royalacademy.dk/">Danish Royal Academy</a><br />
The book costs 60, 56 Euros plus 21,4 Euros (to Canada).<br />
Contact <a href="mailto:khz@royalacademy.dk">Katrine Hassenkam Zoref</a>the Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681983168048488983.post-19048883177578943892012-05-06T07:38:00.000-07:002012-05-06T07:38:22.837-07:00'Production Smelt' - RESULTS (Day 65)<i><br /></i><br />
<br />
<i>I would refer you back to yesterday's post for the details of the set up for this smelt.</i><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiaq_9jEk-qW3JA2FXon4ilHQQgafE9vmHTAcwygmMtuXeU3C2pkcvOf2RN240gz94zYOvzaaYB4wbINILDPS6Xi-wnurFUzpdr7CoPtLYRYxKdxsV0sYFyXoBuB-jDY3e5vQKGkezJhIY/s1600/smelting.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiaq_9jEk-qW3JA2FXon4ilHQQgafE9vmHTAcwygmMtuXeU3C2pkcvOf2RN240gz94zYOvzaaYB4wbINILDPS6Xi-wnurFUzpdr7CoPtLYRYxKdxsV0sYFyXoBuB-jDY3e5vQKGkezJhIY/s320/smelting.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Furnace in use</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The first thing is don't do this alone.<br />
You *can* run a successful smelt as a lone individual. It is however a massive amount of work.<br />
- I spent a half day clearing out an old furnace and preparing the area and laying the base.<br />
- Then a fairly long day preparing, mixing clay and building the furnace. <br />
(Roasting ore was done separately, but the two batches there could have been undertaken during the work sessions above).<br />
-
Another half day gathering up the roasted ore, setting the tuyere and
running a slow drying fire. I broke up 3/4 of the ore at the same time.<br />
<br />
Smelt day, I broke charcoal while the first stages of pre-heat (with wood) was taking place.<br />
I started that day at 8 am gathering tools and getting them out and arranging the work site.<br />
The pre-heat was extended to allow time to break that charcoal (64 kg worth / 8 bags).<br />
The
main smelt sequence itself ran over 7 1/2 hours, from first charcoal
fill to start of the extraction.
In the end I decided to use all of the 'Jamestown Brown' ore that I had
roasted and crushed. The total ore added was just under 42 kg. The total
charcoal consumed was 55 kg (7.5 full 8kg bags, before breaking).
I had a real hard time getting this bloom free. I ended up having to
break way 2/3 of the slag mass by chiselling it off in small pieces. I
really have no clear concept of how long this took, but working down
inside the hot furnace was absolutely exhausting. My guess is that I was
at it at least a half hour.<br />
<br />
The total smelting session took 13 hours! <br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr align="center"><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJQTdbBBbVTRZm50MsLS46yzJVCIAN9YsmEA16IB-gjPmZpJMoDtE8FVCDnxMnhV0kER30yH6zmsXltoqnXYT1Z5fY_Jvt1RawF5cmeHocN79DcFWXHk4etrp8M9Mr2HtV-_bbSDxtneiD/s1600/slag.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJQTdbBBbVTRZm50MsLS46yzJVCIAN9YsmEA16IB-gjPmZpJMoDtE8FVCDnxMnhV0kER30yH6zmsXltoqnXYT1Z5fY_Jvt1RawF5cmeHocN79DcFWXHk4etrp8M9Mr2HtV-_bbSDxtneiD/s320/slag.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Slag mass, the furnace just opened.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So by the time I pulled the bloom free, the bloom had
cooled considerably. I did try to work over the surface with a 5 lb
hand sledge. This did knock some of the clinging slag 'mother' free, but
really was not effective in compacting the metal itself. I tried a fast
weight measurement, but frankly I think the reading was not all that
accurate. (What I recorded was 12.27 kg). Frankly, this is a much larger
bloom than I normally make.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSyXVMLbaYWnQknDMxz0-orQFohqMkLI3TRcY-QRNqp0WZmpTgd7saLP62amaavclWL6kwQSal-cYweDFXBaGUvLioS9C_VRN1GuQqpytn9iTak0MJv7PabMK-3uTntTcxAw9iI9sw5dJT/s1600/bloom.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSyXVMLbaYWnQknDMxz0-orQFohqMkLI3TRcY-QRNqp0WZmpTgd7saLP62amaavclWL6kwQSal-cYweDFXBaGUvLioS9C_VRN1GuQqpytn9iTak0MJv7PabMK-3uTntTcxAw9iI9sw5dJT/s320/bloom.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hot bloom mass - after hand hammering<br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I rushed the bloom back from the rear yard
into the workshop. I had started my two burner gas forge before I
started the extraction, but there was no way the mass would fit.
Although the bloom was closer to a red heat at this point, I quickly
started the hydraulic press. I made a partial compaction, but it was
obvious that the bloom was far too cold, and several larger pieces broke
free. I swapped in the cutting head and made a cut from both sides,
most the way through.
At this point I might have been able to get the individual 'half'
sections into the gas forge, but frankly, I was way past too beat to
work.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigiVw8iQPDRoVtJktl0XliJt6qK2jR_3stvttK273I-SiL5ICJaIw56dalIZ7lyF0AFu1_fDiszslSJBmu6rSrR4uh0RP-aQRnn0pd-oQP5wm91Du561g0H-yID83NCeLd_hZQSvNDG6ny/s1600/cut-bloom.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigiVw8iQPDRoVtJktl0XliJt6qK2jR_3stvttK273I-SiL5ICJaIw56dalIZ7lyF0AFu1_fDiszslSJBmu6rSrR4uh0RP-aQRnn0pd-oQP5wm91Du561g0H-yID83NCeLd_hZQSvNDG6ny/s320/cut-bloom.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Main bloom, cold and after sectioning<br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This morning, I was able to pull the scored bloom off the floor, and sweep with a magnet to recover any fragments.<br />
The main bloom itself now weighs a quite respectable 8.83 kg.<br />
I recovered another 1.46 kg of fragments.
Two pieces are a good size (at 501 and 324 gms) and look solid enough that I should be able to work them down to smaller bars.<br />
The overall yield (using the 10.3 kg total recovered) comes to roughly 24 %.<br />
<br />
The
furnace itself, despite all the pounding and prodding, was found to be
in remarkably great shape the next morning. There is one very small
crack right near the top edge, but otherwise the shaft is in perfect
shape.<br />
The copper tuyere might have melted just a tiny bit. I'll
have to measure it to be sure. The wall around the tuyere did errode a
slight amount, but it does not look more than a centimetre or two. <br />
After a small amount of cleaning up, I'm certain it will be quickly ready for another use (Thanks Lee!)<br />
<br />
<br />
(very) Tired but happy<br />
<i>(but let's get more of the gang here *next* time I decide to try this...)</i><br />
<br />
<i>This post a duplicate from Hammered Out Bits </i>the Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681983168048488983.post-17431928497508563402012-05-05T04:42:00.000-07:002012-05-05T04:42:59.047-07:00A Production (?) Smelt(Day 64) <br />
<br />
Although technically I am past the end date for the OAC Project
Grant, one of the things I wanted to include was building a more
production type furnace and running a test smelt.<br />
<br />
As I had detailed in an <a href="http://warehamforgeblog.blogspot.ca/2012/04/building-production-iron-smelting.html">earlier post</a>, this furnace would include a number of features 'borrowed' from the furnaces that <b>Lee Sauder</b> has been using recently. (This a nice switch, as had focused primarily on clay construction earlier in my development.)<br />
The main features of this new furnace are:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
use of a copper tuyere </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
base area built of fire brick</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
metal sheathing over the shaft</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
use of sand / horse manure / clay mix</div>
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ9NqirBKXU0qjhT-N03tn__bDyHn4Hao8X3S4hH8rjHUtq3FsLobvx8bTVnReeQK8XBzvyO-24ONc7Af20fy4Js8Bz3U4hRq3wUEseZ9IBmKWi11zlJa8z9s8KWvQYHXGP9fBMK_Y67jb/s1600/measurements-A.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ9NqirBKXU0qjhT-N03tn__bDyHn4Hao8X3S4hH8rjHUtq3FsLobvx8bTVnReeQK8XBzvyO-24ONc7Af20fy4Js8Bz3U4hRq3wUEseZ9IBmKWi11zlJa8z9s8KWvQYHXGP9fBMK_Y67jb/s320/measurements-A.jpg" width="227" /></a></td><td style="text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzK0xm-KgNM6iV6ZCZU0b9gBxrNctVmeJvqIOSV_eGe3yjQLbwVPnSK93qYgzxszy4-M7Sgr8nwdfIhZiW8LKTQFgv-5ds6A-AhQVwChBlmO9_tg8yn7sse_ckWA5_l4NNTcz5Jf5sEVv6/s1600/furnace-A.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzK0xm-KgNM6iV6ZCZU0b9gBxrNctVmeJvqIOSV_eGe3yjQLbwVPnSK93qYgzxszy4-M7Sgr8nwdfIhZiW8LKTQFgv-5ds6A-AhQVwChBlmO9_tg8yn7sse_ckWA5_l4NNTcz5Jf5sEVv6/s320/furnace-A.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Layout with dimensions</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before drying fire.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
You can see the layout includes a very deep base
area, a total of 28 cm from the centre of the tuyere tip to the hard
base. When set up for a smelt, the lower 12 cm or so will be filled with
charcoal fines. The furnace also has a much larger tap arch. Taken
together, this should allow for possible bottom extraction of the final
bloom.<br />
<br />
The furnace is set on the upper level of the
normal smelting area at Wareham. This does make it a bit tall for top
extraction (top of the furnace is chest high on me). The advantage is
that the bottom of the furnace is set about 18 inches off the ground,
making it easier to work tapping or slag bowl modification.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpbcjPIL8FtleGoiCTry5VIgNFaMh0hab62UryOZ2wm4_7vil7EpCYhCwv7nYslvCRc_KEoeMMQeETTc86OArwGDo3Pt9LVgDMpPxqZQWI1eN_MAyYx7e3bcLF0jOIxRP9R6Odpr2wE5gZ/s1600/interior-A.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpbcjPIL8FtleGoiCTry5VIgNFaMh0hab62UryOZ2wm4_7vil7EpCYhCwv7nYslvCRc_KEoeMMQeETTc86OArwGDo3Pt9LVgDMpPxqZQWI1eN_MAyYx7e3bcLF0jOIxRP9R6Odpr2wE5gZ/s320/interior-A.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Furnace interior, showing tuyere tip</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This furnace will use the new forged copper tuyere (<a href="http://warehamoacgrant.blogspot.ca/2012/04/forging-copper-tuyere.html">detailed here</a>).
The interior view above was taken before the drying fire was started.
You can see the usual insert tuyere position, 5 cm proud of the interior
wall and set to 23 degrees down angle. The flat brick seen the bottom
is supporting the tap arch at this point (the clay was still damp).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX8nKKHalv3gLsbz614wY4ShyaqllxyJZg0WrkvXdsDjH3Q2jRrLRT0v8osW3o__DnsrGaEcNpZoUXy7DhgUPYS6XxpYq1R-kYwmTnVNmmTzzm07w3FFqtMOW0yG6y9jZiiWXCfDqxGGGJ/s1600/ore-roast.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX8nKKHalv3gLsbz614wY4ShyaqllxyJZg0WrkvXdsDjH3Q2jRrLRT0v8osW3o__DnsrGaEcNpZoUXy7DhgUPYS6XxpYq1R-kYwmTnVNmmTzzm07w3FFqtMOW0yG6y9jZiiWXCfDqxGGGJ/s320/ore-roast.jpg" width="320" /> </a></td><td style="text-align: center;"></td><td style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ore Roasting</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Earlier in this week I had spent part of two
afternoons roasting up ore. I still have a quantity of 'Jamestown
Brown', a water deposited ore from that location in Virginia. A number
of years back, a group of us were invited to pick some of this material
that lay in a large sand bank at the rear of a rural
blacksmith/gunsmith's property. <b>Sheldon Browder & Steve Mankowski</b>
(from Colonial Williamsburg) have used this ore repeatedly since with
good results.<br />
<br />
<br />
Late yesterday afternoon and early evening I started preparing
the smelting area. I started a gentle drying fire using small wood
splits inside the furnace. That process continued for several hours. At
the same time I sorted out the work area for today's smelt. As well I
continued crushing the ore I had roasted over the last week. The ore
does seem a bit 'sandy' to me, with a visible variation in iron
concentration and form. At worst this may mean some extra slag tapping,
but the new furnace layout should provide for this.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Its looking like I may be running this smelt today single handed.
Although I have done this (once!) before, I'm expecting a hard day.
