Smelting Iron in Africa

[RobWilson]

Quote:..........and bloody strong arms for the bellows. That looked a real "killer"  

 
DaveH

Oh I dont no Dave ,,,,,,,,,, I reckon I could give it what for on the bellows ,for at least a hole minute lol  . Any way  I did say old tree , I would have knocked one of these up 


Rather nice bit of wood work , Museo Galileo ,Florence   . 

Quote:Many years ago I visited the Wealden Iron Group in East Sussex, where they had built an experimental bloomery furnace in the woods near Tunbridge Wells, replicating what is believed to have been used locally for centuries up to Roman times. It was remarkably similar to what was being used there even down to a pair of bellows using animal skins, but the 'valve' was a bit different. I took a turn for 20 minutes pumping and it VERY tiring! Our 'bloom' stuck to the furnace wall :(

Hi Andrew , now thats   , I bet it was good crack to . Did you get the bloom out ?  forge it into anything ? and lastly what fuel did you use ?  


Cheers Rob