Showing posts with label iron. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iron. Show all posts
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Smelt Prep
We had the smelt prep day this weekend. Some of the members of our Viking Age interest group were by, to help get ready for the upcoming DARC camp and iron smelt. (Somewhere along the way we realized we have to combine interests if we're going to manage to fit things in to peoples' calendars. Iron smelting seems to have achieved a guaranteed date, therefore if we also want to do a bit of period camping, and the occasions for pulling that off seem to dwindle as time goes on, then we have to start multi-tasking!) Yesterday, a new smelter needed to be built, since we eked the last bit of life and usefulness out of the previous one, when we tried the double smelt in the late fall.
*at the smelter shelter, after building the smelter.
*freshly washed from clay to the armpits...
* the messy business of making "Darc Dirt", which is an experimental bog ore analog. And here I thought that Darrell was the one who knew how to get messy!
* the new screen-y gazebo thingie, down by the pond and smelter shelter, where we can hide from black flies and mossies.
*Why your mother told you never to play with red iron oxide. What do you mean your mother never told you...?
Anyway, we're pretty much set to go. The Darc Dirt needs to dry out, and be broken up. Right now it looks like a bunch of trays of red fudge. Charcoal will need some crushing and sorting, but is a good job for on the day. There are always people who'd like to be involved, but don't need to set themselves on fire! (We reserve that special honour for the experienced smelters in the crowd...)
*at the smelter shelter, after building the smelter.
*freshly washed from clay to the armpits...
* the messy business of making "Darc Dirt", which is an experimental bog ore analog. And here I thought that Darrell was the one who knew how to get messy!
* the new screen-y gazebo thingie, down by the pond and smelter shelter, where we can hide from black flies and mossies.
*Why your mother told you never to play with red iron oxide. What do you mean your mother never told you...?
Anyway, we're pretty much set to go. The Darc Dirt needs to dry out, and be broken up. Right now it looks like a bunch of trays of red fudge. Charcoal will need some crushing and sorting, but is a good job for on the day. There are always people who'd like to be involved, but don't need to set themselves on fire! (We reserve that special honour for the experienced smelters in the crowd...)
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
New Friend
So, Darrell is undertaking an experiment to come up with a kind of 'bog iron ore simulant', for the iron smelts. Because our group is more primarily interested in Viking Age iron production, we're also interested in reproducing not only the technology that would be appropriate, but the ingredients.
One of the continuing problems, besides the fact that they always want to try about ten new variables per time!, is a consistent ore. We've tried Virginia rock ore, we've tried hematite grit, we've tried taconite pellets, we've tried possible bog ores... But there are problems involved with all of these.
One of our friends has spent a great deal of time developing a Martian soil simulant with his company Harder-Gissing Machine, so we turned to him for some help.
This has now led Darrell to making mudpies out in the shop (ostensibly the "clean" shop!) and baking trays of this mixture in my oven.
Because of a time constraint getting a batch of this ready for a test in the next week and a half, and it being the depths of a deep cold winter here, he's not being able to allow this to just air dry. Hence, trays of muck in the oven.
Then at the end of yesterday afternoon, he believed me when I suggested a little less density of mudpies in the oven might be helpful, and fired up the propane heater out in the forge to balance a few trays on.
Surprise! When he went down to check on them last evening, and to turn the heater off, he discovered that he'd also warmed the cockles of the heart of a small interloper, who'd nestled himself down under the heater.
One of the continuing problems, besides the fact that they always want to try about ten new variables per time!, is a consistent ore. We've tried Virginia rock ore, we've tried hematite grit, we've tried taconite pellets, we've tried possible bog ores... But there are problems involved with all of these.
One of our friends has spent a great deal of time developing a Martian soil simulant with his company Harder-Gissing Machine, so we turned to him for some help.
This has now led Darrell to making mudpies out in the shop (ostensibly the "clean" shop!) and baking trays of this mixture in my oven.
Because of a time constraint getting a batch of this ready for a test in the next week and a half, and it being the depths of a deep cold winter here, he's not being able to allow this to just air dry. Hence, trays of muck in the oven.
Then at the end of yesterday afternoon, he believed me when I suggested a little less density of mudpies in the oven might be helpful, and fired up the propane heater out in the forge to balance a few trays on.
Surprise! When he went down to check on them last evening, and to turn the heater off, he discovered that he'd also warmed the cockles of the heart of a small interloper, who'd nestled himself down under the heater.
Monday, March 03, 2008
Wow!
So, *MY* holiday this year will just be tagging along on a trip to 'smeltfest' in Virginia. But heck, I like Virginia. I love to talk to cardinals. I love the scenery. I like the southern drawls in people's voices. I get excited by new and exciting groceries in the store. I get to stock up on my beloved Mezzetta Hot Chili Peppers. And I even get to hang about and participate in iron smelting, which I actually kind of enjoy. (Though I am NOT obsessed like Darrell is!)