Lets hope nothing goes seriously wrong with this new furnace. <br />
<br />
<br />
Stay tuned...<br />
<br />
<i>This post duplicated from <a href="http://warehamforgeblog.blogspot.ca/">Hammered Out Bits </a></i>the Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681983168048488983.post-29619197746195475352012-04-29T06:48:00.001-07:002012-04-29T06:48:46.315-07:00Inspiration to ModificationDay 62 <br />
<br />
<br />
Remember <a href="http://warehamoacgrant.blogspot.ca/2012/03/why-corning-glass.html">these</a>?<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX9oGejfA7ZC-D9Ba1g6N6SY5J48MAiF4sooGHG4vmQz_BXDCm_LEEGiZiEC7DhuJBn6RbK2fSctvVnZkLSWolW0KkxRZAWc8OyCLiw1E1rSWrBDGMH_F56JXrpLm-hsZhbsGn9nqUl5t_/s1600/spreading.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723622418900381826" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX9oGejfA7ZC-D9Ba1g6N6SY5J48MAiF4sooGHG4vmQz_BXDCm_LEEGiZiEC7DhuJBn6RbK2fSctvVnZkLSWolW0KkxRZAWc8OyCLiw1E1rSWrBDGMH_F56JXrpLm-hsZhbsGn9nqUl5t_/s320/spreading.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 295px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
F- 'Split Fire Riser'<br />
R- 'Solar Riser LH4'<br />
Thomas Patti - 1943</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>(Sorry - its a horrible image)</i> <br />
</div>
<br />
When I saw these glass objects by Patti at the Corning Glass
Museum, I immediately thought of how the hydraulic press could alter the
shape of a block of steel in a similar way.<br />
<br />
So this is what became of the concept (Very, <i>very</i>, first rendition)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw_kwf8309AKmXrkdf3o6Hc03T0gy25Zl66noV_7rNFiDaHIvqV3DI9oW8MZZfG_rIQJFu8dsGbHWKdx5NZBdj4ezePOFTXxjhDiAMdzq-lW8mqq46M5dvOj3BOfHYyEk-1l72L_tmlKyt/s1600/press-tools.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="473" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw_kwf8309AKmXrkdf3o6Hc03T0gy25Zl66noV_7rNFiDaHIvqV3DI9oW8MZZfG_rIQJFu8dsGbHWKdx5NZBdj4ezePOFTXxjhDiAMdzq-lW8mqq46M5dvOj3BOfHYyEk-1l72L_tmlKyt/s640/press-tools.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
The left corner is the result of the very first experimenting with the press day I did with <b><a href="http://www.artistblacksmith.com/">David Robertson</a></b>. (David had consulted heavily with me on the construction of the press before this OAC project begain.)<br />
The
tool was originally produced for potential use with my small air
hammer. I never use secondary tools that much with the air hammer,
primarily because of the small die surface (as repeatedly mentioned,
only 1 1/2 " wide by 4 " long). Although it is true that lack of
practice is part of that problem! It has a slightly tapered shaft forged
from 1 1/4 ' round stock, so the working end is roughly 1 inch
diameter. The shaft length is roughly 3 inches, made of mild steel. The
handle is piece of flat stock, wrapped around and MIG welded on the top
surface, then ground flush.<br />
<br />
The starting block was a piece of 1/2 thick by roughly 2 inch square.<br />
The
resulting shape was made by setting the tool on the orange hot block,
then driving it downwards. I used the full power of the press (to 3000
psi), primarily to see how far through I could push the tool.<br />
As
you can see, what happened is that the tool 'bottomed out' at about 3/16
thickness. At that point the metal below the tool had most of its heat
pulled off through contact with the tool and bed of the press. The
increasing pressure then simply started to bend the shaft itself.<br />
<br />
<br />
Obviously not the way to go. Interesting potential however.<br />
<br />
<br />
The second test , at the upper right, (done April 17) started
with modifying a tool. This small (cheap) ball peen hammer had been used
for a different impression test initially. Result was that the pressure
collapsed the walls of the eye around the original wooden handle. First
I used a drift to re-open the eye and straighten the bent head. The
hammer face side was forged down to approximately the same shape and
size as a standard 3/4 inch taper base candle. Last I forged down a
piece of solid 5/8 " round to fit, then drove that into the eye hot to
seat it. <br />
The starting block this time was a piece of 1 inch square, about three inches long.<br />
First the hot block was collapsed downwards into itself. With a second heat, the tool was pressed down into the block.<br />
One
unexpected result was that the ball top end actually left an impression
into the mild steel top flat plate die set in the press. Not good. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
But the finished object? Closer, but still not quite.<br />
<br />
<br />
Both tool and object prototyping continues...<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />the Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681983168048488983.post-49696298842755699692012-04-25T07:23:00.000-07:002012-04-25T07:23:03.766-07:00What is a 'Working Day' ?Day 60<br />
<br />
The last couple of days have been a bit messed up, certainly in terms of how they might track back into the grant project.<br />
<br />
Just how do you count a working day?<br />
Especially if you are a self supporting artist?<br />
<br />
People who have 9 to 5 'standard' jobs just don't get it. Yes, I do not have to go someplace at a fixed time, then do something I largely do not like, mainly for someone else's bennefit. <br />
But I also spend more time each day (even if its broken up) occupied with my 'job'. I also typically 'work' seven days a week. I don't have any holidays.<br />
<br />
Normally I'm up at about 7 AM (often much earlier). I dress, brush my teeth, go up to my office and turn on the computer. Grab a coffee. That puts me 'at work' by about 7:10 at the latest.<br />
Then I'm involved in business related activity until normally 10 - 10:30. This includes all the business communications, which I in fact do first. This may be answering questions, preparing quotes and design work. Keeping my business records (including all that tax stuff for the sole bennefit of the Government). There is time spent on 'outreach' - here being researching, writing, formatting and posting for the blogs. Attempting to keep the web sites up to date.<br />
<br />
By about 10:30 or 11 AM, my brain is about toast. Some days the desk / computer work runs straight through to noon. By then I'm *really* fried.<br />
<br />
During the grant project, I have been seriously trying to keep 'non grant' work to a bare minimum. I'm keeping a daily diary, when I note what I've done each day. Note that I do not consider that work required as part of keeping the Wareham Forge functional as 'non grant' time. Monday I spent a hour compiling my quarterly HST, for example. A counter point was that this morning I spent roughly a hour and a half making up a design rough for a possible project for *after* the grant runs out. That time I will not include under the project grant.<br />
<br />
Afternoons are generally spent in the workshop itself, normally starting some point between 1:30 - 2 pm. Once again, there is a lot more to undertake in the shop than just hammer at the forge. Supply trips (Monday morning I rushed in to purchase propane, elapsed time was 1 1/2 hours). Clean up and maintenance. Equipment construction and set up. <br />
Now take one of the work sessions documented here, say the one shown as '<a href="http://warehamoacgrant.blogspot.ca/2012/04/typical-work-session.html">A Typical Work Session</a>'. <br />
First I need to figure out just what I'm going to do. This may include some organization and record keeping. Typically 15 minutes.<br />
Then, having selected the bloom to work on, I start the gas forge and start getting the required tools, etc organized. All while waiting for the gas forge to get through its pre-heat. Typically 10 minutes.<br />
Now I can place the bloom piece into the gas forge for its initial heat soak. Then I turn my attention to the preparing the coal forge. Clean, sieve, lay and start the fire. Wait for that fire to run through its coking phase. Normally sweep the shop floor while this is happening. Typically 30 - minutes.<br />
By now the bloom piece is pre-heated and can be transferred to the coal forge to bring it up to welding heat. This requires some attention. I dance back and forth preparing the air hammer and hydraulic press for operation.<br />
Elapsed time from when I entered the workshop till I pull the bloom piece out to the anvil? Typically 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours.<br />
Insert forging the bloom here, normally about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.<br />
<br />
Now at that point I'm, pretty much beat. Forging multiple kilogram masses at welding heats is exhausting and demanding work (even *with* my two machines).<br />
<br />
Add some time shutting things down. Normally its now something between 5 - 6 pm.<br />
I make that a 'normal' work day of 7 a to 5:30 p, with 1 1/2 hours average for lunch = 9 hours.<br />
<br />
Then there are the *long* days.<br />
Now do that basically 7 days a week.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>I was extremely pleased - and quite surprised, to get this OAC grant! </b>(Ok?)<br />
<br />
Taking the amount awarded in the grant and converting it into normal working days, at 5 per week and weekends off, the total came to * 43 * working days. Use that standard, with the 14 days for the Smeltfest research trip considered additional time. With the grant effective February 15, the last grant day would be Thursday April 26.<br />
Tomorrow.<br />
See the 'day count' at the top of this post?<br />
I have deducted all the time I have spent on things that I do not consider part of this project. I've been counting 'full days' (not working hours!)<br />
Today's total?<br />
* 60 * days<br />
<br />
I'm actually going to try to squeeze out additional working time past that April 26 date for the grant project. I have an academic paper to deliver at the International Congress on Medieval Studies on May 10. My intent is to extend my own work on this project to that date.<br />
<br />
I think the Ontario Taxpayer is certainly getting their money's worth...<br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>PS - this piece just took me one hour to prepare</i>the Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681983168048488983.post-72079871169722184382012-04-21T05:40:00.000-07:002012-04-21T05:40:01.076-07:00Sometimes a great (?) notion...(Day 58 continued)<br />
<br />
For the last week in the forge I have been working to prepare materials with a specific object in mind.<br />
Generally this is *not* how I have been proceeding with the project. As I do feel I still have a lot to learn about how best to approach compacting down each individual bloom. I still don't really feel confident that I can pick up a given bloom - then absolutely undertake the best possible method to produce a determined result at bar stage. There is no doubt that all this bloom to bar work is greatly increasing my skills, but...<br />
<br />
I had three possible objects in the back of my head to create as part of this project. All three incorporate blown glass. Working with a 'raw' piece of bloom iron creates texture, an irregular outline and considerable strength. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibHCPFHnEyuCs-23AOdphEc7Afa8_4lISlG9WcKQu9kpjYprPk2KpQTNWBCeTI9KDhQ_gVs9awVEXQCj-aM0HrXE8KcvFrqRxIPyAN8-8dzrQSBIRlzdNUYpkPALMf09IOcB3L4m5LMsGE/s1600/10.Bloom-Bowl-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibHCPFHnEyuCs-23AOdphEc7Afa8_4lISlG9WcKQu9kpjYprPk2KpQTNWBCeTI9KDhQ_gVs9awVEXQCj-aM0HrXE8KcvFrqRxIPyAN8-8dzrQSBIRlzdNUYpkPALMf09IOcB3L4m5LMsGE/s320/10.Bloom-Bowl-1.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Forged Bloom Bowl</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I've always loved blown glass. It offers colour, transparency, and smooth fluid lines. The counterpoint to forged metals is obvious.<br />
<br />
So this is the concept :<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYW3flRUlRIwYkxXCv1xrx0bulqMawv5p2HBHuD6nN6YW63lf1kruRw4tbRsI4g2xwWkbJNUjDY8MY8f1yhjeWvjx5_tuwTk8001VnS4cS7NKL_6kG8QvIKAkaOPRl1a4Bp_91evRijR3E/s1600/glass-core-rough.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYW3flRUlRIwYkxXCv1xrx0bulqMawv5p2HBHuD6nN6YW63lf1kruRw4tbRsI4g2xwWkbJNUjDY8MY8f1yhjeWvjx5_tuwTk8001VnS4cS7NKL_6kG8QvIKAkaOPRl1a4Bp_91evRijR3E/s320/glass-core-rough.jpg" width="191" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rough for 'Fluid Core'</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This most certainly is one of those times where my illustration ability falls so very short of being able to adequately picture the concept.<br />
For 'Fluid Core', three pieces of forged bloom iron would be joined to create a tall tripod like shape. The surfaces would be roughly polished, as seen in the bloom bowl above. This creates surfaces that are both flat and shiny, but also darkly pock marked. The ragged edges from the original bloom are left in place as much a possible. Part of the technical challenge is compacting the parent bloom mass enough to be structurally solid, but not welding / folding so much as to blend in all the cracked edges.<br />
The glass would be formed in place over the metal. On the lower surface, it would be allowed to slump down to form three lobes between the metal plates I'm envisioning the top of the glass as a long oval form.<br />
<br />
These are the individual plates I have forged up to use for this object :<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGTIAErHIElgkfM3RdEJTOBAZYxVSMsnW0qJgv5YpJL541kRdB3Oavm0H6WpGmfQ1uEEeDRa8xaWyo9vbbExN5ZHRVuwXEz7xLXj6ZSTFwvzQyJw_VR0dtHBbD9kYaawWIlBSoubZQVW00/s1600/3-plates.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGTIAErHIElgkfM3RdEJTOBAZYxVSMsnW0qJgv5YpJL541kRdB3Oavm0H6WpGmfQ1uEEeDRa8xaWyo9vbbExN5ZHRVuwXEz7xLXj6ZSTFwvzQyJw_VR0dtHBbD9kYaawWIlBSoubZQVW00/s320/3-plates.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bloom iron plates</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
All three pieces are forged down from the 'Slag Pit 2' bloom (# 49 - November 2011) The starting bloom mass was 4650 gm. It was the first piece that I worked under the new hydraulic press, first cutting it into four more manageable sections. (The fourth piece, smaller and more fragmented, was forged up into a working bar.)<br />
You can see how I have drawn the individual segments into long thin plates. The next step will be shaping these into more of a triangular profile. I still have not decided if I will simply MIG weld the plates together, or make a separate cylindrical core to serve as the attachment piece.<br />
<br />
I have already spoken to local glass artist <b>Kathryn Thompson</b> about co-producing this piece (and possibly two others). I have been a huge fan of Kathryn's work since I first met her. (Kathryn was one of the <a href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/furnace/3thomson.JPG">contributing artists</a> for '<a href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/furnace/">Out of the Fiery Furnace</a>' in 2005). Other than showing her my rough concept, I intend on letting her determine how best the glass work should be undertaken.<br />
<br />
I will be using some of the OAC grand funding to directly commission this glass work from Kathryn. (Another positive effect of the grant!)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />the Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681983168048488983.post-6030599630055383302012-04-20T07:07:00.000-07:002012-04-20T07:07:01.176-07:00Building a PRODUCTION Iron Smelting Furnace Day 58<br />
<br />
Making a bloom requires an iron smelting furnace. I have built dozens over the years, most on the '<a href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ROMiron/V2/Norse-Smelter.jpg">Norse Short Shaft</a>' model. The work on the actual smelting end (creation of the iron blooms) has been a combination of a learning process extended into experimental archaeology. Furnaces are often purpose built to test a specific variable, and commonly only used one or two times.<br />
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I have decided to take the opportunity offered by the OAC project grant to build a more durable 'production' version furnace.<br />
