Date sent:  23-JAN-1996 16:23:17
 
In ref to Len's recent post:
 
        As far as I know the forge operations we're investigating did not
use a limestone flux, as they were using catalan 3-pipe bloomery forges.
Forges such as these basically consisted of a hearth box and a chimney.
Within the chimney the blast pipes from the bellows ran- the air would run
through the pipes before it reached the hearth, allowing the fire below to
reach even hotter termperatures. Once the fire got up to temperature, it
would heat the air that fed it. This style of forge is also known as the
American Bloomery Forge, because the 3-pipe system is a modification on the
Catalan forge, hailing from Spain. The technology did originate in Africa,
as I read mentioned in a previous post.
        Anyway, the forge operations at Clintonville, NY, simply used
charcoal-fired forges- crushed ore and charcoal were tossed into the forge,
and worked for some hours into a bloom, which was taken to a waiting
triphammer for pounding into wrought iron. Ore was either not separated at
all, or only done in a perfunctory manner, because the iron content of
Adirondack ore (especially from where our forges got it) was so high it
wasn't really necessary. No flux was used, although you've piqued my
interest up on it again- I'll go back into the company archives and check
things out. It may take a bit, but I'll post back. I can check relatively
quickly on the construction of the hearth boxes themselves, to see if they
had limestone linings, but these are archtypical drawings and diagrams that
we have, and may not reflect what's actually there at our site. It may
prove that our forges (we have not as yet excavated an intact one) were...
We'll have to wait a dig season.
 
-jason
 
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Jason Menard                       "Never doubt that a small group of
Depts. of Anthropology & History    thoughtful, committed citizens can change
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