Prehistoric Iron Smelting Demonstration

[mas2ery]

can anyone explain, what did they use before there was IRON BARS or anvils? did they let the iron flow onto a wooden stick or a long bone until it cooled and used it as the first HAMMER TO bang out the next flow of iron into a rod? or was a rocks the hammer and anvil? I want to know!!!!

[EvilStreaks]

I want to remix the bellow noise.

[PICLex]

Love the sound of the bellows.

[joehunt1980]

I think they used to beat the iron bloom when it comes out from the furnace because the differential in cooling from the inside and outside will make a void appear in the centre as it cools... Also apparently it forces some of the remaining impurities out of the iron.

[50diz]

@joehunt1980 while that is true, they beat the bloom because its very pourus and you want to get it solid so you can work with it

[sonnetxi]

@music1account lol why would you need iron in post apocalypic world. and its takes alot of mining and smelting to get only a little bit of iron

[XantherBlaze]

I doubt cavemen had a temperature gauge though nice work

[GlenfinnanForge]

@music1account Even a 15 year old can use Google :-) , go to yard sales or garage sales and you will find a ballpeen hammer for cheap. Go to a junkyard and find a bigish chunk of metal for cheap to use as your anvil. These things don't cost much to get a really basic setup. Get a part-time gig doing something for money to fund your new hobby. No offense intended, but excuses are for those who don't actually have the motivation to find a way to do what they are asking about...

[GlenfinnanForge]

@music1account Use google to look these things up. If the world ends there will be scrap iron galore, so sourcing isn't that hard. But for blacksmithing, get yourself a ballpeen hammer, a chunk of hard iron for an anvil and figure out fire. Play now, and fail a lot so you are prepared if that day ever comes.

[GlenfinnanForge]

@music1account many rivers contain black sand, which is iron (magnetite, hematite, iron oxide etc.) some time at a river with a gold pan will yield you some. The internet is a great place to learn about backyard smelting with few materials. As to the blacksmithing, the internet is great for that too. You don't have to have expensive stuff to start learning any of this. Just take the time to research and then try it out for yourself. Fail a lot now, so if TEOTWAWKI ever happens, you are prepared.

[Thetruthishere11]

good vid. next time give speaker a mic.

[tonation87]

because clay is a very heat resistant material. They actually put ceramic plates on the outside of the space shuttle to help against re entering the earth's atmosphere.

[tamildeztiny]

why is that clay oven not melting??

[OutdoorsBlackMan]

Maybe because the fire isn't hot enough to melt the clay?

That's my logic.

[thedruidherbalist]

@OutdoorsBlackMan clay dosent melt it only gets harder for instand pottery is made form clay if it exceeds the max temp it will crumble

[hazyn123]

@thedruidherbalist ...clay/silicon/quartz will melt but at higher temeratures

[thedruidherbalist]

@hazyn123 excatly i dident know how to explan at the time thanks

[hazyn123]

@OutdoorsBlackMan ...obviously

[Unbeloved1]

because you're adopted

[tamildeztiny]

u too!!

[Unbeloved1]

^_^

[mikeminnesota]

good simple video how to make iron. I did like the Lofotr video because it showed how to make charcoal, but weak on what you showed in the video. combine the two and beginning to make a good video.

[moonkeele]

I think the term Prehistoric is misleading because this technique was used pretty much unchanged until the invention of the blast furnace

[vikingskipdotcom]

Excellent video! Thanks!

[flouserve]

valiente demostracion,sobre arqueologia con un pirometro digital,seguro que el horno estará fabricado con tierra y agua?vamos que te vayas por ahi

[DDungworth]

Jake

Brilliant video!! We need to talk about whether you could do a smelt for the 2010 HMS conference at West Dean (Experimental and Accidental Archaeometallurgy). Thanks. David

PS you might be interested in my welding videos.

[doggyBoog]

but I still dont get what the first substance looks like when it enters the furnace. And how do all the smelted iron blooms come together from smaller pieces?

[sw8741]

at 1:12 you see what it starts out as. the dirt at 1:12 is actually iron ore, not regular dirt. its sprinkled on top of the charcoal in layers. as it burns down the iron melts and collects at the bottom. the end result is the bloom

[mylkoa]

Thanks for the video. It would also be helpfull to see how early metal workers were able to find the raw ore, or after they smelted it, how they fashioned into useful objects.

[entmage]

It's a Bloom'n furnace (just making fun of British people). I should make a vid of my blacksmith charcoal.

[icommunism]

thanks! this is fascinating. also I heard nothing about religion in this video.