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The first day's work consisted of gathering the available supplies and possible pieces, plus cleaning up and preparing the site. The furnace built for last year's '<a href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/November11/november11.html">slag pit</a>' experiments was examined to see if it could be simply repaired. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_us5YxPm9QMJP_v8aM-Kzj_3UAGT2gPOKzcjhDaetSJockXptQ703oqS05IrJcYGKpd4GUtNmUF5W-oUVBP-VxWkoRxpuelSLKP56TUAqn57T-z_gg2KXUTFWyawTU9Vt-wmr4pCdVYl/s1600/2011-furnace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_us5YxPm9QMJP_v8aM-Kzj_3UAGT2gPOKzcjhDaetSJockXptQ703oqS05IrJcYGKpd4GUtNmUF5W-oUVBP-VxWkoRxpuelSLKP56TUAqn57T-z_gg2KXUTFWyawTU9Vt-wmr4pCdVYl/s400/2011-furnace.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Damage to top of Fall 2011 furnace</td></tr>
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The nature of recording the slag pit experiments had meant picking up and moving the furnace itself after each smelt. The furnace had been returned to a prepared base and covered over with a plastic drum for the winter. The combination of all that shifting, and the winter weather, had resulted in a fair amount of damage. This certainly could have been repaired, but I decided to build a brand new furnace.<br />
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There would be a number major elements used for the production furnace which should combine to greatly increased durability :<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
use of a copper tuyere </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
base area built of fire brick</div>
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metal sheathing over the shaft</div>
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use of sand / horse manure / clay mix</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Br2_19uQwT2oQ01nPZmpjrGEJCewehZjNzlPF6s2YekQrcZAtiFHot8oWPaSWz8mCS-endTYlS7yxSs0YdLV6_lbt4tVVE9WansaJ8fuE3S_P7dhY-U43IpH56FttfSEiIdOQ3Hk7cHb/s1600/measureA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Br2_19uQwT2oQ01nPZmpjrGEJCewehZjNzlPF6s2YekQrcZAtiFHot8oWPaSWz8mCS-endTYlS7yxSs0YdLV6_lbt4tVVE9WansaJ8fuE3S_P7dhY-U43IpH56FttfSEiIdOQ3Hk7cHb/s400/measureA.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Part way through construction, with measurements</td></tr>
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One of the things kicking around the shop was an old metal trash barrel, with the bottom pretty much rusted out. It was roughly 60 cm tall and about 35 cm diameter at the small end. Almost exactly the same size as the exterior of a short shaft furnace. I decided to use this as a combination form and protective shell for the upper shaft. The base area would be built from a circle of dense fire brick, both for durability and stability.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmmjpBtSf4-_mus58ydLaHxQr62lQwLbQ3TbvlDrUZe_mLXzyJMe3-lpWZ0t4dDLOSYa4gPReXg9MtAoFfeXXYod-ln9B8j-eX5aOSqg8yTWXKXsCGprW5ekwaLtUQfLTSY8T3Cvlr5G5n/s1600/bricks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmmjpBtSf4-_mus58ydLaHxQr62lQwLbQ3TbvlDrUZe_mLXzyJMe3-lpWZ0t4dDLOSYa4gPReXg9MtAoFfeXXYod-ln9B8j-eX5aOSqg8yTWXKXsCGprW5ekwaLtUQfLTSY8T3Cvlr5G5n/s400/bricks.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Firebrick base as laid out</td></tr>
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The furnace was constructed on the shelf that makes up one edge of the Wareham smelting area. This places the bottom base of the furnace up about 25 cm above the working floor. To create a hard bottom and stable surface, a (broken) concrete paving slab was placed first. The furnace is being constructed with a large tap arch - large enough to allow for possible bottom extraction of the bloom (although my normal method is a top extraction). The location of the tuyere will be to the left hand side as seen above. The placement of the fire bricks on edge creates a heavy and flat surface for the shaft of the furnace to rest on. The circle of standard construction bricks defines the boarder between the furnace and the natural earth surface.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP5ua4Eze2mf0HVOdOanqrHCDoW7DUwiiIrqQsFdKhSZ0YrKRLAkVnjQkH9UwVa1wtuKR8XMMSg23YEVwPx0XcxXu8q25oQeDpgWqlF6uU9RcL2UWvGBI5nQ_Mpk90hVx420O7cVXqmkee/s1600/base.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP5ua4Eze2mf0HVOdOanqrHCDoW7DUwiiIrqQsFdKhSZ0YrKRLAkVnjQkH9UwVa1wtuKR8XMMSg23YEVwPx0XcxXu8q25oQeDpgWqlF6uU9RcL2UWvGBI5nQ_Mpk90hVx420O7cVXqmkee/s400/base.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brick layer with clay fill </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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The first layer of clay was a mix of 50 / 50 rough sand and standard ball clay (mixes by volume). This was used as a mortar to fill the wedge shaped gaps between individual bricks. Next the space between the firebrick circle and the outer retaining bricks was filled. Finally a sloped shoulder was created from clay to the top of the fire brick layer. A full bag of clay was required here.<br />
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Next, the bottom of the metal barrel was cut out. A slot was cut on one side, roughly 7.5 x 7.5 cm. This would be the hole allowing for the insertion of the tuyere later. The measurement from the top of this hole to the top of the barrel was 40 cm. (When positioned, the angle of the tuyere will place its tip even lower, so there should be a good 50 cm of stack height.)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkfqk9LMXVF0aXN6gkB0s2nRsXlHvO19dZSIKTx3UKahXc6mGE9uvsh0YfBUzxMY911s3Xn_-_0xAeKmGIgRTFUo-3eIACcqcsF8sRfga3t-tSdgt3TP_vg3hUM9gWh4qnhdz1BmAiGKO_/s1600/mix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkfqk9LMXVF0aXN6gkB0s2nRsXlHvO19dZSIKTx3UKahXc6mGE9uvsh0YfBUzxMY911s3Xn_-_0xAeKmGIgRTFUo-3eIACcqcsF8sRfga3t-tSdgt3TP_vg3hUM9gWh4qnhdz1BmAiGKO_/s400/mix.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dry measures for the clay mixture</td></tr>
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The furnace walls were composed of a mixture of course sand, shredded dry horse manure and clay. The clay used was 'New Foundry' - a higher firing temperature clay (which I had gotten from <b>Lee Sauder</b>). The ratio is roughly 25 / 25 / 50. This is mixed dry by hand before the water is added. (I took considerable care to make sure the mixture was fairly stiff, particularly with the first layer.) The material was kneaded up to an even consistancey, then hand wedged into balls and left to stand for about an hour before applying. (Note that Lee recommends letting the clay stand overnight to even out the moisture content. Yes - I did rush this a bit!)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggMdiRx4qwFejmdg7cUzh6DR0UctF_MzEF5kSxnlDF3mvuMoQr1DGXJST3o8lc4NJoBgQP3oYiX2YPL_1CQcV37JkoAmtu0LiccJbWOAcY5WosChuYcFkkNndITPTqJJnxxmsMokAFA0nx/s1600/inner-clay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggMdiRx4qwFejmdg7cUzh6DR0UctF_MzEF5kSxnlDF3mvuMoQr1DGXJST3o8lc4NJoBgQP3oYiX2YPL_1CQcV37JkoAmtu0LiccJbWOAcY5WosChuYcFkkNndITPTqJJnxxmsMokAFA0nx/s400/inner-clay.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First wall layer applied (tap arch at bottom right)</td></tr>
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The individual balls were broken in half, with the individual pieces blended in carefully as the walls were built up. The metal form allowed to exert good pressure, but still keeps the overall shape consistent (and under control!) The thickness of the walls was kept to roughly 6 cm at the bottom, thinning slightly to closer to 5 cm at the top. You can see how the interior diameter is matched to the ring of fire bricks.<br />
Because the metal barrel tapers, the interior diameter of the furnace will taper slightly as well. This is actually ideal, as it moves the tuyere tip slightly off the direct line of ore falling inside the furnace. (We have seen this arrangement reduces the amount of slag that collects on the tuyere tip.)<br />
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<i>I finished up a long working day just as the sun was getting close to the horizon and the black flies were starting to come out. Expect some images of the final construction, once the clay has had a couple of days to stiffen up and I mount the tuyere.</i><br />
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<br />the Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681983168048488983.post-92132400092440417082012-04-16T04:22:00.003-07:002012-04-16T04:42:47.026-07:00Demonstrating the Aristotle FurnaceDay 54<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BKTrBVFWySY" allowfullscreen="" width="420" frameborder="0" height="315"></iframe><br /><br />This video clip was shot by one of the participants at my March 10 demonstration at the monthly meeting of the <a href="http://www.ontarioblacksmiths.ca">Ontario Artist Blacksmith's Association</a> (OABA, through the work of editor Sean Stoughton, regularly posts video on to its own <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/OntarioBlacksmiths?feature=watch">YouTube site</a>. )<br />The sound quality is uneven, and as hand held footage is a bit jumpy. The beginning explaination is missing, but if you stick with the clip, you will mostly get the sense of how the small re-melting furnace works.<br /><br />For more info, download a handout at: <a href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Aristotle-HO.pdf" target="_blank" title="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Aristotle-HO.pdf" rel="nofollow" dir="ltr" class="yt-uix-redirect-link">http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Aristotle-HO.pdf</a><br /><br />An earlier description of this demonstration was made here on B2B : <a href="http://warehamoacgrant.blogspot.ca/2012/03/aristotle-furnace.html">March 11 - the Aristotle Furnace</a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Saturday and Sunday this weekend were spent taking part in a presentation by the <a href="http://www.darkcompany.ca">Dark Ages Re-Creation Company</a> at the Royal Ontario Museum. The ongoing experimental iron smelting work was part of the presentation. Although strictly not part of the B2B project, reference to the OAC was made (via a sign). </span>the Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681983168048488983.post-82841809483718680112012-04-13T07:34:00.004-07:002012-04-13T08:26:43.808-07:00Forging a Copper TuyereDay 54<br /><br />This is a note of the work undertaken on Wednesday April 11 (Day 52).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lee </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sauder</span> had this to say about his use of a copper tuyere:<br /><div></div><blockquote><div>1) The original inspiration to try the copper came from the Catalan furnace descriptions. I tried it the first time I tried the flue tile, after the first Early Iron at Cooperstown, so I guess that would have been late ‘04 or early ‘05. I have used them almost exclusively since, with the Coated Tyle furnaces, the Cadhinos, the big steel and refractory Aphrodite, and all the clay furnaces.</div> <div> </div> <div>2) I have found that they will melt if they are much less than 14 inches long (this is with about 2.5 inches protruding into the furnace). </div> <div> </div> <div>3) I looked back through my notes, I think I used the last tuyere for 45 smelts before I retired it, but I’m not sure. It didn’t fail, it was gradually thinning, and I didn’t trust it anymore.</div></blockquote><div></div>I had made a first attempt to try out a copper tuyere for my own smelts # 7, #8, # 12 in 2005. My problem was at the time I did not have suitable copper material to work with. I had tried cutting and forming from 1/8 inch thick copper sheet. That thickness just was not enough to either withstand the furnace temperatures or transmit heat off fast enough to prevent erosion of the tip. Work with copper tuyeres was abandoned in favour of using a standardized ceramic tube (starting in 2006).<br /><br />Last year at Quad State, I had picked up a large bar of copper, 2 x 1 1/2 x 12 inches. (Luckily, I paid less than current scrap prices = $20.) I had actually intended this material for an artistic forging project, but like many good intentions, the piece got tucked away and pretty much forgotten.<br /><br />With the reminder caused by the slag rings recovered at Smeltfest this year, and wanting a break from the heavy forge work this week, I pulled that block out. The starting weight was 4358 gm.<br />The first step was to combine draw, widen and flatten the material to a rough flat bar. This was done under the air hammer - mainly 'pushing' the material under the dies. (Starting at the far end, and pushing the material back towards the tong end as the dies collapsed it.)<br />Copper is wonderful material forge! It is extremely soft at a dull red colour, and even when the temperature drops, it remains soft and workable. This softness also means less vibration shock back into your hands. The big problem is heating a large piece. Heating in the propane gas forge, I was never able to get it much more than a 'bright red'. The end of the material hanging out of the forge was radiating off heat almost as fast as the burners were applying it.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG1lKNN1tJfq4Hkh2mD7yqQN8S45o_7x4CmBRrT-GJpi0AmAgm9MaT0goRRi4wTXSxysl5PLRp0WndDdNf3lMTNkEiQcPxfFPdyT59iU8T-mQU46Y3kn5THeuw-Z5ixpC3cctjnZ1TII2C/s1600/copper-forged.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 131px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG1lKNN1tJfq4Hkh2mD7yqQN8S45o_7x4CmBRrT-GJpi0AmAgm9MaT0goRRi4wTXSxysl5PLRp0WndDdNf3lMTNkEiQcPxfFPdyT59iU8T-mQU46Y3kn5THeuw-Z5ixpC3cctjnZ1TII2C/s320/copper-forged.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730906201055652482" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">After the initial flattening<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">(sorry for poor image quality)</span><br /></div><br />At the end of the first stage, I had a flat bar roughly 1/2 inch thick, 3 inches wide, and about 20 inches long. You can see most of the thickness had been transferred to length, working on the flat die on the air hammer. In the image you can see how I cut off the last 4 1/2 inches (955 gm) of material.<br /><br />The remaining piece was forged to a taper, both in thickness and width, over its length. This was done in a number of steps. Initially the material was worked by placing it to 90 degrees to the long axis of the dies. Next the surface was worked under a Hoffi style crowning top die. This was followed by a fair amount of working the surface with the cross peen. Again the direction of the peening was done at 90 degrees to the long axis of the material. The net effect here (for the non blacksmiths) is to primarily force the material side to side - not end for end. Last, the surface was worked with the forging hammer to smooth out all the irregularities caused by using the peen on such soft material. At this point the edges were also hammered to create a more or less even and straight lines.<br /><br />This all created a shape like a triangle with the tip cut off. To finish the work, the peen was again used, but now over a half cylinder shaped anvil tool. Also it proved just as easy to work into the hollow created by the step from horn to face on the right hand edge of the anvil. This series of more gentle strokes gradually formed the flat surface into a half curve. This was carefully rolled up to where the two edges met - creating a conical form.<br />This was then worked to ensure the shape was symmetrical, and straight.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg8DcY4HNcni7AnN1GeHImfNTjydzgm8fCDB-a9f8e1-8S5-5IInmgARnBp41vyBAXnvzNHSRws61qRt8FAe1oqWLHSPMwgWbBLSNdDVJyG53uBfenzIAQW8Nhf9N1Q8J_1uZoWZaaWCT5/s1600/copper-tuyere.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 105px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg8DcY4HNcni7AnN1GeHImfNTjydzgm8fCDB-a9f8e1-8S5-5IInmgARnBp41vyBAXnvzNHSRws61qRt8FAe1oqWLHSPMwgWbBLSNdDVJyG53uBfenzIAQW8Nhf9N1Q8J_1uZoWZaaWCT5/s320/copper-tuyere.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730906205935343858" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Finished copper tuyere<br /></div><br />The resulting tuyere is 45 cm long. Its finished weight is 3394 gm.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi3at7V7RVaSmhC4u_D9kNd3wGdlserFId16_3KUioO4ewoQrj-kUohnC1Aq_MXb3Pn1t4d-VF910xuq9sKN6XHbPxFT2iqglOmGWwlQoc4eeoizXXwv8GphSatJ5abO_wQ-SOcV-44PNB/s1600/tuyere-end.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 317px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi3at7V7RVaSmhC4u_D9kNd3wGdlserFId16_3KUioO4ewoQrj-kUohnC1Aq_MXb3Pn1t4d-VF910xuq9sKN6XHbPxFT2iqglOmGWwlQoc4eeoizXXwv8GphSatJ5abO_wQ-SOcV-44PNB/s320/tuyere-end.