Iron Smelt at SCA 'Baron's Brouhaha 7

 As part of my recent attempt to (somewhat?) re-integrate into the Ontario (Eldormere) branch of the Society for Creative Anachronism (1) I will be mounting a bloomery iron smelt, assisted by other members of the Dark Ages Re-Creation Company.

This will take place over Friday through Sunday, June 21 - 23, at the 'Baron's Brouhaha' camping event, near Tiverton (Grey County) : https://ealdormere.ca/canton-of-northgeatham/barons-brouhaha/ With the full iron smelt happening all day Saturday June 22

Finished build - Smelt 85 'Bones' - June 2020

The Build - Will be similar to the the standard 'short shaft' used for Smelt 85 :

• clay build, mix of EPK dry clay with pulverized furnace wall material (from Smelt 94)

• set on shallow plinth of stone blocks 

• base of charcoal fines, about 10 cm

• 25 cm ID / 60 - 65 cm total shaft height

• tuyere of ceramic tube, 2 cm ID

• set to 15 - 20 cm above fines, at 22 degrees down angle, 5 cm beyond interior wall

• estimated working stack height at 45 cm 

• extraction arch at roughly 20 w x 10 h cm

• tapping arch at roughly 10 w x 5 h cm

The furnace will be constructed from late morning to mid day Friday. Gentle drying fire into that evening.

Test One : The use of pulverized wall material from a previously fired furnace mixed (roughly) 50/50 with fresh clay. Normally fresh material has been used for new builds, the standard mix being thirds by volume of powdered clay, course sand, and shredded horse manure. A mix using old furnace walls is the normal method used by Lee Sauder, who has excellent results, but this is the first time for our team. The expectation is some additional care needed during the initial drying stage.

Air set up - Smelt 90 'Wind & Weather' - October 2021

Air Supply - Will be similar to the arrangement used for Smelt 90, which will pair both a theoretical Norse twin bellows (enlarged for smelting) with an electric blower. This will allow alternately allowing individuals to use the bellows equipment, enabling comparison with mechanically delivered air.  The bellows used had been created for the 'Vinland' series of experiments, at to date has provided air for 6 previous smelts. (2)

Sliding Air Gate, closed position

The air delivered from the electric compression blower will be modified by two gates. The first will be used to set the total volume of air delivered, which has been at least roughly calibrated for 100's of litres per minute. The second gate is a sliding one, designed (??) to mimic the kind of changing 'pulse' air delivery provided by the twin bellows seen above. On a repeat cycle of roughly once per second (rate is adjustable), the gate shifts from fully open to allowing only a smaller amount of air. The main distortion is that this mechanical system does not allow for any changes in delivered pressure, which is the case for the bellows method.

Experiment Two : The sliding gate / pulse air delivery had been previously tested in Smelt 94. The intent this time is to be able to directly compare and measure the delivery from both the mechanical system and the twin bellows within the same smelting process. Past problems with instruments has meant that attempts to generate absolute numbers have been inconsistent. This test should at least be able to provide relative measurements between the two air methods, so allow for correct adjustments of the mechanical systems to the human operated bellows.

Richard Schweitzer operating the bellows - Smelt 44 'Vinland 5' at L'Anse aux Meadows HSC

There will be some opportunity for observers to directly participate :

• A limited number of people can be directly involved as the working team. This can include both maintaining charcoal and ore ore additions to the furnace (two jobs).

• Throughout the smelt, large quantities of charcoal need to be broken and graded to size. Although certainly a messy task, this is something well suited to younger helpers.

• Individuals can take a turn operating the bellows. This normally undertaken on a five minute rotation.

• At the final extraction, a small group of dedicated hammer workers are required. Preference will be to those who have some related (blacksmithing) experience with sledge hammers.

First compaction of a bloom, well after dark - Smelt 87 '65 for 65', October 2020

It is expected that the use of the kind of air volumes indicated by the bellows will greatly increase the time per individual charcoal charge burning time, so extend the time required for the smelting process. (Smelt 94 required a total of 14 hours from initial pre-heat to final extraction)

This will be only the third time a full iron smelt has been undertaken at an SCA event in Eldormere. The working team from DARC to date has undertaken a total of 37 past smelts, the majority successfully resulting in iron blooms. For team leader Darrell Markewitz (aka Sylard of Eagleshaven) this will be his 95th. 

