Smelt JAN 08

[hikanthus]

Excellent choice of radio program =) NPR produces some of the most entertaining radio in America

[emel60]

nice one m8!!

Please explain to me what do you do with that liquid Fe that solidifies? And what do you do with the slag? What is slag anyway?

(Wikipedi mentions so many foreign terms to me so I don't get shit what they say) :D

[JesusBladesmith]

What you call "liquid Fe that solidifies" is the slag. Slag is iron and silica oxides.

[emel60]

ok, thanks! but what do you do with it afterwards?

[sw8741]

nice vid! thanks for sharing. but compressed air? i wanted to see a couple guys working bellows! :P

is the bloom steel or is it iron? i thought this process yields only iron but i'm certainly no expert.

[JesusBladesmith]

Mostly steel and some cast iron and barely any wrought iron.

[JesusBladesmith]

Book: "The Mastery and Uses of Fire in Antiquity"

Ore: I think I used hematite for this smelt, together with charcoal and flux.

[wrolph]

Great video - thanks for filming this.

Can you recommend any books on the process?

Did you just add charcoal, limestone and iron ore? Which ore did you use?

Thanks!

[JesusBladesmith]

Any kind of iron oxide will work.

[graffitiballz]

can torch slag be used as an iron source ?

[enadon1]

could it work if you scaled everything down including the fuel and ore? or does a tatara need to have alot of material piled up?

[JesusBladesmith]

Having a certain thermal mass does help the process. Otherwise the waste of fuel (charcoal) will be greater.

[flavouredblack]

she smelt so good.

[JesusBladesmith]

Yes and no. The problem with coke is the impurities which will make the final product not useful for my purposes. I am trying to make steel with the least amount of alloying elements. Ideally just iron and carbon.

[HanzelikR]

You could have used real coke, limestone, iron ore and ore pellets from the steel works. The coke has a higher caloric value (it burns with a higher temperature than charcoal)

[doggyBoog]

fantastic video. But I don't understand 2 things. 1-does the furnace have to be destroyed? 2-your iron was in powder form, how did it come all together to make one ball. The slag drips off separately.

[JesusBladesmith]

The furnace was too small for the size of the bloom and the slag binds the bloom to the walls. Sometimes destroying the furnace is the price to pay to extract the bloom. As for the consolidation of the "dust" into a solid lump, that is what the high temp inside the hearth will do. It's hot enough that the little dropplets of iron will fuse or weld together. Sort of what happens to mercury drops at room temp.

[snowflakebgd011]

Hello DoggyBoog do I know you from somewhere? Interent community, late chat?

[JesusBladesmith]

Ceramic supply store.

[Morderesh]

were do u get the iron ore from

[tidewaterforge]

Excellent work, Jesus. March is gonna be great!

[tonedizzle6289]

very good video, i especially like the part where the camera woman was reminding you to be careful, as if you forgot.