Subject: Just an idea, just for fun :)

From: [email-masked] (Bob Smith)
Date: Thu, 4 Apr 1996 06:24:49 -0800

Hello there!  As I was reading the posts in this mailing list 
concerning the use of traditional methods (i.e. "the old way") of 
forging, I came up with an idea for a mental excercise that I thought 
was interesting, and I thought maybe a few of you might find it a fun 
concept to play with.  Imagine a hypothetical/fictional/possibly insane 
scenario in which you were lost in the woods with nothing but your 
knowledge of forging, all the natural materials you usually find in the 
woods(tree branches, animal hides, stones, etc), and a small deposit of 
iron ore conveniently close by, and you had a desperate 
wish/need/desire to do some metalwork.  How would you go about doing 
it?  What materials would you need, and how would you find them or make 
them?  How would you make a forge?  What tools would you need to make 
first, and how would you make them?  Given enough time, could you work 
your way up to the quality of materials and ability to produce that you 
have with your current forge and equipment?

    Like I said, this is just a thought.  If you like the idea, think 
about it for a while.  You might even try out some of the ideas you 
come up with, and figure out whether or not you could actually do it.  
You might surprise yourself.  Who knows?  Or, if you don't like the 
idea, feel free to delete this message.  My feelings won't get hurt :)

Just the ramblings of a wierdo,
-Littlebear :)

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From: "[email-masked] x5707" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 04 Apr 1996 08:45:48 -0800 (PST)

I think I'd start by trapping some animals and building a fire.  I'd fix a nice
meal and then, taking the animal pelts, hike to the nearest trading post to
swap for some better materials :)

Joe

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From: "Dr. Mark E. Williams" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 4 Apr 1996 12:23:27 -0500

On Apr 4,  6:24am, Bob Smith wrote:
> Subject: Just an idea, just for fun :)
>-- End of excerpt from Bob Smith

Just as a start, to make the ore usable, it would need to be smelted. Build the
furnace in a bank of clay, make bellows out of animal hide & wood(it would
helpif the wind blew strongly from one direction regularly), find limestone or
oyster shells, make charcoal from the trees. With some practice you could make
pig iron and, a little later, wrought iron.

I'll leave it here. Something for the next person to work with.

Mark

-- 
Dr. Mark E. Williams
Bldg N-159, Rm E-215
NASA/GSFC/WFF/EG&G
Wallops Island, VA 23337
804-824-1744
[email-masked]

I wouldn't want to belong to any club that would have me as a member.
Grouch Marx

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From: Morgan Hall <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 4 Apr 1996 10:00:00 -0800 (PST)

Re: starting a metal technology from scratch --

Metal:  Iron requires smelting.  If there were native copper available,
it could be used (cold forged with rocks for hammer & anvil) to make
something that needs metal handles (first tongs?).

Maybe start with native copper to make metal parts to get to iron
technology -- skip the bronze age unless we want to do casting...

Smelting:
Do _you_ know how to identify iron ore?  I've got a couple of sacks of
good grade magnetite that's easy to identify.  A magnet sticks to it.
Without a magnet, it's just a black rock.  Actually it looks like a
sandstone made out of the black sand you get when panning for gold.  the
black sand is what Japaneese swordsmiths refine for their blades...

I'll assume that any bright red mud in the bottom of a swamp could be
the marl or bog iron ore.  I _think_ this stuff needs to be roasted
before refining.

Smelting:
I'd skip the "produce pig iron" stage and go to direct reduction of the
ore.  Start a fire in a big rock box.  Layer in charcoal and ore for
a day or so.  Keep it burning with a blast of air.  You lose a lot of
iron without the limestone flux, but should get a big sponge or bloom.

Hammer and fold to work the excess slag out and you should have a good
grade of wrought iron.  Probably need the copper tongs to get enough to
make a set of iron tongs.  I suppose you could have a big supply of
green branches to use while moving the first batch around, but tongs
would be _high_ on the list of things to make.  Maybe iron jaws and
green stick handles wrapped on with rawhide till you got enough iron for
really useful ones.

'Nuff for now.  Next?

Morgan