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730906190569787042" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Furnace End<br />2.5 cm internal diameter<br />wall thickness 6 mm<br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ3V-QbkvMC1e6bMmAPeG_ywmweV0jsGFbFu8MQgb86N1S-kXjflilEyepbQGElm4EdFRnpioRtEHix0qqTirEfdkDErbfbsCBhpuZRwwUfHxYcm_aSSlzowuiu7g-NBYoKLq9pefpGtyV/s1600/input-end.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 292px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ3V-QbkvMC1e6bMmAPeG_ywmweV0jsGFbFu8MQgb86N1S-kXjflilEyepbQGElm4EdFRnpioRtEHix0qqTirEfdkDErbfbsCBhpuZRwwUfHxYcm_aSSlzowuiu7g-NBYoKLq9pefpGtyV/s320/input-end.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730906189627076594" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Air Input End<br />5 cm total diameter (accepts standard 1 1/2 inch threaded pipe)<br />wall thickness 3 mm<br /></div>the Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681983168048488983.post-61058162769576905672012-04-12T02:53:00.004-07:002012-04-12T04:18:40.418-07:00Credit where Credit is Due!Day 53<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Setting the Record Straight!</span><br /><br />Part of the project grant was specifically to cover my participation in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Smeltfest</span> 2012, hosted by <a href="http://www.leesauder.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lee <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Sauder</span></span></a> at his Germinal Ironworks outside Lexington Virginia.<br />Lee, assisted by his close friend and smelting partner <span style="font-weight: bold;">Skip Williams</span>, started investing historic <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">bloomery</span> iron smelting methods in the 1990's. They were initially inspired by African models, then worked backwards to establish a functional and predictable technique.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicMifhUnIoxjumPij0dvmRriYJm0zA6s_w6Rf_wzJPwKzBuwG5rX2AT0SlQhqv2Vl5U9gnJJ_WTOBUIq9TH9CP7G-3tgex7nRSjBIn0iOMhTYVDnVMi99XswKefpgEtxI6pBgUJdMFBRqO/s1600/twentyfivem.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicMifhUnIoxjumPij0dvmRriYJm0zA6s_w6Rf_wzJPwKzBuwG5rX2AT0SlQhqv2Vl5U9gnJJ_WTOBUIq9TH9CP7G-3tgex7nRSjBIn0iOMhTYVDnVMi99XswKefpgEtxI6pBgUJdMFBRqO/s200/twentyfivem.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730454884217244114" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Sauder</span> & Williams, pulling a bloom from their 'African Queen' furnace.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Frontier Culture Museum, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Stauton</span> VA - 2002</span><br /></div><br />I had the good fortune to meet Lee and Skip in Fall of 2002. I had only undertaken two smelts at that point, both unsuccessful. They were extremely generous with their knowledge and folding my small group (other members of <a href="http://www.darkcompany.ca/iron/index.php"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">DARC</span></a>) into their demonstration. Although we did little more than help with some of the 'dirty jobs' I certainly learned an immense amount. They had already determined the critical high volume air flow required to correctly produce dense iron blooms. By the point I met them, they had published their research both formally and inside <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">blacksmithing</span> circles.<br /><br />Thanks to the wonders of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">internet</span>, the Spring 2004 smelt at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Wareham</span> had a special guest, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Michael McCarthy</span> from Cooperstown NY. Mike had been smelting at the Farmer's Museum, basing his furnaces on Colonial American models. He was actually on his way back home from spending a week building and operating a Japanese <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">tatara</span> furnace. Although yet again tour smelt was a <a href="http://www.darkcompany.ca/iron0604/index.php?submenu=I">complete failure</a>, a solid friendship was struck up.<br /><br />Mike would organize the first <a href="http://www.geocities.ws/earlyirongroup/">Early Iron</a> symposium at the Farmer's Museum in <a href="http://www.geocities.ws/earlyirongroup/earlyiron1/index.html">Fall of 2004</a>. This gathered together Lee & Skip, Mike and myself as demonstrators, each building and operating a furnace from our various traditions. My (quite unplanned) contribution was a Norse style short shaft.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjEmRTe72Q2rzgaSXvQKPedb2A7ggmhnTWq_4_iMoF90y6zCvR5VwL2qP-FcXtdjv6-HA3_p5LOd3FtUvQUNLSFaONG6QJbDcSBGhbETfLODAgAi6dek20m8rPTxpIyQToQlhS-ZxtXXJl/s1600/sixm.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjEmRTe72Q2rzgaSXvQKPedb2A7ggmhnTWq_4_iMoF90y6zCvR5VwL2qP-FcXtdjv6-HA3_p5LOd3FtUvQUNLSFaONG6QJbDcSBGhbETfLODAgAi6dek20m8rPTxpIyQToQlhS-ZxtXXJl/s200/sixm.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730454882543698386" border="0" /></a>the "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Gangue</span> of Fer"<br />(L-R) <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Sauder</span>, Williams, McCarthy, myself (back)<br />Early Iron 1 - Cooperstown NY, 2004<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Late Winter of 2005 would mark the first of the invitational <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Smeltfest</span> events hosted by Lee. Initially this was just the small group of us, concentrating on some specific aspect of furnace construction or smelting method.<br />Over the years a number of functional problems have been proposed and tested. These methods have then been incorporated in the continuing work of all three teams. A growing group of other enthusiasts have been included and have contributed. The core these days includes <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://jhbladesmith.com/">Jesus Hernandez</a>, Shelton <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Browder</span> </span>and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Steve <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Mankowski</span></span>. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Smeltfest</span> has been fortunate to have include a number of wide flung guests on a more irregular basis, including some that have travelled a fair distance to participate. (Recent years have included <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jake Keen, Tim Young</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Therese <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Kearns</span> </span>from England, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jeff <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Pringle</span></span> from California.)<br /><br />In truth, the Early Iron group acts much like a think tank - with a solid practical workshop aspect. Evenings are spent in brainstorming ideas, with the raw energy of being gathered from isolation into a group of fellow enthusiasts. Days are spent testing out suggested concepts. The combination of experiences, interests and personal skills provides a unique and often intense, learning experience for us all.<br /><br />My single largest contribution to the overall <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">endeavor</span> has been with documenting and publishing the discoveries. Almost always I am *not* the originator of these ideas. In practical work, I am typically just a 'worker bee' rather than a team leader.<br /> I do make every attempt to make sure credit is given where credit is due.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">(This clarification arose from some secondary mentions of yesterday's blog post. Tomorrow I will expand on those additional comments.)</span><br /></div></div>the Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681983168048488983.post-80222966609955992882012-04-10T05:34:00.006-07:002012-04-10T06:18:44.940-07:00Crossover - Slag Rings in Archaeology?<span style="font-style: italic;">The impact of an <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">OAC</span> project grant may extend well past the intended application. </span><br /><br />My interest in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">bloomery</span> iron started with the historic process of making the iron. Although there are some scattered living traditions (notably in Africa and India), these are fragmentary at best. For Europe, the technology of making iron has changed significantly since 1000 AD, with several pronounced shifts in method, equipment and type of metal produced. In attempting to re-discover what is a 'lost' <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">tradition</span>, modern researchers and practitioners are guided by very limited archaeological remains alone.<br />The best experimental archaeology may offer insights into how to interpret what may be puzzling artifact remains.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">***********<br /></div><br />These are some shots of slag rings recovered from two of our recent smelts (at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Smeltfest</span> 2012, Lexington VA, March 2012)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lee <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Sauder</span></span> has been using a heavy forged copper <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">tuyere</span> on all his smelts for the last several years. I'm not entirely sure just why he came up with this innovation. I believe it was in attempt to find a durable solution to the problem how the high temperatures inside the iron smelting furnaces were melting off the ceramic and steel pipe <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">tuyeres</span> then in use.<br />His <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">tuyere</span> was forged from a solid copper plate roughly 3/8 inch thick. First the piece was cross <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">peened</span> along the long axis to both spread and thin the rectangle into a triangle shape. Then the resulting form was wrapped into a cone. The finished cone is roughly 2 cm ID on the furnace end, about 4 cm ID on the bellows end. The piece is maybe about 40 cm long altogether. The closing seam is just butted together (not fused or entirely air tight).<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifEQwApTQv1VXMoKhdIF7Al8bXwVYUedyYEVOO_8H-ifkdBk7arWKGgcCEsYDY5lqnBHiNjxXZBemqJnaAgXPlF6nh1YCWJ8WLGQ-jkDf4KXjr1HdDdJxY5bilFiXu2bgLp8nH4cwQIWKf/s1600/furnace.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifEQwApTQv1VXMoKhdIF7Al8bXwVYUedyYEVOO_8H-ifkdBk7arWKGgcCEsYDY5lqnBHiNjxXZBemqJnaAgXPlF6nh1YCWJ8WLGQ-jkDf4KXjr1HdDdJxY5bilFiXu2bgLp8nH4cwQIWKf/s320/furnace.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729754305447728082" border="0" /></a>Lee's clay 'medium shaft' production furnace.<br />The conical forged copper <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">tuyere</span> can be seen to the right<br /></div><br />In use, what happens is that the heat the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">tuyere</span> end is subjected to quickly travels back to the larger end exposed outside the furnace. The combination of radiation to the outside air, and rushing cold air down the inside surface, all combines to keep the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">tuyere</span> end well before the slumping or melting point of the copper material. The result is virtually no effect to the the copper <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">tuyere</span>, even after many firing sequences. I think Lee has used this same <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">tuyere</span> for something like 30 smelts, with no damage at all!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWi4WUIkChDANSQJQnV5xBo3tQzyZv0J4wxynWsIHBAwoOFGisEcyspE0pZ-5AAmzJ18waGNhafvuIyJDfkAcKdUUNiV2kuitXdCCIS-v5UkSIC-v3d2hED9hKllghYRRwXrq88Vptc-GV/s1600/rings-normal.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 186px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWi4WUIkChDANSQJQnV5xBo3tQzyZv0J4wxynWsIHBAwoOFGisEcyspE0pZ-5AAmzJ18waGNhafvuIyJDfkAcKdUUNiV2kuitXdCCIS-v5UkSIC-v3d2hED9hKllghYRRwXrq88Vptc-GV/s320/rings-normal.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729747192117195506" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">As the rings would sit against the furnace wall<br /><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZBsl9sdAwg-vqvAr0b_M3J7HkMSh99_80REXobn5u7sn7lk_Z1F5j8H73ceOhNc40SCQWP9Gp4UzUrgn2au1f8DtHGac1LdxYW3hIHCrOQYdo-79nV5Rq_ZeI44ULWeQ6PIKCoop581oj/s1600/ringsinverted-.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZBsl9sdAwg-vqvAr0b_M3J7HkMSh99_80REXobn5u7sn7lk_Z1F5j8H73ceOhNc40SCQWP9Gp4UzUrgn2au1f8DtHGac1LdxYW3hIHCrOQYdo-79nV5Rq_ZeI44ULWeQ6PIKCoop581oj/s320/ringsinverted-.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729747182857440786" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Inverted, showing the slag and ore fragments on the top surface<br /></div><br />The slag will harden to a shell around the tip of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">tuyere</span>. These rings do not solidly attach fuse to the copper, normally hand pressure will break them clear.<br />You can see that both the internal and external diameters are indicated in the slag rings.<br />You can determine the upper and lower surfaces, with the heavier accumulation on the 'up' side of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">tuyere</span> in the furnace.<br />You can get some estimate of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">tuyere</span> angle. The slag has formed proud of the furnace wall, so if you assume the inner wall to be vertical, the inside surface does record the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">tuyere</span> angle.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdNyivwJE8SxZ7b_1Beoyefjy4X_HHG9EXp8CmBbM8y6W3EqvKozCGa2f-JDsbkmITjwON_aIvMdFaXipIotYaRLCiEBWzsjEhncRwRWmwKXhojggU5TTRXkjrNHqtnxgd_7BpzkcEU7-B/s1600/rings-inner.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 211px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdNyivwJE8SxZ7b_1Beoyefjy4X_HHG9EXp8CmBbM8y6W3EqvKozCGa2f-JDsbkmITjwON_aIvMdFaXipIotYaRLCiEBWzsjEhncRwRWmwKXhojggU5TTRXkjrNHqtnxgd_7BpzkcEU7-B/s320/rings-inner.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729747178421509650" border="0" /></a><br />Inner surface (inverted here)<br />The inner diameter and thickness of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">tuyere</span> can be determined.</div><br />Both the rings show cracking in roughly the same place. I think this is an effect of the cooling rate of the slag and the shape of the rings. One of the collected rings had in fact separated into two pieces ( the ring on the left in the images above).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiObqxk8hulj7gw0-qIhONOGcUG7tatnXnuVTSXOa3fPN6ToYQHuH6uoX9zUZiO3p83p-je585EnQ28bU4_6ywxllCzcAq_9B-dict63EZPdiQq8sYeqKJaJVxfrQ1mQ_bBqWwafOePZBmh/s1600/ring-A-pieces.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 256px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiObqxk8hulj7gw0-qIhONOGcUG7tatnXnuVTSXOa3fPN6ToYQHuH6uoX9zUZiO3p83p-je585EnQ28bU4_6ywxllCzcAq_9B-dict63EZPdiQq8sYeqKJaJVxfrQ1mQ_bBqWwafOePZBmh/s320/ring-A-pieces.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729747175012916514" border="0" /></a>One ring was broken into two pieces<br /></div><br />We have worked with ceramic tube <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">tuyeres</span> as standard here for the last while. These are uniform, cheap and fairly durable. They also are quite obvious as a physical remain. Same goes for the iron (steel pipe) tubes we have also made use of. As the iron <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">tuyeres</span> are consumed with every smelt, I don't think that this material likely for VA process - just from a practical standpoint. (wasting iron to make iron?)<br /><br />Copper <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">tuyeres</span> might be another mater. They would be 'relatively expensive' as objects, but because of their proven durability would be worth the investment for repeated smelt operations. The copper would be too valuable to discard, likely just being cut up as raw material for bronze production at the end of their smelting use. Any finds of copper cut to rings as a bronze related find? It would be the easy way to re-cycle the material.