i have participated in a couple attempts (successful) of smelting iron and a few failed attempts at making steel. what they didn't show was the prep work that is involved, building the furnace and curing it, prepping the ore for use, making of the charcoal. their bloom looked like it contained a lot of slag, though since they don't show the consolidating of the bloom to iron ( yes that is just a blob until hammered into iron) not sure what their ore to iron ratio turned out to be but I would say maybe 50%. see people complaining that there were modern equipment used, well if you are willing to pump a bellows for 7 hrs let them know and you can help next time, been there, done that, not really a fun time

@waskasoometalworks3329

5 жыл бұрын

I plan on doing this for a public event, theres no chance in hell im running bellows for 7 hours when I have to entertain a crowd of 200 people. I would get the crowd involved with bellows but "its dangerous" *rolling eyes* obviously all the prep will be done before the event

@nunyabisnass1141

5 жыл бұрын

They didn't show a lot of things. They're artists, not specifically craftmen.

@davidbishop4085

3 жыл бұрын

What do you do next after you get it out of there ? Will you get good knife material?

@rwarrich

3 жыл бұрын

@@davidbishop4085 , no after getting it out, it needs to be hammered/consolidated down to become an iron bar, then there is another furnace process that adds carbon to the iron to make into steel and the grade of that varies with the processes/materials used. then you can start making the knife. there are several videos out there that show more of the processes, the iron smelting, the steel forming and testing and finally knife.

@hirampratt7995

Жыл бұрын

Ok.. so I got the blooms but they just break apart shiny black most of it... I know I have a lot a of slag but even tiny little iron would make me incredibly happy. So does that mean I have to keep heating it hitting it and brushing it?

I watched one where they did it in true form and it took 1300 lbs of charcoal and nearly 24 hrs to get their bloom. They then made a viking sword stacking, forging, cutting and folding for the finished project. It took days

@bobhaehn5470

Жыл бұрын

@@foggy7595 It would take too long to explain here. Search for traditional steel making and there are others. But it's a long process

@tomaspabon2484

4 ай бұрын

​@@foggy7595 Presumably with hand bellows? Air being piped in makes the whole thing much more efficient

Haha, I was here for this (was the chap mixing ore with CaO and sand).

I don't understand why the background music has to be so loud that you can't hear the narrator or what the participants have to say.

@darkshadowsx5949

4 жыл бұрын

turn down your radio... the music in this video was subtle and easy to hear the narrator talk over.

i have been to Jim Austin's shop in Oakland. he held a metal scraping class in 2013. he's a very nice guy and he make beautiful forgings- and Great Beer Too!!!

@NielsProvos

5 жыл бұрын

Yes, when he makes beer, it's usually very tasty :-)

Hey it's jeff! I learned a lot from him at fire and brimstone.

People in the comments acting like they know so much because they identified that an electric Blower was used. The blower is irrelevant. They smelted iron in a bloomery furnace. It's freakin difficult to do that. Ask anyone who has actually done it they will tell you.

@NielsProvos

7 жыл бұрын

+Andrew Phillip fortunately, the majority of comments are still reasonable.

@mikesmith-os7nx

6 жыл бұрын

This is true, but the Vikings would have also used Bog Iron which would have yielded a much more crumbly bloom

@pl5087

6 жыл бұрын

You did a great job, but comments make a point saying that it's not fully "viking age", electric blower and modern refined reagents and building components might not be what people expected to see. Anyways, I still think this is a pretty good video :) The yield is quite impressive !

6 жыл бұрын

Controling the exact flow of air is part of the craft and it is as important as the coal or ore itself. These guys didn't do a " Viking age " thing

@bashkillszombies

6 жыл бұрын

So difficult that everyone around the world since the start of the iron age has been able to do it.

QUESTION: Shouldnt you have mixed some limestone powder with the silica sand, to further enhance the formation and runoff of slag ? Its what all the major foundries seem to do, and it makes perfect sense from a chemical standpoint. It may explain why you got less freerun slag than you were expecting when you tapped. If memory serves: Limestone + heat -> quicklime + co2 Iron oxide + quicklime + silica oxide -> iron + slag + co2

@therealirishmike

9 ай бұрын

you need CO to reduce the iron oxides, CO2 is formed during that process as the iron oxide becomes iron (FeO -> Fe and CO -> CO2), the flame should be blue at the furnace mouth, calcium can be added to lower the viscosity of the slag and further reduce sulfur content in the ore.

How did you control the temp, by color or thermostat? How did you make sure you kept oxygen from the bloom?

