Randy S

Hey Larry, I saw it... recorded it and have been talking it up since the article in the Bristol newspaper (front page no less). we all thought it was a great show. Your role in it was well done, purty comfortable in front of the camera for a hillbilly young'un like yourself. Randy Skidmore

Ed, yes she was. Beautiful work you do. Randy

Thats some fine work. My great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother would be proud..... thanks for naming it after her! Randy

OK, I can see that. I was thinking that it looked like some nice ore from the pics... I did one run with some ore that was little more than magnetic sandstone (after roasting) and only got a couple lbs of iron from more than 35 lbs of ore.. talk about gooey slag! it was like cold taffy coming out of the furnace. nasty stuff. But I had to try it. If you want me to try something, just tell me it cant be done LOL. Randy

The hammer turned out great. Did you expect more bloom from that much ore? Not that I wouldnt be happy with that return on an unknown ore. I know.... you never know until you do it, but I was just wondering what your expectations were... Looks like its starting to consolidate some. I bet a few flatten and stacks later it will fall right into line. Keep up the good work! Smelters everywhere are watching! Randy Skidmore

Great job. Nice lazy, hazy blue flame on top.... cant ask for it to run better. Video said it all...good job Jesus. Randy

Mark, you have to be one of the luckiest (or maybe persistent?) people I know when it comes to finding good ore. Something I do to reduce the shrapnel from roasting ore is to get a few empty 5 gallon oil cans ( the kind with pull up tabs to remove the lids) and fill them about half full with ore. Remove the gasket from the lid and cut out the pull up plastic spout then put the lid back on the can.... build fire, add buckets and relax. They will burn out after a few roasts but are free and it beats dodging hot rocks. Thanks for sharing your trip... and congrats to the couple! Randy

Thanks for sharing your adventure Scott. Just adding to the info, here is a link to some info on a furnace site not far from me. http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM48Q1_Newlee_Iron_Furnace_Cumberland_Gap_National_Historical_Park_Historic_District_Lee_County_VA I am amazed by these old structures! Randy

Wow, you've been busy! Nice dense material. Once I get chunks down small enough to fit into my gas forge I put the power hammer to use... getting to that point can be a time consuming challenge tho. Randy

Mark, how much charcoal did the furnace consume for this smelt? I typically go thru about 75-80 lbs of charcoal in an 8" furnace ... I use small charges of ore (usually less than a pound per charge along with 4" of charcoal in the stack) attempting to get higher carbon material. So far the blooms, although small (10 lb or less), have been in the carbon range I am looking for. Small blooms are a plus when it comes to re-heating and consolidating. Randy

Charcoal is definitely the biggest expense to making a bloom..... but making your own steel is priceless! Thats another great looking chunk .... I gotta get me some of those magical peeps. Randy

Sweeeeeettttt!!!! nice solid lookin' bloom, I like the pic with the dragon looking over its' offspring.... Randy Skidmore

luck to you! I'm anxious to see what comes of it Randy

I'm following this with much interest... nothing to add as far as experience with this type of furnace. It's definitely something I want to try tho. Randy

Thanks! Randy

Congrats! Impressive run. I've got to make myself a copper tuyere..... I've been using black iron pipe inserted into a built in clay tuyere thats formed as I build the stack. This always erodes as I do the burn which hasnt been a problem as I destroy the stack each time to extract the bloom. I'd like to build a reusable stack next time. Thanks for sharing your experiences with smelting! Randy Skidmore

I'm shocked you would build another furnace so soon Mark! ..... well.... not really. LOL Anxious to see what hatches from this latest dragons' lair. Randy

Hiya Scott, Glad to see you are still at it. I bet that chunk will forge out nicely. tsk, tsk, tsk.... hoarding barstock, brother ya got it bad. Randy

The aristotle furnace is simple and easy to build/run. Uses minimal amounts of fuel and time. I've ran everything from bloom bits to beer bottle caps through them. If you have an interest in it then it's a great first go. just my 2 cents Randy

I've been lurking Alan... LOL Interesting read on the link you posted. The coal co. I work for was once VIC&C, the company founder was George L. Carter and I knew he was involved in iron production ... also suspected it was the mill in johnson city. It's neat to tie things together, has nothing to do with smelting the cranberry ore unless you want a few tons of coal to coke for a furnace... that I can do! Randy

Not nearly as much fun as you are having I'm definitely getting the fever to do another smelt soon.... Randy

Looks like that turned out great Scott! Looks solid too... Does it spark the same in all areas? I'm looking forward to hearing how it forges. Randy

Thanks Mark. The local stuff that I've found is some really slaggy stuff to smelt.... it's found as nodules in the layers of slate above the coal beds here in the coalfields. I've also smelted some ore found in the layers of red clay around here. All has been very magnetic after roasting and some of the nodules have magnetic material in the core. http://i313.photobucket.com/albums/ll369/R_Skid/100_1101.jpg Here is a chunk 'o bloom from one of my runs.... http://i313.photobucket.com/albums/ll369/R_Skid/100_2190.jpg And finally, one of my furnaces.... http://i313.photobucket.com/albums/ll369/R_Skid/IMG00150-20111022-1038.jpg Sorry for sidetracking your thread, Back to the regularly scheduled furnace build...... Randy Skidmore

Hi Mark, I've been following your smelting posts and just wanted to say thanks for sharing your experiences. I'm up in the hills in the far southwestern part of VA and have been searching out/attempting to smelt local ore for a few years now... with some success (and failure). I have some of the cranberry mine ore but havn't tried it in the furnace yet. Still trying to figure out the local stuff first! http://i313.photobucket.com/albums/ll369/R_Skid/100_2508.jpg Keep smelting! Randy

I'd cut the ore back to about a 1:4 ratio (ore to charcoal) and spread the ore around on top of the charcoal.. move up slowly on the ore if all goes well. Listen to the furnace, it will talk to you Randy