<br /><br />Anyway, the slag rings are quite distinctive. Lee said he gets these every time. Worth a check against remains?? (<span style="font-weight: bold;">Kevin Smith</span> had mentioned that he had recovered some semi circular slag fragments from his excavation of an 'industrial' VA iron smelting site at Hals in Iceland. It will be interesting to see if these modern pieces in any way resemble his artifacts.)<br /><br />We messed with using a copper <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">tuyere</span> a long while back, but at the time I did not have any heavy copper bar or sheet. The copper <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">tuyere</span> I made up was only 1/8 thick material, and did not transmit heat fast enough to keep the end from melting back to the furnace wall. This would have certainly produced some droplets of copper into the slag someplace. Perhaps another signature to look for in the archaeology?<br /><br />(Modified from the initial posting on Hammered Out Bits)the Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681983168048488983.post-66749509202421840752012-04-09T06:24:00.010-07:002012-04-09T07:36:00.563-07:00A Week in the ForgeDay 50<br /><br />The shop work this week has primarily been directly converting blooms to bars / plates.<br />As a fast overview of what was accomplished:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tuesday April 3</span><br /><a href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/smeltfest06/report03-06.html"># 15 - Smeltfest 2006</a> Smelt A, hematite in medium shaft furnace<br />Small fragment @ 559 gm<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifd0aQ4UKhVNwbiWZUdzjPXydhBjPbSSeO-C8vOwjXfNlw1hmIs9b5abAlWlm2gM7XKyck74pygEhWlXguqBjHUPQEvjtlQxN045_3TCibKGf8BqVp6RWC0-Eu1YPwz2NrLmkRovMjf7OG/s1600/part-forged.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 189px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifd0aQ4UKhVNwbiWZUdzjPXydhBjPbSSeO-C8vOwjXfNlw1hmIs9b5abAlWlm2gM7XKyck74pygEhWlXguqBjHUPQEvjtlQxN045_3TCibKGf8BqVp6RWC0-Eu1YPwz2NrLmkRovMjf7OG/s200/part-forged.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729397578097288866" border="0" /></a>Part way through the welding process<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV4HQ6JavHYIWKsOJv-XmxsAPDiwd45ZvC1Ui-8DA55Eprz0NH4BR1YpqvN3S_Q92ogOMEivmFIL7yIFpsqXqAO-Y1PzzQiBKxAOkyv5SFnz_HWDSpbpE_wBGKymSjtX5GubQm8XUPwcL7/s1600/sparks.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 174px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV4HQ6JavHYIWKsOJv-XmxsAPDiwd45ZvC1Ui-8DA55Eprz0NH4BR1YpqvN3S_Q92ogOMEivmFIL7yIFpsqXqAO-Y1PzzQiBKxAOkyv5SFnz_HWDSpbpE_wBGKymSjtX5GubQm8XUPwcL7/s200/sparks.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729397587501022354" border="0" /></a>Finished bar @360 gm<br />Spark test shows mid carbon content<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tuesday April 3</span><br /><a href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/November11/november11.html">#49 - Slag Pit 2</a> - taconite in short shaft with slag pit<br />Continue work from March 7<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuAaWUlaNgKmrhcTeIJpbu30f8WwTq1HLHgQeAg2yfuvM4YOw3UpJH2aiMjJyZxvMIFU521W3369NmKte2hyphenhyphenxY8IGR6awWW4XxF-eCv54cHHPC84yTy7ZMz4NvVGE98qyuTDnmn9jatxCe/s1600/plates.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuAaWUlaNgKmrhcTeIJpbu30f8WwTq1HLHgQeAg2yfuvM4YOw3UpJH2aiMjJyZxvMIFU521W3369NmKte2hyphenhyphenxY8IGR6awWW4XxF-eCv54cHHPC84yTy7ZMz4NvVGE98qyuTDnmn9jatxCe/s200/plates.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729398685185824466" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Bloom pieces @ 432 and spring steel core (total 590 gm)<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNullRUhcnxA0Td8y2VzHyOex3dS_8sd2l51kIKi6_pkovbW8xHwqC_YIoWqIrumvru0iM_lQu-L807N9IA4biI78dAjJ-6ALyhh3oN-krpsNfEmhQ27BGyMdC1v7CAErJNhMBDMQsquQp/s1600/billet.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 106px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNullRUhcnxA0Td8y2VzHyOex3dS_8sd2l51kIKi6_pkovbW8xHwqC_YIoWqIrumvru0iM_lQu-L807N9IA4biI78dAjJ-6ALyhh3oN-krpsNfEmhQ27BGyMdC1v7CAErJNhMBDMQsquQp/s200/billet.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729398681644352018" border="0" /></a>Welded billet ready to forge to blade<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wednesday April 4</span><br /><a href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/smeltfest08/March1608.html"># 30 - Smeltfest 2008</a>, DD1 in medium shaft with blow plate<br />Lacy section @ 625 gm<br /></div></div></div></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisaw3qK7XH7tHMOSiSBGf1dKLoAbZDpzReea2QW81-htarU2Bye9tSaI9I-6PwXCvMNz_BdnxUlhZpDXOSnXVDHoFO1MiX8y9VGl0NDyN6ZRTHz4qRsw78iIqhHfpmoR22iahe_2At57wj/s1600/weld.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 159px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisaw3qK7XH7tHMOSiSBGf1dKLoAbZDpzReea2QW81-htarU2Bye9tSaI9I-6PwXCvMNz_BdnxUlhZpDXOSnXVDHoFO1MiX8y9VGl0NDyN6ZRTHz4qRsw78iIqhHfpmoR22iahe_2At57wj/s200/weld.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729400665859854994" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">After compression under press<br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZpB0PuwBPtxiS4XBhvnQFxHaUXuSUWR-nvQsEiF5kYRTx4wSouag2UyJPjPO-G6QgHgmI8XKfeFKGRWd1FDDnskq6RtLyksJR-ll0k510mUUB2r92nnsMhmosTpRp2yXy6t6LzUJoFLd5/s1600/bar.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 86px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZpB0PuwBPtxiS4XBhvnQFxHaUXuSUWR-nvQsEiF5kYRTx4wSouag2UyJPjPO-G6QgHgmI8XKfeFKGRWd1FDDnskq6RtLyksJR-ll0k510mUUB2r92nnsMhmosTpRp2yXy6t6LzUJoFLd5/s200/bar.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729400669642262706" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Finished bar @ 393 gm<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Thursday April 5</span><br /><a href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/smeltfest06/report03-06.html">#16 - Smeltfest 2006</a> Smelt B, hematite in medium shaft<br />Main bloom @ 1770<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbzeP6-iz0y6hjdPKeD2nE8ZY3fgaeuZCPgaIjAmtifMg_uQS-Ht_LUwwDpBLkJRDr0GNg1s_roAwOLtkf_5j06G3WZENtNyMKKrlOL44oMybR3NWcdWv7vubxgpoMH-x3T-VcYabXQHOr/s1600/3-pre-heatB.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbzeP6-iz0y6hjdPKeD2nE8ZY3fgaeuZCPgaIjAmtifMg_uQS-Ht_LUwwDpBLkJRDr0GNg1s_roAwOLtkf_5j06G3WZENtNyMKKrlOL44oMybR3NWcdWv7vubxgpoMH-x3T-VcYabXQHOr/s200/3-pre-heatB.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729402215604847138" border="0" /></a>Bloom at preheat stage<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtqupgJjDeQDmjFHJhxKerVt4RGL7ZN-a3ySHZfjMxDnQFm0b1l7CKdVcC2zrjnmJhzsLNqoSKzXGLAe0KgX8zFVcGnADd7D7N0LY6AfMZjycC6M_LEoPV2QU7oJtYUMdP4VhPmR3Iosuv/s1600/11-plates.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 154px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtqupgJjDeQDmjFHJhxKerVt4RGL7ZN-a3ySHZfjMxDnQFm0b1l7CKdVcC2zrjnmJhzsLNqoSKzXGLAe0KgX8zFVcGnADd7D7N0LY6AfMZjycC6M_LEoPV2QU7oJtYUMdP4VhPmR3Iosuv/s200/11-plates.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729402219589561138" border="0" /></a>Larger plate cut to remove fractured half (@463 gm)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVNw99JW76JuSGeW8Iwp5dJzp0fg7FLv2DLdZtaEmH3HeS7wsx2MU6qpnJmqrOUMeNv-hnRwQd0xyfT0ixrQgpUNz7KJqVgys0_bz3z9TDhFVY0g9eklxvwWLGsLGoECyesk9G5hJxFPza/s1600/17-bar-weld.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 182px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVNw99JW76JuSGeW8Iwp5dJzp0fg7FLv2DLdZtaEmH3HeS7wsx2MU6qpnJmqrOUMeNv-hnRwQd0xyfT0ixrQgpUNz7KJqVgys0_bz3z9TDhFVY0g9eklxvwWLGsLGoECyesk9G5hJxFPza/s200/17-bar-weld.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729404523120741986" border="0" /></a>At the third weld stage<br />Finished bar @ 357 gm<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Friday April 6</span><br />Completion of object started March 29 (polishing & finishing)<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">This object is a gift, so details to come later.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Saturday April 7</span><br />#8 - Smeltfest 2005, Lexington in Econo-Norse<br />Section of full bloom (included cutting) @1426 gm<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOplvr2BfGsVDh6nolNYp8siF3e8bMe1JP2kCXNRpf21T29rnUVuvgR478CPWN-ZGJ9CTsBiudNNcsUAKn2PULU79vYDspMUWzkLm1Wg_4kKxkZv3zrj8v4DjANZaYuoGZVL8rF805nhJF/s1600/part-compresed.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 140px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOplvr2BfGsVDh6nolNYp8siF3e8bMe1JP2kCXNRpf21T29rnUVuvgR478CPWN-ZGJ9CTsBiudNNcsUAKn2PULU79vYDspMUWzkLm1Wg_4kKxkZv3zrj8v4DjANZaYuoGZVL8rF805nhJF/s200/part-compresed.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729406123263321026" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">After compression steps on press<br /><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEBARiwDBR7xKsLvX1VxhPV5WckAHUgkEPUGP6SkLYI9vAMOUg4G0EhhaxYLJqbTNrRfsLXr5JwmCEy8ruba-vJZq-bQPHFF3LSH_Zccs1vzv-nORRuO9SNdCnzStlw5UAVSNd3vr9naEt/s1600/plate.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 163px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEBARiwDBR7xKsLvX1VxhPV5WckAHUgkEPUGP6SkLYI9vAMOUg4G0EhhaxYLJqbTNrRfsLXr5JwmCEy8ruba-vJZq-bQPHFF3LSH_Zccs1vzv-nORRuO9SNdCnzStlw5UAVSNd3vr9naEt/s200/plate.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729406131836076290" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">forged to 1/4 inch thick plate<br /></div><br />Other project work:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Monday April 2</span><br />Finished repairing / installing engine exhaust system for hydraulic press<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday</span><br />Blog posts.<br /><br />(Of course there is the normal daily 'shop office' work of accounts, clean up, communications.)<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Just in case you were wondering what I've been doing.<br />Half of Sunday was taken up with a customer consult on a project for later spring.</span><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgdCI-KMGGJQ4BD4ceJz52gpBEhaV9nDrzA4HKMu_8ZCBe3blwK-Bz0TsQwSZJLZH2WlkJ0HrfUNzVWSA5qkriwPNUF6pK3153wUQUJDjQ49qEYWzEITAifMqPeaXm6-wGvPfeJldOGqOf/s1600/18-bar.jpg"><br /></a><br /></div></div></div>the Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681983168048488983.post-47642137287127118082012-04-07T06:27:00.003-07:002012-04-07T06:46:04.698-07:00Listening to the expert<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.leesauder.com/resources/bloom8s.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 363px; height: 330px;" src="http://www.leesauder.com/resources/bloom8s.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />If there is one name you will see over and over here, its <span style="font-weight: bold;">Lee <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Sauder</span></span>.<br /><br />Lee, working with his smelt partner <span style="font-weight: bold;">Skip Williams</span> is most certainly the single most experienced <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">bloomery</span> iron worker in North America. I'd lay money he's the best counting the Europeans too. He is one of the other core driving members of the recent 'Early Iron' movement. There is no doubt that had I never met him, I would have given up on my own efforts to understand Norse iron smelting years ago.<br /><br />Bearing in mind yesterdays long description of a working series with a bloom (and what went wrong) here is a link to what Lee has written as advise on the process :<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.leesauder.com/forging_hints.php"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Sauder's</span> Bloom Forging Hints</a></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">If any readers wish to ease into working with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">bloomery</span> iron, but are uncertain about plunging right into furnace construction (and the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">uncertainties</span> of iron smelting), Lee also sells partial bloom sections and worked up bars :<br /><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.leesauder.com/bloom_iron.php"><span style="font-size:+2;"><strong>Bloom Iron Sales</strong></span></a><br /> <br /> <em>Home Grown, Organic, Free Range Iron Fresh from the Furnace!</em></p><br /></div></div>the Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681983168048488983.post-9528498285522074672012-04-06T07:28:00.006-07:002012-04-07T04:47:24.679-07:00A typical work session...Day 49<br /><br />Two things define a typical 'project day'.<br />First, there is the mornings, normally spent at my desk on the computer. This covers normal communications, business record keeping, research, - and preparing, writing and laying out blog postings (like this one).<br />Second, there is an afternoon session in the shop. This includes equipment set up - and actually working at the forge.<br /><br />What that might look like? (1)<br /><br />I have been trying to document all the ongoing work on the project. There was time spent cataloguing all the blooms, fragments and partial bars from a decade of iron smelts. There is normally also photographs and records kept on the finished bar produced on a specific work session. I've also been trying to keep the camera handy to take images of specific aspects of the ongoing work. Now and again I try to take enough images of the whole session to document the entire process of bloom to bar, set by step (2).<br />Now this is not exactly easy to accomplish, being both worker and photographer at the same time. Working the metal is very time dependant, specific heats being required for various processes. The camera also 'sees' deeper into the infra-red than the human eye, so records things much differently than what you might see if you were standing in the shop. Another problem is capturing a crisp image in the dim light necessary in the workshop. Flash images are crisp, but at the cost of washing out the visible colour of the hot metal.<br /><br />So, this is what I did on the workshop session on Thursday April 5 ...<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">(click on any image for the full sized version)</span><br /><br />Bloom - Smeltfest 2006, Smelt B<br />Ore - Granular Hematite<br />Furnace - Medium shaft, standard set up<br />Starting Weight - 2165 gm<br />Bloom Condition - somewhat granular, likely mid carbon content<br />Objectives - 1) Working with a larger sized bloom<br /> 2) Creation of large plate with intentionally ragged edges (for use creating a bowl form)<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Error Number One</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">I have been looking up the details of the bloom composition AFTER my working sessions.<br />I should have taken more care on selection of the base bloom for the specific objective (!) The higher carbon blooms are naturally more likely to fragment when working, and are not the best suited to the specific purpose in mind here.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/1-blooms.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/1-blooms.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />On examining the starting bloom, it was seen there was a fragment on one end only loosely attached. This piece was worked loose and set aside for later processing. The larger piece remains was weighed to 1770 gm.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/2-pre-heatA.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/2-pre-heatA.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />This piece would still fit into the double burner propane forge for pre-heat. The shot above is taken just after the forge itself was lit, so you can see the internal chamber itself has not come up to operation temperature.<br />The more important function of using the gas forge is to allow for a generous heat soak period - to ensure that the heat has penetrated through the whole mass. This continues while I am setting up the coal forge for the work session. This normally takes about 30 minutes to clean, screen, light and get through the coking cycle into a correct condition for forge work.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/3-pre-heatB.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/3-pre-heatB.