Importantly, this is also a chance to see the process of experimental archaeology at work.

Notes :

1) My journey into Living History, so by extension, my independent creation of the Wareham Forge, and eventually research into bloomery iron smelting, all started with an accidental discovery of the very first SCA event in Ontario while an art student in 1976. By 2000 I had shifted my activities to the more specifically focused DARC.

2) For a commentary on previous use of various human powered air systems, see : Iron Smelting with Human Power

 

'History in the Wind' : Installed at Paisley

    Those who have been following my work for some time are aware that I have both submitted and been selected to contribute pieces for several small town 'sculpture walk' collections over the last decade. 

    This year I was extremely pleased to be one of two pieces selected for the Paisley Street Sculpture Project. This is a new presentation only in it's third year. A collaborative effort with Kelly Probyn-Smith of Elfworks Studios entitled 'Wave Action' had been chosen for the inaugural presentation. 

 

    'History in the Wind' was originally designed for a public artwork competition at Elora in 2017, intended to mark the 150'th anniversary of Canadian Confederation. The concept was to represent the contributions of major groups in the history of our country, portrayed as a series of weather vanes mounted to a central shaft. There is an earlier description of the design and the meaning of the individual elements :

The original 2017 design

The submission for Paisley was similar, but in the creation some modifications were made, and detailed here with images of the completed work.

'History in the Wind' as installed'

   Beneath it all - the Land : The original layout suggested the use of larger granite stone for the lowest element. On more rational consideration, the simple logistics of moving such a huge stone was simply beyond my abilities. This coupled with the difficulties of boring a hole through such a large and hard material. As I did have a big pile of thinner limestone slabs (gathered off locally off the Niagara Escarpment), I decided to use one of these pieces instead. This was set on to the top of the steel plate base mount. The base was then hidden by a number of pieces of differently coloured granite stones and one of quartz, all found as glaciated field stones, intended to represent the Canadian Shield.

    Turtle Island : The original layout had the figure of a turtle to represent the First Nations. On a bit more research, I could not find any reference to those Peoples using directional weather vanes. ('You want to know the weather? Just look up...') I was also having some trouble thinking how to build an elegant and functional element out of the intended wood. Thinking deeper into the concept of 'Turtle Island' I decided to take that more literally, and make a very large flat depiction of a turtle as the base element for the whole sculpture, at 36 x 30 inches. The outline carving of the shell plates are those from the common painted turtle, painted black and outlined in red. The paints used are red and black ocher, mixed with linseed oil. The turtle has head, tail, and feet made of hammered copper, the metal employed before the intervention of Europeans. The body is positioned so it faces north.

 

    The Norse : Although a very brief episode in terms of the overall human occupation of this land, my own long association with Vinland lead me to include this element. There are a number of depictions of D shaped 'weather boards' mounted fixed to ship's masts, as well as surviving artifacts that had been retrofitted as weather vanes and put up on Christian churches. This element is made of brass sheet, with a surface punched depiction of the World Serpent from Norse mythology. The lower text is first in runes and Old Norse 'Kettil made me' (the character name I use in Viking Age living history demonstrations). The second text us in rune like modern English, 'Wareham Forge 2024 (the date in Roman numerals). In place of what would have been weighted ribbons are bronze wires ending in large hand made glass beads.

    Europeans : I had originally chosen to use 1605, Champlain's founding of Port Royal in Nova Scotia, to mark the beginning of the European settlement in Canada, (not withstanding seasonal settlements like in Red Bay Labrador, some 75 years earlier). I considered actually forging this element out of antique wrought iron, but in the end used modern mild steel bars. The numbers are highlighted with a copper coloured paint. Although a modern type, the feather of the arrow is made of cut and slightly twisted galvanized sheet steel. This is the physically heaviest of the elements, and in proportion has the least amount of fin surface.

Lower Canada / Quebec : Rooster shaped weather cocks where a common shape seen in Catholic Quebec, a reference to the 'before the cock crows' reference in the New Testament. This one is made out of sheet copper, the body as two clam shell pieces. Again detailing is rendered by punch work.

