Iron Smelt at ICMS - first overview

On Saturday May 12, I mounted an iron smelting demonstration at the 48th International Congress for Medieval Studies, at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo MI.

The two day presentation was sponsored by AVISTA - The Association Villard de Honnecourt for the Interdisciplinary Study of Medieval Technology, Science and Art

The images bellow are scooped from the MiLive / Kalamazoo Gazette web site :


All images by Matt Gade
You can view an article by reporter Theresa Ghiloni, along with the sideshow of full sized images by following this link.

There was also some video shot of the extraction by fellow researcher Dr. Mike Cramer


My assistant and smelting partner Neil Peterson does figure dominate in the video and images above! Excellent work was done by conference members Keeney Swearer and Lisa Anne Conner for both the build and smelt days. 'David' helped on the build, 'George' was the second striker seen.

I would like to thank Steve Walton of AVISTA for organizing the demonstration.


For those curious:
Ore type : DD Analog, enriched with hammer scale
Ore total : 25 kg
Bloom weight : 5.4 kg

More images and detailed report in the works

Elora Sculpture Project

I am pleased to have my larger sculptural piece 'Layers' as part of this year's Elora Sculpture Project:

 There is a public opening / reception on:

Saturday May 12

2 pm

I will not be able to attend. I will be mounting a demonstration iron smelt at the 48th International Congress for Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo MI. (yesterdays posting).



On the downtown Elora map, you will also see Styll Gallery marked in red.
I currently have two earlier pieces on display at the gallery:

First is two of the panels of the larger arbour 'Paris Metro' installed against the south wall containing the lower sculpture garden.

Second is the extended version of 'Celts at the Gates - Shield and Spears' which is mounted at the top of the stairs leading from the store's rear deck to the stairway.  (This piece was included in 'Ironwork Today'.

This would also be an excellent chance to take a look at the Styll 2 exhibit!

Iron Smelt DEMO - at ICMS

I will be undertaking a full bloomery iron smelt demonstration at:

the 48th International Congress on Medieval Studies 

Western Michigan University 

Kalamazoo MI 

May 10 & 11, 2013 

Session 523 

Swan Pond 

Friday - roughly 9 am - 4 pm : Furnace build and materials prep 

Saturday - roughly 9 am - 5 pm : Full iron smelt 

Extraction planned for 4:30 pm 

Sponsored by : 

AVISTA 

The Association Villard de Honnecourt for the Interdisciplinary Study of Medieval Technology, Science and Art 

Michigan Technological University 

Although this is one of the official sessions of the Conference, it will also be taking place in an area open to the general public as well (outdoors!) Along with my assistant Neil Peterson, I will be expecting to answer questions over the course of both days. 

Preparing to Extract a Bloom

 The planned for furnace will be our standard Norse Short Shaft, built of clay mixture and set on a block plinth. The ore to be used is a variation on our 'DARC Dirt' bog ore analog (here enriched with roughly 25 % hammer scale). With roughly 39 kg ore analog available, the expected yield is for an 8 - 10 kg bloom. Air will be supplied by an electric blower.

General Furnace Build

Anyone interested in bloomery iron smelting is invited to come out and watch!

Map to the Demo Site - see Campus Map

I will also be making a formal presentation at one of the regular sessions:

Session 64

Thursday May 9, 1:30 pm

Fetzer 1045

   I'll Huff and I'll Puff - Observations on Air Delivery in Bloomery Iron Furnaces

Given a good quality ore and a suitable furnace, the most critical factor in determining the size and quality of the iron bloom produced in a direct process iron smelting furnace is the air delivery. A decade of experiments with Early Medieval type furnaces has shown that to create blooms most like the archaeological samples, high volumes of air are required. How does this reflect back to the design of the bellows equipment itself? If specialized equipment is required, are their further cultural implications?

Full Conference registration required for that session.

I would like to thank Steve Walton of AVISTA for organizing this demonstration.

Styl 2 (Style Squared) 2013

	EVENTS
	Styll Squared 2013 Beginning mid April, Styll is once again exhibiting a collection of 12' x 12" wall art pieces. The collection is made up of craft in all mediums and represents artisans that are not normally shown at Styll. These are one of a kind works so stop by frequently to see the new works being added to the mix. Directions / Hours

Once again I will be offering pieces for the excellent 'Style Squared' exhibit. (In the image above, one of my pieces 'Toxic' can be seen second row from bottom, third in from left).

I submitted two pieces I had created in past years specifically for this year's exhibit :

'Toxic' - 2011

'Layers' - 2010

 Right now I am rushing to complete a full sized (48 x 48 inches) sculptural panel for which 'Layers' was a small test. The larger sculpture was selected as one of the submissions for the Elora Sculpture Project - 2013. The installation will be on Saturday! (more to come on that).

I am allowed to enter a total of four individual pieces into the exhibit.
My plan is for two more pieces, hopefully to undertake later into May:
- 'The Webs We Weave' that will use a patterned back plate with a web formed of bronze wires standing up above the surface as a shallow 3 - D layout.
- 'Bloom of Bloom' (? Not so sure on that title) that will have a shallow bowl shape attached to a mirror polished stainless steel background via a rare earth magnet. This will allow the bowl of bloom iron to be removed if desired.
(more to come on those as well)