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />This is the condition of the bloom after 20 plus minutes heat soak. This propane forge will at best produce a 'bright orange to almost yellow' heat level. Although this is fine for general forge work, it is not quite hot enough to weld.<br />So now that the coal forge is ready, I transfer the bloom over to the (much hotter!) coal fire.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/4-bloom-heat.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/4-bloom-heat.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />In this available light image, you get some idea of one of the first problems, which is simply fitting a bloom mass of this size into my existing coal forge - and effectively heating it. My fire box is a fairly large one, roughly 9 x 7 x 6 deep. I can easily get the *depth* of fuel for a hot fire. The problem is getting even heat around both edges of the large bloom mass. The forge is set up with a standard bottom blast, which means the primary heat direction is from the bottom as well (watch for this and its effect later).<br />Care is taken to increase the heat of the mass relatively slowly. The piece is constantly turned and flipped so there is the best chance of getting the whole mass to an even temperature. The intent is to get the mass up to welding temperature for the compression phase.<br /><br />The first forging steps are carried out on the hydraulic forging press:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/5-compress1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/5-compress1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The first compression uses the larger flat plate die, also with the larger full sized bottom plate. The bloom is compressed along its natural top to bottom axis, with the flatter (top) side placed down. With quick work, it is then flipped and compressed again. At this point the 'cake' is roughly 3/4 inch thick, and still very ragged, especially on the edges.<br />The huge advantage of the press is that it is *squeezing* the often fragmented bloom mass together, rather than *pounding* it, as would be the case using my air hammer. This is especially important when working up the more granular higher carbon blooms. (The hematite blooms are almost like solid pieces of brown sugar in texture.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/6-heatB.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/6-heatB.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The cake is placed back into the coal forge and brought up to welding heat again. Now the more compacted shape makes for more even heat penetration into the centre. At this point the piece is not so large that there is not fairly even heat distribution from the top and bottom of the fire.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/7-compress2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/7-compress2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Taking into account the action of the press, a second bottom plate is added. The cake is compressed down closer to 1/2 inch thick.<br /><br />Back to the forge for another series of welding heats. This work is done with the hand hammer at the anvil. The ragged edges seen in the photo above are gently welded in towards the centre. This is done about 1/4 of the circumference at each welding heat. (A total of 5 heats were taken here)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/8-heatC.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/8-heatC.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />This shot is heating prior to the last compression step. You may spot a developing problem. The size of the plate is now large enough that it effectively blocks the air blast from the bottom of the forge, not letting enough oxygen into the top layer of fuel. There is now a very marked difference in the heat being applied to the bottom surface, compared to that on the top.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/9-compress3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/9-compress3.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The narrow 'slot' die has been placed on the press. The surface of the plate is worked over (total three compressions on the first side, four on the second). At the end of this step, the plate has been reduced to about 3/8 thick.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/10-end-compress.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/10-end-compress.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">(there is a gap in the images here)</span><br /><br />Next the work shifts over to the air hammer. The plate after compression is a rough oval. As the intended application is for a bowl, a more symetrical shape is desired. For that reason, the placement of the piece on the air hammer is with the long axis of the dies running the same direction as the long axis of the metal. Due to the combination of metal size and small die size, only one half of the metal can be worked at a time. So there are a number of heat / work cycles required. An attempt is made to start each cycle back up to welding heat.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Error Number Two</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Remember that higher carbon metals are *much* more prone to overheating.<br />My attention got pulled away (by something) and I ending up letting the thin plate get drastically overheated at one point. The fire itself also was starting to perform less consistently (3).</span><br /><br />The end result here was that I ended up burning out a small chunk of the plate. As well there were some serious flaws / cracks running through one side of the surface.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/11-plates.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/11-plates.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Sometimes you just have to know when its time to switch gears.<br />With almost all the damage on one half of the plate, I used a hot cut to divide the plate into roughly two half sections. The slightly larger piece, now at roughly 6 x 3 1/2 x 1/4 inch thick (684 gm), looked solid enough to continue working down towards a possible (smaller) bowl later.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/12-cracked-plate.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/12-cracked-plate.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The major cracks on the other section were used like score lines to break up the piece. This piece was roughly the same dimensions, but with the bite out of one edge, the weight was 463 gm.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/13-pieces.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/13-pieces.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />These were combined roughly in the relationship seen here. The two larger fragments making the two outer surfaces, the smaller plus one little piece (broken off earlier) placed into the centre.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/14-stack.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/14-stack.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />At this point I'm into a sequence that I have used a number of other times working up smaller bloom fragments.<br />The pieces are stacked, and tack MIG welded on one end to a mild steel bar and to each other. There is a total of 499 gm of bloom material. (This time I remember to weigh the handle separately!)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/15-stack-weld.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/15-stack-weld.jpg" alt="" border="2" /></a><br />I've had a bit of a break, considering how to continue and cooling pieces to weigh and record. I also pull the bottom of the fire apart to clean it, and set up a new coke 'cavern' for proper forge welding. This is also much more familiar territory for me - a process much like I employ for layered steel. First there is a light fast hand weld to secure the pieces. This is followed with a heavier series of hand welding to make sure the pieces are well solidified. Although it is true bloom materials can contain a lot of glassy slag, I figure adding a bit more flux (borax in my use) can't actually *hurt* anything. I take care to get the ragged edges in the stack folded and welded in. Final compaction and drawing out is done on the air hammer.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/16-billet.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/16-billet.jpg" alt="" border="2" /></a><br />The result is a small billet, roughly 1 1/2 x 8 x 3/16 inches. You can see that there is a prominent crack along one surface.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/17-bar-weld.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/17-bar-weld.jpg" alt="" border="2" /></a><br />Deciding to work with the flaw, rather than against it, I use the hot cut to divide the billet along the crack. I had hoped to just score and fold (not normally what I do btw). The pieces actually separated. Perhaps not the absolutely wisest move, I decide to use a more 'japanese' technique - just balancing the two pieces in the fire and heating from the bottom. (Hey, it works for my friend Jesus Herandez...) Maybe a bit surprisingly, I manage to get a a good heat and successful weld. Under the air hammer, I work more aggressively *against* the last weld direction (so on the edges).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/18-bar.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Bloom2Bar/April5-16/18-bar.jpg" alt="" border="2" /></a><br />The end result of *three hours* is this finished small bar. Rough size is 5/8 x 1 x 4 1/2 inches at 357 gm.<br /><br />Calculating the bloom to working bar loss is a bit rough here.<br />From bloom to cracked plate, the numbers are 1770 to 1223 = 69% return (so 31 % loss)<br />From plate pieces to bar the numbers are 499 to 357 = 72 % return (so 28 % loss)<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Overall bloom to bar works out to 50% yield </span><br />(but bear in mind the material lost to that overheat)<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">(Thanks Neil!)</span><br /><br /><br />Notes<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />1) <span style="font-weight: bold;">Important Note!</span><br />Remember that the purpose of the whole project is for me to accumulate some (necessary!) experience converting blooms into working bars, and hopefully then into objects. Obviously what I've documented here is very much a *learning process* and should <span style="font-weight: bold;">not be considered the 'best' way</span> to accomplish a given task!<br /><br />2) One other aspect of these images : The original higher resolution images have been transformed via Photoshop into web format detail. Generally the image size has been modified to roughly 8 x 10 inches. This, combined with the various camera positions, makes the scale of the individual images vary considerably. Some images are shot with scales, so remember to use those to determine relative sizes. For the images shot on the anvil surface, the width of the anvil is 4 1/2 inches.<br /><br />3) Lee Sauder uses a side blast set up when he works blooms. The clear advantage here is the the air flow comes in from one side edge (so spreads more evenly top and bottom over a cake or plate shape. More significantly, there is a lot of slag generated in the bloom to bar process. With a bottom blast, this material oozes to the bottom of the forge, effectively blocking part of the air blast. As this debris increases, the effect is to create hot jets of super heated oxygen. Effectively these act like small cutting torches inside the forge, which with poor attention (!) can have the effect of over heating (burning!) just part of the metal contained within the forge.</span><br /><br />PS - Crunching the images, writing and formatting this essay has taken roughly three hours. I did need a bit of a break from a 'good week' at the forge. After lunch I'll get back out there and may have something to report on later!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">If anyone is counting, today would be the 29th 'standard work day' on the project. Thats counting like it was normal days with weekends off.<br />In actual fact, according to my project diary, today counts as the 48th full day I've worked on the project.<br /><br />You're getting your money's worth...</span>the Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681983168048488983.post-15953020187309320482012-04-04T05:42:00.005-07:002012-04-04T07:08:11.058-07:00Pressing OnIts NEVER as simple as it seems...<br />A saga of poor design and failed materials<br /><br />Day 47<br /><br />In my original proposal, I had included two weeks for shop conversion and preparation directly for this project. Along with laying out the space to dedicate it to project work, I had included some time specifically to finish setting up the hydraulic forging press. (I had purchased and started working on the building the press over two weeks before I even knew I had been awarded the grant.)<br />You know what they say about grand plans and good intentions...<br /><br />The 30 ton <a href="http://warehamforgeblog.blogspot.ca/2012/02/hydraulic-forging-press-continues.html">hydraulic forging press</a> is critical to the bloom to bar work. As I have mentioned before, my 50 lb air hammer is simply too small, both power and die size, to work the blooms. This is especially true of the larger ones, in the 7 - 8 kg range. These masses are roughly the size of half a basket ball. Imagine attempting to balance, and compress that, on a die surface only 1 1/2 by 4 inches.<br /><br />One of the major problems I have encountered with installing the hydraulic press is with the engine exhaust. The press uses a 5 hp gasoline engine to drive the hydraulic pump. The way I re-worked the original log splitter equipment into a forging press places the engine exhaust such that it would end up blowing straight on to the operator. Hardly ideal.<br />The solution was to install a system of piping that would both contain and vent off the exhaust completely outside the building.<br />Which has proved far more difficult that I expected.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnoBAH-LpzRKPnCz_2JzckafdGV94ex9u9jIweErXVq7UBjuUhEyRahg3ZaiuGVUQ47xp0XppxlDnU979qKQsICMJKcfHY0vGZQTfd22brEsw8Tb14d8VEEdPfyAapmYWogKAAc9PK840X/s1600/exhaust3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnoBAH-LpzRKPnCz_2JzckafdGV94ex9u9jIweErXVq7UBjuUhEyRahg3ZaiuGVUQ47xp0XppxlDnU979qKQsICMJKcfHY0vGZQTfd22brEsw8Tb14d8VEEdPfyAapmYWogKAAc9PK840X/s320/exhaust3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727528889315602946" border="0" /></a>Exhaust System, mark 4<br /></div><br />The problem has been two fold:<br />1) Leaking fumes from the various joints between fittings<br />2) Vibration from the gas engine<br /><br />My initial idea to combat leaks was to eliminate / reduce the number of joints, and tape over all the joints. I normally use a thin aluminum tape, designed for heating duct work, around the smelting furnaces. The aluminum has a quite high melting point, and easily crimps over irregular surface.<br />The problem with the tape is that the resin based adhesive burns off at the kind of temperatures that the hot engine exhaust produces. Especially close to the exhaust port - which also happens to be the place most of the pieces are stuck together.<br />(The engine port is roughly 1 1/4 diameter. I've modified the original cover with a short piece of pipe. Next I made up an aluminum conical fitting that expands out to 3 inches. To that is attached commercial fittings : a 3 inch adjustable elbow, a short section of 4 inch duct pipe, then a 4 inch adjustable elbow. All have joints to secure.)<br />So the first tape job lasted about 15 minutes.<br />I pulled off this tape, re-applied fresh stuff. I wound a length of thin wire over the whole section, bracing over all the joint segments. Then I put another layer of tape over the wire.<br />That tape job lasted about a hour.<br /><br />On the end of the elbow, I had placed a length of flexible aluminum hosing, normally used for clothes dryer vents. Although this material was a bit thinner than I would have liked, it also came as a single 20 foot length. I could run the end right out the shop door.<br />Too flexible and too fragile - the vibration tore up this hosing about an hour into the press operation.