CanIRON 8 A - November 6, 2010
Preparing for a demonstration using the Econo Norse system
Smelt by Neil Peterson and Richard Schwietzer,
with assistance by Darrell
Markewitz and Laurier University archaeology students
The DARC team would like to thank McDonald's Home Hardware in Dundalk Ontario.
who assisted in the purchase of the charcoal.
the Econo Norse is is a simple
and easy to build furnace using standard construction materials. Basically three
octangal rings of standard fireplace lining bricks are stacked up to form the
cylindrical shaft. A piece of sheet metal is placed around the stack, with packing
made of ash and sand mix filling the spaces.
The demonstration for CanIRON
8 (the Canadian National Blacksmith Conference at Fergus Ontario) will mark
a shift for the DARC team from recent focus on archaeological protoypes. For
this demo on (Thursday July 28, 2011) the stress is on a production
smelt using simple and easy to duplicate methods for the auidence of
blacksmiths.
This proved to be a text book smelt, although this was the first time Neil
and Richard had conducted the entire furnace build to extration process on their
own. Darrell primarily kept detailed notes of tools and supplies utilized -
and did his best to keep on the side lines.
Furnace Layout
Plinth with Fines
First brick layer
Second brick layer
with tuyere block
Third brick layer
with support wires
Fitting the metal collar
Cutting tuyere slot
Fitting the tuyere
Completed furnace
Wood split pre-heat
Errosion at tuyere
latter in smelt
Adding ore charge
Scooping out remaining charcoal
Using the 'Thumper'
Metal collar removed
Hooking under the bloom
Pulling the bloom
Bloom as extracted
Thomas & Katie as strikers
Checking for quality
Finished Bloom
24 kg of ganular hematite ore
8.5 kg of high carbon bloom
Yield at 35%
Spark test = High Carbon
YouTube Video - showing the extraction sequence
A total of 24 kg of granular haemitite ore was used. In the past the haemitite
has proved somewhat 'dry' and does have a tendancy to absorb considerable carbon
in the reaction column. This lack of silica is balanced by the Econo Norse furnace
'leaking' its packing material between the component bricks. As the packing
is a mix of sand and ash, (the components of glass), any slag present comes
from this - or from the melting of the inner brick surfaces. As in past uses
of this ore, there was an amount of 'white cast iron' produced as well as the
desired bloom.
