PSU medieval Iron Smelt
 
 
On Friday, 6 October, a hearty crew of 4 and a videographer set out to prepare the furnace for Saturday’s firing.  Supreme thanks to Greg Ziegler for the clay from his back yard, the riverside cottage for the smelt, and above all for his generous time.
Preproduction and planning
100# of ore arrived at the office
Courtesy of Cleveland Cliffs Mining Co.
The ore came as a damp, powdered hematite concentrate
Greg opens his back yard to clay mining:
Nick has a go at the clay...
And Steve digs deep...
to get a full bushel of somewhat dry clay.
More or less everything you could need for a DIY smelt
The straw Wenda got from a local farm
The clay was rather dry so it has to be made malleable
Stomping the clay the way it has been done for millennia
And stomped some more. We also stomped in straw to give strength
Drilling the hole for the tuyere (yes, we should have before putting the clay on...)
Breaking out the tuyere hole (some cracks formed)
Moving the mudded and chicken-wired chimney liner to the firepit
And putting on a second coat of straw-clay (‘cobb’)
Washing the clay off the tarp
The furnace clay was pr-baked by burning a regular wood fire inside (~3 hours).