<br /><br />I was getting pretty frustrated at this point. I'd spent much more time on fixing the venting than doing forge work. I decided to give up and head into town. Brent at my local McDonalds Home Hardware (in Dundalk) suggested a fiberglass repair tape intended for fixing mufflers. "How good does this stuff stick" says I. "I used it one time for an emergency road repair, then had to cut the pipe off because I never could remove the stuff." says Brent. "But its expensive..." Like $4 for 36 inches. He has one package, which I buy, and tell him to order me another (which turned out to have been smart).<br />I also get a different type of expandable aluminum dryer hose, this less flexible and considerably heavier weight. This is the stuff I use on my forge blowers in the shop. It is twice as expensive, and only half as long.<br /><br />Next day, I pull off the round two tape, lay down one layer of new aluminum, re-bind the wire over it. Did I mention that this fiberglass stuff needs heat to set and cure it? So I have to turn the engine on, breathing exhaust and trying not to burn my fingers. I cut and set the repair tape. Of course when it is warm, the damn stuff slides all over the place. I lay down another layer of aluminum tape to hold the fiberglass in place until it cures. Turn off the engine, attach the heavier semi-flexible hose. Now wait for the fiberglass to cool and set.<br /><br />This was all the week of March 5 - 9. By that point I was supposed to be focused on bloom forging - not equipment. I had scheduled a workshop day with blacksmiths <a href="http://www.elfworksstudios.com/">Kelly Probyn-Smith</a> and <a href="http://www.artistblacksmith.com/">David Robertson</a> for Thursday March 8. Kelly had to cancel on short notice. David did come over, and we spent about four hours (a long work session for forge work!) experimenting with the hydraulic press.<br />Only to find that although the fiberglass tape held well, the hosing did not. Two tears in it, both from the vibration.<br /><br />At that point I had the OABA demonstration to prepare on Friday, the demo of the Aristotle furnace to mount Saturday. I was leaving for the combined Smeltfest and research trip on Tuesday crack o dawn. I had not done any serious trip planning or any packing for that either.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjujBs2kUjHbQ_arFbwjTyUnBZFWha5DQmFCcKfkyq0l2uqwEvFTsrk4qwKsTXkxYu-iPA3WFDJ_LxdNVdUvnAaLNiWvwtUVINXZ3K-jZiY3ZuX6Age8LF9uJmY4ER6M_p1j6uaEUd53CMX/s1600/press-exhaust.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjujBs2kUjHbQ_arFbwjTyUnBZFWha5DQmFCcKfkyq0l2uqwEvFTsrk4qwKsTXkxYu-iPA3WFDJ_LxdNVdUvnAaLNiWvwtUVINXZ3K-jZiY3ZuX6Age8LF9uJmY4ER6M_p1j6uaEUd53CMX/s320/press-exhaust.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727528895888933858" border="0" /></a>Press Venting - complete<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">(Leaving out the two days spent figuring out why the brand new engine will not start. Read as 'water in the gas, stupid')<br /><br />So on the way home from Smeltfest, I stop at the Shelburne Home Hardware, and get more elbows, several lengths of heat vent pipe. (No, I do not have measurements)<br />I get 'serious' on the vent installation. More fiberglass tape on all the joints right at the press. All joints secured by screws. All joints in the whole system taped with aluminum. Solid pipe throughout. Pipe is supported on bungee cords to dampen vibration.<br />Add another day because I'm short on the pipe required.<br />Add two days (one for snow, one for rain) because I have to climb up on the roof to fit the vent cover through the upper shop wall.<br /><br />You can see the finished system runs the exhaust up the side of the press, then over to the shop wall. Over the top of the lower section (12 inches of concrete) to the upper wooden and metal sheeting covered portion. There is a standard dryer vent that now exhausts (most all) the fumes to the outside. And some of the noise too.<br /><br />Total time expended : better part of a week's work sessions.<br />Total additional cost : over $100<br /><br /></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2nNTO0SR23v8Zu_plOCXJiNeO_UC0C-8cLHfVNABkzai16x0LCx3G347hIa0gTUTkysdB2SDFRL_Fu2tE85dMhxUCEN-K1TQJq0c5A_xN4eqvVGobm_NOt0UPspVlXyGw8PQTEiG7BdXB/s1600/die-base.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2nNTO0SR23v8Zu_plOCXJiNeO_UC0C-8cLHfVNABkzai16x0LCx3G347hIa0gTUTkysdB2SDFRL_Fu2tE85dMhxUCEN-K1TQJq0c5A_xN4eqvVGobm_NOt0UPspVlXyGw8PQTEiG7BdXB/s320/die-base.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727528905691668802" border="0" /></a>Movable base plates for the press<br /></div><br />Yesterday, along with some very good bloom forge work (report to come) I made up a pair of extra base plates for the press. I just happened to have a piece of 1 x 6 plate in the shop. It proved just long enough to make three individual base plate pieces. The largest covers pretty much the entire press base, serving to raise the work surface up an extra inch. The smaller pieces fit nicely under the flat die I had already made for the press head. These two new base plates both have flanges on their edges (not clearly visible here) which solves the vibration problem I was having with pieces just set on the press base frame.<br />The bottom edge of the tape seen on the right side of the frame indicates the location of this flat plate die with the ram at full extension. You can see that with the two new base plates in place, the flat die will actually come to contact before the ram is at full extension (remember that there would be a piece of hot metal in there too.)the Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681983168048488983.post-34455331643703464992012-04-02T05:02:00.003-07:002012-04-02T05:25:04.163-07:00Day 45 (!)<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">There have been few postings of late. Returning from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Smeltfest</span>, some fairly annoying work on the hydraulic press, one more bloom converted to bar (more on that later).</span><br /><br />Although not normally required in the progress of an <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">OAC</span> Crafts Project grant, I personally consider communications an <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">essential</span> element of any research project - especially one related to recovering lost skills.<br /><br />Although more a related topic, than part of the project at hand (Bloom to Bar), two of the lectures I will be giving inside the grant period are on the <a href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/LAM/Iron-Smelt-at-Vinland.html">'Vinland' experimental smelting series</a>. This work was undertaken in 2009 and 2010. The public lectures are formal presentations, which describe the objectives of the experiments, plus the results. The first was given this weekend (March 31) at <a href="http://www.fitp.ca">Forward Into the Past</a> at Laurier University, Waterloo ON. This was in some ways a trial run for the presentation at the more academic <a href="http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress/">International Congress on Medieval Studies</a> conference at Wester Michigan University, Kalamazoo MI (on Thursday May 10).<br /><br />I have placed a converted version of the power point presentation that accompanied my delivery up on my iron smelting documentation.<br /><br />The title of the formal paper is : <a href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/LAM/Vinland-Series/">Towards an Iron Smelt in Vinland - an experimental investigation</a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">PS - Preparing that presentation took most of two days last week. Today I will finish installing the venting system to exhaust the gasoline engine on the hydraulic press. Then its back to bloom work!</span>the Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681983168048488983.post-50453684376923210982012-03-26T08:22:00.003-07:002012-03-26T08:58:26.826-07:00Smelting at Smeltfest<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KfbWtFvCK2Q" allowfullscreen="" width="420" frameborder="0" height="315"></iframe><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">This clip shot by participant </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://jhbladesmith.com/">Jesus Herandez</a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">This clip from our third smelt during Smeltfest 12 shows a number of reasons why my participation there is valuable (to me!).<br />The concentration at Smeltfest this year was in part on working with a new magnetite ore.<br />On our first smelt, we did not produce any iron. After some consideration, the thought was that we had purified the ore (double magnetic sorting) too much, not leaving enough glass producing elements to create the correct working slag bath inside the furnace.<br />On the second smelt, the result was a (quite surprising) 'white' cast iron. Not what we expected at all.<br />On the third smelt seen here, the result was a solid bloom of a middle carbon steel. Perfect!<br /><br />You get some idea of how a well skilled *team* is the ideal situation, as well as having access to some large scale equipment.<br />During the extraction itself, <a href="http://leesauder.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lee Sauder</span></a> is managing the opening of the furnace and pulling the bloom. I normally work as 'safety man' - shovelling away hot fragments and burning charcoal, plus keeping the tools close at hand and in some kind of order.<br />As soon as Lee extracts, the bloom is weighed (on a large scale) and then quickly transferred to a thick steel plate set into the ground. At this point two hammer men (<span style="font-weight: bold;">Steve Mankowski</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Shelton Browder</span> here) strike over the surface to both knock off the loose slag. and compact in any looser bloom fragments. (1)<br />At that point the bloom is loosing its initial heat. You see the action jump into the main forge area, where Lee has set up a special side draft coal forge. Once re-heated back to a welding temperature, again Steve and Shelton hammer the surface, increasing force as they compact the bloom further.<br />Next the bloom is transferred over to Lee's 300 pound mechanical hammer. Not only massive power, but also this hammer has an extremely large working surface. You see the bloom compressed into a puck, then that flat disk cut into quarters using a pair of specially designed cutters under the power hammer. (2)<br /><br />Last, there is a sequence showing <span style="font-weight: bold;">Skip Williams</span> spark testing a still hot quarter section to determine carbon content. (3)<br /><br />Just to prove there is still more art than science in bloom smelting, our fourth attempt *should* have produced another flow of high carbon cast iron. The result? Middle carbon steel again, although not with the same yield or consistency as smelt 3.<br />Hmm - some more consideration and experimentation seems in order here!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Meanwhile, back to Wareham :</span><br />1) The team I normally work with at Wareham does not regularly include any trained blacksmiths. I'm usually pretty much exhausted by the time I get a bloom pulled. So my normal ability to make the best use of the extreme heat of a freshly extracted bloom is quite limited.<br />On any secondary attempt to heat and work a bloom mass , I rarely have any assistance - so must hold and cut working alone.<br />2) The small air hammer in my shop is only 50 pounds head weight. More significantly, it has a very small working table, only 4 x 1 1/2 inches. This makes it extremely difficult to balance an irregular bloom and compress or work it.<br />This is why the start of the Bloom to Bar project has been taken up by preparing a new 30 ton hydraulic press.<br />3) My objective (like the historic one) has been to produce a *low* carbon iron. This softer material is much easier to forge into objects.<br /><br /></div></div>the Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681983168048488983.post-45245295943973114892012-03-24T17:16:00.002-07:002012-03-24T17:26:41.505-07:00Why Corning GLASS ?(day 39)<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Still on the Reasearch trip...</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX9oGejfA7ZC-D9Ba1g6N6SY5J48MAiF4sooGHG4vmQz_BXDCm_LEEGiZiEC7DhuJBn6RbK2fSctvVnZkLSWolW0KkxRZAWc8OyCLiw1E1rSWrBDGMH_F56JXrpLm-hsZhbsGn9nqUl5t_/s1600/spreading.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 295px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX9oGejfA7ZC-D9Ba1g6N6SY5J48MAiF4sooGHG4vmQz_BXDCm_LEEGiZiEC7DhuJBn6RbK2fSctvVnZkLSWolW0KkxRZAWc8OyCLiw1E1rSWrBDGMH_F56JXrpLm-hsZhbsGn9nqUl5t_/s320/spreading.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723622418900381826" border="0" /></a><br /><br />(Sorry - its a horrible image)<br /><br />F- 'Split Fire Riser'<br />R- 'Solar Riser LH4'<br />Thomas Patti - 1943<br /><br />Yup - these are glass. <br />So?<br /><br />Imagine this type of form made out of a slab of thick steel...<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">(more to come, with fuller explinations on how one plastic medium might inspire another)</span>the Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681983168048488983.post-71789991963342641792012-03-20T03:19:00.008-07:002012-03-20T04:02:58.939-07:00Smeltfest B<span style="font-style: italic;">(Day ??)</span><br /><br />Sunday proved to be one of the best all round days at a Smeltfest from the last several years. Participants had followed their interests, attacking several aspects of a general problem. There were four groups, all working around the edges of the rear smelting area at <a href="http://www.leesauder.com/">Germinal Ironworks</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lee Sauder</span>, assisted by primarily by <span style="font-weight: bold;">Therese Kearns,</span> repaired and fired the iron furnace again. After two full smelts on the previous two days, Lee hoped he had figured the right combination and sequence to produce a bloom from the magnetite ore. The first smelt on Friday had not produced much slag - or any iron. The second on Saturday had reduced the ore, but the product was a unforgeable cast iron.<br />Success! Roughly 60 kg of magnetite was reduced to create an un-compacted bloom at 17 lbs. On initial compaction (first by hand and then under the large mechanical hammer) the product was found to be a nicely consistent higher carbon metal. After more or less 'bracketing' the smelting process with the previous two (pretty much) failures, Lee was quite happy to have nailed the right sequence of working this new ore.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkBlpb3linHqyktjpLi2Qb7qPSjQMKgIKYVgLhaEj3TUvV2cLPDn-5hI8zIS2f3v6z4Yq8PUzUgEgw_O_xbDZEJI5hmB0B6Cgb6Bn10dAiNbcFdLMZSdnUjhVUdiR7rAncMnVoffv8Hnxb/s1600/bloom3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 245px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkBlpb3linHqyktjpLi2Qb7qPSjQMKgIKYVgLhaEj3TUvV2cLPDn-5hI8zIS2f3v6z4Yq8PUzUgEgw_O_xbDZEJI5hmB0B6Cgb6Bn10dAiNbcFdLMZSdnUjhVUdiR7rAncMnVoffv8Hnxb/s320/bloom3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721923300672814514" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Lee (L) assisted by <span style="font-weight: bold;">Steve Mankowski</span> -<br />Compacting the bloom under the large mechanical hammer. (*)<br /></div><br />Working inside the main shop, Skip <span style="font-weight: bold;">Williams</span> was preparing various samples of the earlier slags and bloom fragments for examination under microscopes. Skip better understands the various components seen at different stages of the ore to metal process. He kept pulling all of us over to have look and explain just what we were seeing - and how this could apply to our understanding of the overall mechanisms we were involved with.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Shelton Browder</span> assisted with this, as well as working on another examination. An antique axe of unusual construction (at least to modern eyes) was polished and etched. This allowed some insights into historical use of bloom and wrought iron metals.<br /><br />One of the large projects intended for Smeltfest this year was to experiment with a smaller re-melting hearth. Steve and <a href="http://jhbladesmith.