Upper Canada / Ontario : In more secular times, roughly a century later, for Ontario the most common figure found on weathervanes was the running horse. This specific outline is based on an object in the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum. As the artifact, this is made of tin plate, the material chosen already slightly weathered. 

Into the Modern Age : The top element is a rotor like variation on an anemometer. This made of stainless steel sheet. Individual arms have central rotating disks to create a further impression of wind driven motion. Additionally the disks are covered with holograph film, with the hope this will catch the sun and increase the visual component. 

     

    The finished sculpture is large, including the 4 x 4 foot stone base, standing a closer to ten feet tall. The individual elements vary in size, but all fit into the four foot diameter of the base.

Ken Cormack beside the completed sculpture

    'History in the Wind' is located in downtown Paisley, on central Queen Street North, along the west wall of the Paisley Arena. It will remain in place until mid - later October.

 

    Both the entire sculpture as seen, or any of the individual elements, are also available for purchase, after the public presentation of the work. Overall price has not been calculated yet. Cost of individual elements will vary, and a separate mount will need to be created for any of these purchased individually. (Contact Darrell at the Wareham Forge

    I would especially like to thank Ken Cormack of the Paisley Street Sculpture project for his patient assistance in installing the sculpture. Individual positioning nuts had to be tediously hand threaded down the length of the main supporting spar from the top. (Some of those down as much as 7 1/2 feet of threaded rod!)

Weekend with Matt Jenkins

Organized by Lloyd Johnston, at Upper Canada Village, Morrisburg, over April 26-28.

I have to admit here that I signed up largely to support this ongoing series of experienced blacksmith demonstration events that have been orchestrated by Lloyd, who I have known since my earliest days at the forge (the late 1970's). The featured artisan blacksmiths have been drawn from a wide regional circle, individuals that Lloyd knows and felt would have something to offer. Fellow participants come from not only Ontario, but due to the location at the far east, also from Quebec and into New York. 

Matt Jenkins is generally known from his '366 Hooks', a project he undertook which was then formalized into a traveling exhibit by his business partner (and wife) Karen Rudolph. He had traveled from his own Cloverdale Forge located 'north of Winnipeg', Manitoba, part of a larger round of demonstrations through into the western USA then back home again from what he mentioned. 

Matt proved to be both a good technical demonstrator, but also an engaging one. His past as an artisan interpreter at the Fort Gary historic site certainly shows in his delivery method. Places where some would have gaps (heating a bar for example) were easily filled with stories, both entertaining and insightful. Matt also has the skill of being able to talk while he works, providing additional description to the processes. He has a very 'folksy' manner, which covers over a keen mind, his background training (in engineering) and considerable working experience. 

Overall I was pleasantly surprised.

Given how long I have been at the forge myself, I was more expecting perhaps a different approach to things I already knew. One clear difference worth watching (for me) is that Matt works consistently with mass (where I tend to favor line). My friend David Robertson says that if he gets one new insight or working method in a demonstration, he feels it worth the time spent. The observations from the engineering side often provided just that. Matt certainly gave me a few new things to take home and consider adding to my own work. 

Some of the decorative elements Matt demonstrated that caught my eye:

'Basket Weave' element, square punches linked with butcher tool lines.

'Leaf' element, using 'Deer Hoof' punch.

 

Unnamed element ('Thumbprint'??), using a dished end punch.

Beginning Blacksmith - Book now published!

 

Beginning Blacksmithing: 

or

'I wish someone had told ME that!'

Paperback – March 17, 2024

by Darrell Markewitz 

Available as both e-pub and paperback

---

Have you wondered exactly how to get started as a hobby blacksmith?
This book offers valuable advice on how to get started the RIGHT way, and may both keep you working safely - and save you money on those first tool purchases!

Topics include :
• Getting the right HAMMER
• Firing the FORGE
• Picking an ANVIL
• Working SAFE
• Tools and workshop
• Motion Dynamics
• Picking a Course

This book is based on over 45 years personal experience working at the forge, since 1992 as a professional artisan blacksmith at the Wareham Forge in Ontario, Canada. Darrell Markewitz has guided hundreds of first time blacksmiths through an ‘Introduction to Blacksmithing’.

6 x 9" format

160 pages

black & white

Kindle : CAD 6.86

Paperback : CAD 20.63