But now it turns out that our hosts have been loaned their neighbour's house, just a short roll down the mountain from where they live, for all the guests to stay in. Wow! Maybe I'll ignore the smelting and just laze about here all day!
We saw this place partially completed the first time we visited. Gorgeous setting. Interesting looking house. Lee and Elizabeth just live a short jaunt further up the mountain behind this. (If one can call it a jaunt when you're old and out of shape like we are, and not used to land that isn't pretty flat...
And it looks like the interior is pretty eye-catching as well. If nothing else, I'll have to try to take some great photos when I'm down there this spring.
But now it turns out that our hosts have been loaned their neighbour's house, just a short roll down the mountain from where they live, for all the guests to stay in. Wow! Maybe I'll ignore the smelting and just laze about here all day!
We saw this place partially completed the first time we visited. Gorgeous setting. Interesting looking house. Lee and Elizabeth just live a short jaunt further up the mountain behind this. (If one can call it a jaunt when you're old and out of shape like we are, and not used to land that isn't pretty flat...
And it looks like the interior is pretty eye-catching as well. If nothing else, I'll have to try to take some great photos when I'm down there this spring.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
'Smeltfest' (a paper blog)
Here we are, in Lexington, Virginia, for Smeltfest. All smelting, all the time! Well, maybe not all smelting. There’s also charcoal-making & sorting, ore-roasting, smelter-building… something for everyone!
Not to mention basking in the sun. (Well, only a teeny basking, but it’s still milder than home, and snowless. [Anti-V note: that was my opinion when I started writing this! By the end of the week it was 81 degrees Fahrenheit!] Today it’s actually supposed to be in the 60’s. I’m sitting here in a tank top! Of course, that’s really because I got warm helping to sort charcoal. I was raking it as the boys worked it through the screen. Two days ago I was involved in the ore roasting, cooling it with the hose, floating and skimming off the charcoal, and shoveling the ore onto a tarp to dry.
…So hours have passed. Skip cooked us lunch of sausages and onions and peppers over a fire of smelting charcoal. The Jormungand furnace burned quick and hot, and with 100 lbs of ore in the furnace, we got a 48 lb. Bloom.
(passage of time….)
Obviously, I didn’t devote much time to this throughout the week! Weather was stunning, moving through spring and into summer. I am now rosy pink, not having even thought about such things as sunscreen until I was well toasted. Bought some the next day, but could easily have brought some along…just never occurred to me!
This year we ended up with a good rhythm to Smeltfest. The men kind of gravitated into two teams, and daily smelts alternated between the teams. That meant that there was a potential ‘day off’ every other day (or a day to handle other chores, to watch, to provide input.) And it kind of reduced the chaos of 3 smelters, no waiting that we’d tried last year.
In some ways it was more holiday-ish, too. And everyone wasn’t totally wasted by the end of the day. Plus, we managed two film nights! (Okay, they were smeltin’ films, but hey!)
On Saturday they fired Darrell’s Jormungand furnace again, and since it’s unbelievably fast, in the afternoon we went off to the ‘iron diggin’s’ and collected Virginia rock ore. Of course, then it was decided to send that ore back with another fellow who will be hosting the Early Iron Symposium, and on Sunday, Darrell and I had to go back to the mine to get our own ore. (Fun one day, a bit tedious for two!) Though I did get to see a flying squirrel flying!
Overall, for the bit we were around for, Skip, Lee & Mike’s Brazilian furnace was fired twice, Jormungand, Darrell’s Norse ‘stick’ furnace was fired twice, and the African Queen was put into action on the last day.
The Brazilian furnace, a variation on last year’s Coated Flue-Tyle’ furnace, produces big blooms, and gets run with a more, more, more kind of philosophy. The boys got a bit carried away, wanting to make big blooms, regardless of what plans they had beforehand. It’s funny! We all get quite a kick from watching their exuberance.
Darrell’s furnace was based on a different archaeological model, seemed to be quite simple to construct, and also turned out to be a remarkably quick and hot smelter. (Quite elegant, too!) He was using hematite ore, very pure, and it appears that both his smelts produced a high carbon bloom, essentially a steel bloom!
Big Bertha, or the African Queen, is Sauder and William’s first guess at building a smelter, and is a big steam-engine-like contraption. Essentially she’s built of discarded metal tanks, welded together, with an auxiliary water tank that preheats the air. (where the African Queen image comes from…) She’d been languishing for over a year, so they decided to brush her off and fire her up. Most of the smelt seems quite tame, but it gets pretty spectacular at the end!
Beyond smelting? Well, there was the excitement of arrival. It was raining and dark, and our wipers got moody and cut out. There was some construction on the main through street of Lexington, and in the smeary dark, caused us to go round in circles, and eventually had to park until the rain let up some and the wipers started again. Then we had to wind our way up into the mountains, on twisty, narrow roads, peering for signs and landmarks. We’d been up to Lee and Elizabeth’s one time last year, and were certain we were well and truly lost as we headed up the mountain, expecting to hear the strains of the theme for Deliverance and run into Bubba & his shotgun & his possum hound at any turn.