@RyanDBurkhart Whups, CaCO3. I can't do chemistry when tired. Either way, that was fun. Looking forward to the next one in October!

Great tune.

From watching "smelting iron in Africa" then this, I think they were more Viking then you guys lol

@sawgoodmen925

3 жыл бұрын

Lol

@ass-master-deluxe

3 жыл бұрын

“Making viking-age” furnace not “cosplaying vikings for 5 minutes”

wow, nice! what's the music btw? I know the songs but not sure.. Händl?

"making viking age bloomery iron" "this video showes a viking age steel smelt" well.........

Do you by any chance have the raw version? I would like to hear what they are talking about.

@NielsProvos

7 жыл бұрын

+kagapeme this is the best I got. The filming was not really planned.

@nafcesur

7 жыл бұрын

Niels Provos z👈🏽

@nafcesur

7 жыл бұрын

kagapeme eee🖐🏾

what is the music piece at the beginning of the video??? it sounds awesome

I am fascinated by the man in red, he looks like he is entirely made of rubber, especially his neck.

Just big boys playing together! See africans smelting iron with ancient method! That's absolutly amazing!

that's an impressive bloom, how much iron did you get out of it?

@NielsProvos

3 жыл бұрын

I don't know what it was after consolidation. I think the wrought iron might still be stored for some special use case!

very cool

I think the music compliments the whole video almost perfectly. both being amazing forms of art. great video.

@NielsProvos

7 жыл бұрын

Glad you like it; spread the word :-)

@Themostamazinguy

7 жыл бұрын

Niels Provos how exactly did you do this? Did you just put a bunch of iron rich clay in the bloomery and let the iron melt away from it?

@NielsProvos

7 жыл бұрын

+Themostamazinguy it was black iron sand collected from the beaches around San Fransisco. The bloomery process melts the non iron bits eg silica.

Do you know what the ratio of ore to silica was during this? I've looked quite a bit and have not found any ratios given in video or texts on the process I have been able to find.

@NielsProvos

2 жыл бұрын

IIRC, for this run, there was almost no added silica because iron sands already have a lot of silica. You probably have to experiment and see whether you get too much or not enough slag.

Wish I was there making iron with you brother.

My dude is CHOMPING that gum.

@NielsProvos

3 жыл бұрын

Hehe

Viking age fan, amazing

Very nice 👌

Looks fun

What you guys put into the furnace to get that steel mass. look so happy, I would like to share with you guys.

@NielsProvos

4 жыл бұрын

It was black iron sands.

@NamBui-ot2ox

4 жыл бұрын

@@NielsProvos thánk thask

that is a big ingot. man i wish i could hang out w/ you guys.

great vids,,,ya got a sub!

What is that machine they put in the hole of smelter doing

Seems legit, I'm sure viking traders had all these fancy products for their production process...

Is the air compressor authentic viking era too lol

I am very interested in trying this but am having trouble finding where I can source iron ore from. I can find bags of iron oxide on amazon.com, but I'm not sure if that would be suitable for an experiment such as this.

@NielsProvos

6 жыл бұрын

You could use iron sand, e.g. magnetite, but then you need to pebble it so it does not run through too fast.

@changedpace9169

2 жыл бұрын

@@NielsProvos I collected about 20 pounds of purish magnetite from the great sand dunes in Colorado. Do you think this would be impossible if it was contimated with sand? I’ve filtered it was a magnet about 10 times but it always picks up some sand.

@NielsProvos

2 жыл бұрын

@@changedpace9169 you’ll get more slag would be my guess. The problem with iron sand is that it runs through very fast. I have heard from others that they try to pebble it.

Medieval smelter bellows were powered by hand, or I assume some type of water wheel. Are you aware of any archaeological medieval smelting sites?

@finadoorkut

3 жыл бұрын

eles usam a beira do lago, o solo eram rico em ferro

@Snickerszn

Жыл бұрын

They would use swindle blower in some parts of the world. Other parts clay and leather to make a bladder. all using manual labor.

What is the purpose of adding slag from a previous smelt?

@topminator1667

3 жыл бұрын

It's slag but it still has a lot of iron and charcoal in it, so free materials

So how do you make a bloomer?

I'm curious, why add old slag and rust? Thanks.

@NielsProvos

7 жыл бұрын

For adding a sense of continuity and connecting with the past :-)

i loved it

While I love Canon in D, unless your going to marry this fing bloom you might wanna dial it back a tad

Which is the name of the song?

do they use stone coal ???

