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Scott Roush
Industry Professional
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 Posted: Tue 22 Mar, 2011 1:51 pm Post subject: Spring steel/iron making.... |
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I've been doing a lot of research and planning for a large ore smelt using a 'viking-ish' stack furnace that I'm planning for April 30th... (Anybody who can make the drive is welcome.... plenty of space for camping and if you like steelhead fishing.. they should be running right down the road from my house.. PM me if you want to come out).
I'm hoping to get some success in this endeavor as I'm hoping to start building materials for some pattern welding projects that I have in mind since my new press is nearing completion.
Anyway... doing research into smelting introduced me to another technique that I'm excited about because it is on a smaller scale, requires less charcoal and is a great way to make use of all the small bits of wrought iron that I save. Also.. I've recently lucked onto an enormous supply of wrought iron nails (if you have interest in these.. PM me) that will be great for this technique. It is basically a form of 'orishigane' where you place bits of iron in a small furnace with an air supply and allow the charcoal to carburize the iron into steel.
Here is my furnace:
It is basically just a 5" diameter stack and an external air chamber for air delivery made from made from clay, straw, and vermiculite. You basically just add charges of charcoal and iron in the top, let it burn down and hopefully collect a bloom of metal from the bottom. I will use my forge blower for the air supply, but I would like to build a bellows for doing this at rendevous and re-enactments.
I built mine from here:
http://forums.dfoggknives.com/index.php?showtopic=11327
Hope to have something to show from all this work soon....
http://www.bigrockforge.com
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Philip Montgomery
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| Posted: Tue 22 Mar, 2011 2:31 pm Post subject: Re: Spring steel/iron making.... |
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| Scott Roush wrote: | I've been doing a lot of research and planning for a large ore smelt using a 'viking-ish' stack furnace that I'm planning for April 30th... (Anybody who can make the drive is welcome.... plenty of space for camping and if you like steelhead fishing.. they should be running right down the road from my house.. PM me if you want to come out).
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Thanks so much for this info. Looks like fun. I love the small scale. This is real cottage industry. Can't make it to the event, but I would love to see how this works. This is small enough that I would try smelting myself. I would love to explore making steel this way. Please let know how this project flies. Good luck.
Philip Montgomery
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"A broken sword blade fwipping through the air like a scythe through rye does demand attention."
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Philip Montgomery
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| Posted: Tue 22 Mar, 2011 2:40 pm Post subject: Re: Spring steel/iron making.... |
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| Scott Roush wrote: | I've been doing a lot of research and planning for a large ore smelt using a 'viking-ish' stack furnace that I'm planning for April 30th... (Anybody who can make the drive is welcome.... plenty of space for camping and if you like steelhead fishing.. they should be running right down the road from my house.. PM me if you want to come out).
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Thanks so much for this info. Looks like fun. I love the small scale. This is real cottage industry. Can't make it to the event, but I would love to see how this works. This is small enough that I would try smelting myself. I would love to explore making steel this way. Please let know how this project flies. Good luck.
Philip Montgomery
~-----~
"A broken sword blade fwipping through the air like a scythe through rye does demand attention."
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This is a standard topic