They live up at the top of House Mountain. The road gets rougher and more abandoned and wild-looking the farther you go. Once you finally claw your way to the top, they have a wonderful open plan house, designed to make the most of solar gain, and with a view that just never stops. We were camped out in Elizabeth’s studio, another 50 to 75 metres behind the house (but UP the mountain!) (By the end of the week, I no longer needed to take a rest on the climb, but was still huffing and puffing.)
And that’s where I stopped writing my paper blog. (Never thought to take the laptop…) More thoughts to follow.
Not to mention basking in the sun. (Well, only a teeny basking, but it’s still milder than home, and snowless. [Anti-V note: that was my opinion when I started writing this! By the end of the week it was 81 degrees Fahrenheit!] Today it’s actually supposed to be in the 60’s. I’m sitting here in a tank top! Of course, that’s really because I got warm helping to sort charcoal. I was raking it as the boys worked it through the screen. Two days ago I was involved in the ore roasting, cooling it with the hose, floating and skimming off the charcoal, and shoveling the ore onto a tarp to dry.
…So hours have passed. Skip cooked us lunch of sausages and onions and peppers over a fire of smelting charcoal. The Jormungand furnace burned quick and hot, and with 100 lbs of ore in the furnace, we got a 48 lb. Bloom.
(passage of time….)
Obviously, I didn’t devote much time to this throughout the week! Weather was stunning, moving through spring and into summer. I am now rosy pink, not having even thought about such things as sunscreen until I was well toasted. Bought some the next day, but could easily have brought some along…just never occurred to me!
This year we ended up with a good rhythm to Smeltfest. The men kind of gravitated into two teams, and daily smelts alternated between the teams. That meant that there was a potential ‘day off’ every other day (or a day to handle other chores, to watch, to provide input.) And it kind of reduced the chaos of 3 smelters, no waiting that we’d tried last year.
In some ways it was more holiday-ish, too. And everyone wasn’t totally wasted by the end of the day. Plus, we managed two film nights! (Okay, they were smeltin’ films, but hey!)
On Saturday they fired Darrell’s Jormungand furnace again, and since it’s unbelievably fast, in the afternoon we went off to the ‘iron diggin’s’ and collected Virginia rock ore. Of course, then it was decided to send that ore back with another fellow who will be hosting the Early Iron Symposium, and on Sunday, Darrell and I had to go back to the mine to get our own ore. (Fun one day, a bit tedious for two!) Though I did get to see a flying squirrel flying!
Overall, for the bit we were around for, Skip, Lee & Mike’s Brazilian furnace was fired twice, Jormungand, Darrell’s Norse ‘stick’ furnace was fired twice, and the African Queen was put into action on the last day.
The Brazilian furnace, a variation on last year’s Coated Flue-Tyle’ furnace, produces big blooms, and gets run with a more, more, more kind of philosophy. The boys got a bit carried away, wanting to make big blooms, regardless of what plans they had beforehand. It’s funny! We all get quite a kick from watching their exuberance.
Darrell’s furnace was based on a different archaeological model, seemed to be quite simple to construct, and also turned out to be a remarkably quick and hot smelter. (Quite elegant, too!) He was using hematite ore, very pure, and it appears that both his smelts produced a high carbon bloom, essentially a steel bloom!
Big Bertha, or the African Queen, is Sauder and William’s first guess at building a smelter, and is a big steam-engine-like contraption. Essentially she’s built of discarded metal tanks, welded together, with an auxiliary water tank that preheats the air. (where the African Queen image comes from…) She’d been languishing for over a year, so they decided to brush her off and fire her up. Most of the smelt seems quite tame, but it gets pretty spectacular at the end!
Beyond smelting? Well, there was the excitement of arrival. It was raining and dark, and our wipers got moody and cut out. There was some construction on the main through street of Lexington, and in the smeary dark, caused us to go round in circles, and eventually had to park until the rain let up some and the wipers started again. Then we had to wind our way up into the mountains, on twisty, narrow roads, peering for signs and landmarks. We’d been up to Lee and Elizabeth’s one time last year, and were certain we were well and truly lost as we headed up the mountain, expecting to hear the strains of the theme for Deliverance and run into Bubba & his shotgun & his possum hound at any turn.
They live up at the top of House Mountain. The road gets rougher and more abandoned and wild-looking the farther you go. Once you finally claw your way to the top, they have a wonderful open plan house, designed to make the most of solar gain, and with a view that just never stops. We were camped out in Elizabeth’s studio, another 50 to 75 metres behind the house (but UP the mountain!) (By the end of the week, I no longer needed to take a rest on the climb, but was still huffing and puffing.)
And that’s where I stopped writing my paper blog. (Never thought to take the laptop…) More thoughts to follow.
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