I see a lot of people standing around acting like experts while one poor sucker does all the work. Reminds me of how Jim wrestled the wild alligator while Marlin sat around drinking Pina Coladas.

whats the song at :49 called?

Why dou you put old slacks in the mix? Is the powder flux?

@NielsProvos

7 жыл бұрын

+Pieter to keep continuity with the past :-) it may also help with fluxing

@PieterBreda

7 жыл бұрын

I can understand better now why making a fine sword would cost a fortune. I think that making the metal alone is pricey enough. The arduous task of making metal in the right quality, then heating and hammering away for days at an end, twisting and folding the material. Then grinding, sharpening and polishing the blade, making a pommel, hilt and crossguard. And a scabbard of course.

@NielsProvos

7 жыл бұрын

+Pieter that's exactly right. A sword was a luxury that not many could afford.

@lucasriley874

5 жыл бұрын

I know this is an old thread but thought you might be interested to know that in medieval times making white armour, the term used for highly polished and often decorated steel plate harness, the cost of the polishing and finishing touches was usually greater than the cost of having the suit of armour forged and made in the first place. Getting mirror smooth polish is a very lengthy and laborious task when doing it all by hand with no machinery to assist you, they also had to be chemists as many kinds of polishing/buffing compounds, etching chemicals and enamels were also part of the job.

what is the name of the tune

bloom iron density?

I know I'm late to comment. but just to be there and experience something like this must of been beautiful

@NielsProvos

7 жыл бұрын

+Frank Bags it was pretty fun

@frankbags462

7 жыл бұрын

Niels Provos do you need an apprentice haha

@NielsProvos

7 жыл бұрын

+Frank Bags :-) how heavy a sledgehammer can you swing?

@frankbags462

7 жыл бұрын

Niels Provos what ever it takes haha. you're very lucky to do what you do. when I cant sleep at night I watch forging videos. there is just something avout it man.

My left ear loved the video

How you can use this staff now?

@NielsProvos

8 жыл бұрын

Check out some of my other videos where I use wrought iron.

Does anyone know what is the song that starts around 2:55?

@DavidGarcia-eq9fl

6 жыл бұрын

Lucas Medeiros pachelbel canon in d, his greatest hit

Watching that process and the complexity of adding ingredients, makes one wonder how early foundries ever went on to the next burn. How many times must they have failed before developing the right mix? The smiths of old must have seemed to be magicians. They were highly regarded.

@roggendorf1685

6 жыл бұрын

Well tbh the complexity comes in because you want to refine the process as much as possible to get better quality iron. To get started you "only" have to overcome two challenges: find the right stones and get your foundry hot enough and you will get a bloom ... the question is how useable it is. If this truly represents (the blower does not count) Viking age technology than that means ca. 2000 years of development has already gone into it and it is not exactly how iron smelting started out. Not to mention that people smelted a hole bunch of other metals for a lot longer (copper, tin, gold... ) so its not that smelting itself is a new thing altogether. And even those things didn't just appear out of nowhere... at least firing clay has been around even longer and heating and cooling rock to make working it easy and other uses of fire all contributed to the development of new uses of fire. So to say it is hard to comprehend how someone could come up with such an elaborate process is absolutely right because no single person did... it took thousands of years to arrive at a point we see as primitive as the beginning of iron working. It might be in comparison to our capabilities but I doubt if you asked someone smelting iron right after the use of iron began to spread I doubt he would say the same

@mergrew0110

6 жыл бұрын

roggen dorf. I understand that the process and development took a long time,

@mergrew0110

6 жыл бұрын

roggen dorf. My point was, this took place over a wide area, communication was almost nonexistent, probably kept secret because of its value. Yet it still developed. What, today is equivalent? Nothing much. We seem to have lost our curiosity. I know there have been advances in IT etc, but no real discoveries for a long time.

The music is a bit nervey, but love the program \

why is Ed O'Neill there

Yeah, Pachelbel Rocks!!!

Back in the day where all vids were like that

I can hear the Cello playing the same five notes

The guy in the red shirt looks kinda like a guy who did friction fire for the first time with Ray mears in belarus.

why put pachelbel's canon?

Forgive the crude analogy, but isnt adding slag from prior smelts a bit like drinking your own urine ? Why not just add pure superfine silica sand ? The goal is to remove impurities, not add them. Otherwise a very cool video.

I like the music but I would also like to be able to hear what the narrator is saying.

Great film but the music totally destroyed it.

@darkshadowsx5949

4 жыл бұрын

it was odd choice of music but it didn't destroy it at all. what the hell is up with anti music in videos people. fuck off. at least its not Justin beiber. or your mom singing.