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jesus Herandez</span></a> worked on this. Jesus has a specific historic point of reference - Japanese swords from before roughly 1700. He explained that this marks the start of the direct bloomery tatara system. Before that point, the process involved producting a high carbon cast iron, which was then re-processed in a secondary hearth to remove excess carbon until the metal could be forged into blades. This step in the sequence is not very well represented in archaeology or documents, so is a bit of a mystery. He said that pre-1700 blades have a distinctive quality that distinguishes them from later ones. Modern methods are yet to duplicate this quality.<br />At Smeltfest 2011, archaeologist <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tim Young</span> (from England) had told us about ancient remains from England and Ireland which appear to be the result of a similar process. Therese had focussed part of her academic researches into studying of these hearths. Taken with Skip's early research and the <a href="http://warehamforgeblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/smeltfest-09-preliminary-overview.html">Smeltfest 2008 work on the Aristotle furnace</a>, this investigation suggests many possibilities.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfUf5aSqG9F7wxVtEKJKI5Fcw_K1tgCHtFNWSXbsK_ehkv-ZaOYm3rnIWzwWaXAvGW-OrILT1atLlC4ydEi3d-SQT6b6HFdGqfi2NVAQlADkPSsQoDn4-9qvKePMW52VXMmA4-qkU4FdiE/s1600/re-melting.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfUf5aSqG9F7wxVtEKJKI5Fcw_K1tgCHtFNWSXbsK_ehkv-ZaOYm3rnIWzwWaXAvGW-OrILT1atLlC4ydEi3d-SQT6b6HFdGqfi2NVAQlADkPSsQoDn4-9qvKePMW52VXMmA4-qkU4FdiE/s320/re-melting.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721923314756451106" border="0" /></a>The test re-melting hearth.<br />An ingot of high carbon steel is just being removed - created from cast iron material<br /></div><br />My project for the day was working with the smaller Aristotle furnace. Although the group had done considerable experimentation here, both together and individually, it turned out that not many tests of *reducing* carbon had been undertaken. In a series I did with <span style="font-weight: bold;">Gus Gissing</span> (back at Wareham) two years back one of the tests had been using small pieces of cast iron from a failed smelt attempt. My duplication on Sunday once again showed that the Aristotle furnace could also be used to reduce the carbon down to a useful level. It appears the system first removes the bulk of the carbon present, then re-applies carbon to an amount that is regulated by the way the furnace is physically set up inside. This may be a significant discovery.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcPf9YC28nAo8hBqaAwQ-WTKbwRHGmGr9PmAh9ahPLZWO8dQ8Kgked_rgK6aTkkatjIBWO7yk3PCNUORo5gzlTRU6ZbUhjsXVHfo-XrW6Xf99Din9U8sZFyunD0Ra84ZVHJkaoWXCR2ONi/s1600/aristotle.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcPf9YC28nAo8hBqaAwQ-WTKbwRHGmGr9PmAh9ahPLZWO8dQ8Kgked_rgK6aTkkatjIBWO7yk3PCNUORo5gzlTRU6ZbUhjsXVHfo-XrW6Xf99Din9U8sZFyunD0Ra84ZVHJkaoWXCR2ONi/s320/aristotle.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721923293130889698" border="0" /></a>The Aristotle furnace in operation - early in the sequence.<br /></div><br />Of course, this is just some of the overall work and experimentation that goes on during a typical Smeltfest! Not to be discounted is all the time for conversation and sharing of ideas and problems.<br /><br /><br />(*) The process used to convert this raw bloom into something ready for further forging illustrates once again why part of my own OAC project has included some work on a hydraulic press. The hot bloom is pulled from the furnace, and its surface worked over with sledges on a metal plate to break off the loose 'mother' slag coating. This is done working on the ground, the strikers squatting almost African style. Then the exposed bloom is rushed to the forge to re-heat. Further compaction, from a half bowl to a slightly flattened puck, is done with a pair of strikers wailing away with heavy sledges.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1WO9ypUaBnjqevy66cjIg6jncuMeHKhi0key1eq_KsbYwhEUC1AsRpO54EBBXLOk9hSlFaJ4GOyLb6eFGoJgo-mIJDYnXt0WSs_RVukUE5okL-F6uAYVnSrSuLK_nIPulC_mn67bdiV6b/s1600/striking.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1WO9ypUaBnjqevy66cjIg6jncuMeHKhi0key1eq_KsbYwhEUC1AsRpO54EBBXLOk9hSlFaJ4GOyLb6eFGoJgo-mIJDYnXt0WSs_RVukUE5okL-F6uAYVnSrSuLK_nIPulC_mn67bdiV6b/s320/striking.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721927989687447794" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Shel and Steve (L & R) using sledge hammers for the first compaction steps, working under Lee's direction.<br /></div><br />Next, Lee moves over to his massive (200 + lbs) mechanical hammer to reduce the puck to a block. This is then cut into quarters, again under the mechanical hammer.<br />(as seen above).<br />Obviously, I personally do not have access to either the skilled labour, or more importantly, the large power hammers that Lee has. The new hydraulic press is thus critical to my ability to work similar large bloom masses.(Which of course is what the OAC Grant is all about!)the Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681983168048488983.post-40724132366533294232012-03-18T03:31:00.003-07:002012-03-18T05:19:49.863-07:00Smeltfest AThis is just a fast taste of what is happening at Smeltfest. <span style="font-style: italic;">Sorry there are no images, with the confusion of working from the road, my camera cables are up at the workshop this morning.</span><br /><br />The first day in the later afternoon and evening was really scheduled as a travel day. As people arrived, we cleared off the large '<a href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Africa-11/Africa-11.html">Africa</a>' furnace from last year. Another long task was roasting and crushing ore for this year's series.<br /><br />The first official day started with preparing charcoal, with several hundred pounds worth to be hauled, crushed, sized and screened. Others worked on preparing <a href="http://iron.wlu.edu/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lee Sauder</span></a>'s production smelter for use. A third group worked up clay mixture for the various small furnaces and hearths under consideration this year. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Skip Williams</span> supervised the construction of an <a href="http://warehamoacgrant.blogspot.com/2012/03/aristotle-furnace.html">Aristotle re-melting furnace</a>. I worked at all these tasks to some degree. Later in the afternoon, I showed <span style="font-weight: bold;">Therese Kearns</span> (an archaeologist participating from England) how the Aristotle worked. In the background from about noon on, Lee and <a href="http://jhbladesmith.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jesus Herandez</span></a> ran a test smelt of the magnetite ore prepared the day before.<br /><br />The second full day started with the preparation for another smelt using a different magnetite ore. Insights (??) from the first smelt were applied to the second. (It was decided that we had done <span style="font-style: italic;">too</span> good a job high grading the ore the day before, resulting in virtually no slag bath in the furnace.) Again this started with ore crushing while the furnace was given some minor repairs and generally set up. Just after lunch we started this second smelt. Therese and I undertook the charging cycles, with Lee making the control decisions. (This makes smelt 50 for me.) The experience from the day before obviously paid off - sort of. The iron ore was most definately reduced to metal, but the result was a higher carbon cast iron rather than a forgeable bloom.<br />This turned out to be not the problem it might of been, as Jesus was interested in examining a theoretical Japanese sequence. He explained that historical blades were visibly different than those using even the 'traditional' <a href="http://jhbladesmith.com/making-steel/japanese-tatara.html">Tatara</a> method (post 1700). The theory is that ore was converted into a cast iron, then that was placed in a secondary hearth set up to *reduce* the overall carbon content as billets were created. In the background, Jesus, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Shelton Browder</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Steve Mankowski</span> constructed a medium sized refining hearth to test just this method. (Expected to run on day three).<br /><br /><br />Of course there is always a lot of mixed conversation between various of the assembled team. These off the cuff discussions are always extremely valuable for how we share insights, experiences - and common problems to us all.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">(I may edit this posting later when I get some images ready to insert)</span>the Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681983168048488983.post-25175680692748129882012-03-14T19:38:00.005-07:002012-03-14T20:05:49.996-07:00Washington Cathedral(Day 28)<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">As the combined Smeltfest 2012 and research trip proceeds, I will only have spotty internet access - via my lap top. So postings may be less frequent and shorter...</span><br /><br />Today I drove into Washington from Winchester, and spend most the day at the Washington National Cathedral.<br /><br />Now this is an impressive building in almost every way. My intent on visiting was to examine the forged metalwork there, primarily by legendary artisan blacksmith Samual Yellen. Over the course of some four hours, I took over 120 images. These were both complete pieces, but also many close up details. Those images are the kind of thing that revel many things about the construction of the pieces, and individual shapes and processes used. Many discoveries!<br /><br />These are just a couple of samples:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRTNcFAbvBumF4Gm6jYq9GhoByRl55sXUBWDRYusAxo901AkDh3T4S0YtgLxca5QZovCES8u5_VsfyA2uLLAoFfmp5MzKXueuQtiSDwXyPxl76cagLtpBiUAuGkRtS181EB6AQF6GWQZlV/s1600/yellen-rings.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRTNcFAbvBumF4Gm6jYq9GhoByRl55sXUBWDRYusAxo901AkDh3T4S0YtgLxca5QZovCES8u5_VsfyA2uLLAoFfmp5MzKXueuQtiSDwXyPxl76cagLtpBiUAuGkRtS181EB6AQF6GWQZlV/s320/yellen-rings.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5719951230241709218" border="0" /></a>Around the main entrance to the Cathedral, there are a number of roughly 4 foot wide by 6 foot tall panels, all by Yellen. Each shows a distinctive design. This is a detail of the main fill of one of these. The heavy rings are held by a series of looped over elements, each end forged by splitting into a crescent. These are wrapped around the rings while hot. The end result is that each of the rings is actually free to move, making the panel slightly flexible.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhekzrwwxh_xBQzYoUQVVPF3a_9PkH9lPfCzgKYss1Y0I84xq-0oA0xdnVlbVObulxDFF7AeqMNCPmKTx_j21FEuQOQYM9e8SKRKzfM3N1dEXqIvAdgMI65refDgKGDLcKo95icCnKTdR_u/s1600/yellen-rail.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 313px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhekzrwwxh_xBQzYoUQVVPF3a_9PkH9lPfCzgKYss1Y0I84xq-0oA0xdnVlbVObulxDFF7AeqMNCPmKTx_j21FEuQOQYM9e8SKRKzfM3N1dEXqIvAdgMI65refDgKGDLcKo95icCnKTdR_u/s320/yellen-rail.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5719952677651084658" border="0" /></a>This is a railing to one side of a set of stairs leading downwards to the 'crypt' level, this in the NE corner of the building. You can see the very organic lines. The hand rail on the opposite side of the stairs uses the same flat bar with double lines hammered in. The uprights and supports are quite different however.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaI9t_HHtfPP1WLMAdfELJ9g0rAd5soy3vzg5-2EVoOp_dZ6lJ5s_fRcdB3s81we3gByxXJ38717UhtiGvohl0prDy3FXtD8H63o3QyId-iqZte1WCsd3JZXfoJvnNDnwwfiGou_sxCtK1/s1600/pailey-rear.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 178px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaI9t_HHtfPP1WLMAdfELJ9g0rAd5soy3vzg5-2EVoOp_dZ6lJ5s_fRcdB3s81we3gByxXJ38717UhtiGvohl0prDy3FXtD8H63o3QyId-iqZte1WCsd3JZXfoJvnNDnwwfiGou_sxCtK1/s320/pailey-rear.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5719950554683796034" border="0" /></a>This is the famous 'Good Shepard' gate by Albert Pailey. (Most all smiths would recognize it!) This is a view of the *rear* of the gate, not usually ever seen. To give you some idea of scale of this work, the majority of elements seen here are forged from starting stock that looked to be 1/2 to 5/8 thick - and four inches wide.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Tomorrow is a slower trip down to Lexington</span>the Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681983168048488983.post-36185874544303334692012-03-12T07:02:00.003-07:002012-03-12T08:47:37.638-07:00Departing for SMELTFEST 2012As part of the overall project grant, I had included funding for my annual participation in SMELTFEST.<br />This event is hosted by <span style="font-weight: bold;">Lee Sauder</span>, at his workshop outside of Lexington Virginia. This is an invitational research / workshop session that includes many of the primary members of the North American 'Early Iron' movement every year. Past investigations have developed many of the standard methods used for practical bloomery iron furnaces.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Smeltfest09/group.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 525px; height: 375px;" src="http://www.warehamforge.ca/ironsmelting/Smeltfest09/group.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><center>Investigating the Aristotle Furnace, <a href="http://warehamforgeblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/smeltfest-09-preliminary-overview.html">Smeltfest 2009</a><br />(L-R: Shelton Browder, Lee Sauder, Dick Sargent, Skip Williams, Steve Mankowski)</center><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">March 16 through March 19 - Smeltfest 2012</span><br />This is a bit shorter than in past years. With the support of the OAC grant, I have added some additional research stops on to the travel back and forth from Wareham to Lexington:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">March 15 - <a href="http://www.nationalcathedral.org/">National Cathedral, Washington</a> DC</span><br />The National Cathedral has commissioned a number of significant pieces by artisan blacksmiths over the decades. There are pieces by Yellen, Pailey and others. Seeing these works by the very best North American artisan smiths has long been on my list.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">March 21 & 22 - <a href="http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/visit/whatToSeeAndDo/index.cfm">Colonial Williamsburg</a> <span style="font-size:100%;">and</span> <a href="http://www.historyisfun.org/Jamestown-Settlement.htm">Jameston Settlement</a> VA</span><br />Most specifically I intend to visit the<br /><a href="http://www.history.org/history/museums/dewitt_gallery.cfm">DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum</a> and the <a href="http://www.history.org/history/museums/abby_art.cfm">Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum</a>. It is some years since I have viewed either collection, and I am most interested in looking at their antique ironwork with more experienced eyes.<br />Jamestown itself is where the second attempt at smelting iron was undertaken in North America (*). In our last visit to the site (2008), we helped archaeologists there assess their current excavations of the bloomery furnaces. It will be interesting to see how the program has developed since then.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">March 24 - <a href="http://www.cmog.org/">Corning Glass Museum</a> NY</span><br />As we swing back north, its only a short detour to take in this facility, which I have wanted to visit for years. Another research project I have been working on is Viking Age glass bead production methods. I hope to spend at least some time in the library there. More directed to the Bloom To Bar project, I have several concept designs to combine hand blown glass with bloomery iron. An overview of the possibilities of contemporary art glass will be helpful for imagining those pieces.<br /><br />I expect to be able to maintain internet access throughout the trip. With luck I should be able to maintain the flow of blog posts here, with some highlights of my discoveries illustrated.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">* The first processing of iron ore in North America was of course by the Norse at Vinland -</span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/nl/meadows/ne/viking.aspx"> L'Anse aux Meadows NHSC</a><span style="font-style: italic;">.</span>the Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.com0