I like these vids. Peace.

Since steel is an alloy how do they get steel when they only put in iron ? Sounds to me like they are making an iron bloom to me .

I like the red guy t-shit posture. He's a little like Ryan Styles

what song is this

@OmmerSyssel

7 жыл бұрын

Urban Recon Force Try "Pachelbel".. Sounds familiar to me

That was nothing like the Vikings do it that was exactly like Japanese with tamahagane the Vikings didn't drain impurities from the bottom of their furnaces

@GarGlingT

4 жыл бұрын

Ogram Brat drained but tamahagane they do not describe where it is come from. They add sand for coated so slag come out as you see.

That was beautiful, like watching a child being born.

@darkshadowsx5949

4 жыл бұрын

a demon child from hell's brimstone fires. sure.

Didn't they burn Pete moss?

It was like baby delivery

Music ?

What's inside the oven?

@NielsProvos

3 жыл бұрын

Just charcoal.

@NamBui-ot2ox

3 жыл бұрын

@@NielsProvos So just put charcoal in the oven and burn, besides, there's nothing else left

@NielsProvos

3 жыл бұрын

The video shows the steps. At what point in the video do you have a question?

hot rock achieved

no, they used charcoal

Welcome to Critical Hit: The Dungeons and Dragons Podcast

Can't here a word over that obnoxious music. The sound levels are messed up.

Actually, it's just Canon, or Canon in D, by pachelbel

Pachabels canon in the second half.

same process as with tamahagane

why's the voice over only coming out of my right ear? your use of stereo is kinda bothering me. other than that its a cool video.

Lol that tamahagane right?

wtf is that thing you're sticking into the furnace at 0:25?! Is that what the vikings used?! Probably not!

They did stuff it long ago, the one I tried worked a bit better.

Canon in D, its a beautiful orchestra song, awesome job

what's your problem?

Great video...music for it...blech.

@AaronKJames

7 жыл бұрын

love the way you used cody's pronounciation for bleach, LMAO

It's actually been lost in the ancient Viking scriptures, but they did indeed use electric blowers and compressors to stoke their fires. Most people don't realize, and many more take for granted the great inventions given to the world by the Vikings. In Fact, the first compressor used in an iron bloomery was made by Sven Yergsvalerd in the 11th century (or whenever the hell Vikings happened.) It was made of nothing more than tree trunk and the bones of his fallen enemies, and was powered by the Vikings large banks of clean solar and wind power. It was often said that Thor himself brought down the first solar cells to the Vikings as reward for their good faith and even better table manners. Also, I know nothing about Vikings.

👍

The music, though.

interesting video. would be improved by removing the music so we could hear the narrator.

Schoon!

Ayy dude. Is that Nicholas Cage? 6:10

For what?

great video! Don't listen to the nay-sayers. People will find any reason to complain.

6 жыл бұрын

You talk like my grandpa

Music's far too loud, can't hear the speech

I'm pretty sure the vikings didn't have electric blowers. WTF

@TacDyne

7 жыл бұрын

Yep. This ^ exactly.

@DruidicRifleman

7 жыл бұрын

They wish they had one though.

@PleasestopcallingmeDoctorImath

7 жыл бұрын

Dave Kane prove it

@PleasestopcallingmeDoctorImath

7 жыл бұрын

Legend Length thermodynamics

@rckoubasalah8093

6 жыл бұрын

Dave Kane Or levis jeans and beer

If the Vikings had electric blowers, they totally would have used them. Quit griping.

Ya it;s definitely not as dramatic as the music/narration.

music too loud.

this has nothing to do with "viking age" metalcraft, nothing at all. allthough its still cool, but indeed, this is not acurate metalcraft like 1500 y ago

@NielsProvos

7 жыл бұрын

+Hauke Gering the produced material is like Viking-age bloomery iron. The process is getting some modern assistance.

@riAN1337

7 жыл бұрын

yes it does, but because of the modern assistance, and the wrong base materials, as well as the more constant and larger air ventilation, the yield and quality of the bloom is inaccurate. i just think the title is somewhat misleading. but hey, you still did awesome work ;)

@kovi567

7 жыл бұрын

"some" modern assistance. It's not viking age iron if you don't do exactly the same way as they did. Hell, I wouldn't even consider it authentic if you were not wearing viking age clothes while making it.

@jimmy5F

7 жыл бұрын

Viking age clothes are very rare these days. A museum, if it had any, would never allow you to use them for working in.

@kovi567

7 жыл бұрын

jimmy5F Then wiking style clothes, you know what I meant.