Chapter 268 The Iron Pot is Born (Please vote and subscribe)
After several hours of opening the furnace, after continuous addition of carbon and fierce blowing of high-temperature air, the iron ore in the furnace finally completely melted into molten iron, and the slag gradually turned into liquid, floating on the upper layer of the molten iron. The entire furnace was almost empty, and all the materials were refined and sunk into the furnace.
Da Zui took a copper hook and pulled open a raised refractory brick on the furnace wall. An observation port was revealed on the furnace wall. He then looked inside carefully and immediately reported to Luo Chong.
"Chief, the furnace is empty above, do you want to continue adding materials?"
Luo Chong also went over to take a look after hearing this, and felt that the furnace below should be full, so he began to give orders again.
"No need to add more, start tapping iron, connect the pipes first, and release the slag on top."
"Yes, chief."
After hearing the arrangement, Da Zui immediately led a few people to get busy. Although this was the first time for the Han tribe to smelt iron, Da Zui personally participated in the construction of the blast furnace and was familiar with the usage and principles of various aspects, but lacked practical operation experience. Moreover, such a large equipment and the work of mobilizing so many people at a time had been rehearsed many times before. Everyone knew their tasks clearly and worked in an orderly manner.
The blower was still blowing, and the slag outlet on the side had not been opened yet, but someone immediately pushed a pile of blue bricks with a cart, and then built a temporary slope support under the slag outlet. Another group of people also moved three and a half sections of clay pipes and set them up on the temporary slope.
One end of the pipe was facing the slag outlet, and the other end was led to a pit a few meters away, which was used to hold liquid slag.
Although these slags are waste, they are very suitable as a base material for paving roads after cooling, and can even be used to make bricks, which can be regarded as waste utilization.
After the pipeline was set up, Da Zui and another person each used a copper hook to pull out a brick that was higher on the side. In an instant, bright red viscous liquid slag rushed out from the gap.
The slag was red and steaming. After flowing out of the pipeline for one or two meters, the top layer began to cool down and slowly turned black, just like the gravel floating on the magma. When it finally flowed into the earth pit, it basically solidified immediately. After
leaving the slag for a while, it felt that there was not much left, so Luo Chong began to order the iron to be discharged again.
Immediately, someone dragged the bronze crucible over with a cart, parked it steadily at the iron outlet, and then blocked the wheels with broken bricks to prevent the cart from moving and causing the molten iron to splash.
Dazui hooked out the refractory bricks on the other side of the iron outlet again, and a small square gap was immediately revealed. The orange-yellow molten iron rushed out and flowed into the crucible parked below. Several people stood a few meters away, fearing that they would be scalded by the high-temperature molten iron.
Luo Chong also stood next to Dazui. He wanted to hand over the entire process to him, so he deliberately gave some instructions.
"Dazui, the most important thing in ironmaking is the control of temperature and timing, but we can't measure the temperature now. We can only judge how high the temperature is by observing the color of the molten iron. So you have to observe carefully and remember every step of iron making and any changes in the color of the molten iron. The next time you make iron, you will know how to do each step."
"Yes, Chief, I remember it." Big Mouth nodded quickly, knowing that the Chief's skills must be the best, and he hurriedly promised, but Luo Chong said it seriously, and he also stared at the molten iron intently, trying to remember the color of the molten iron.
"Okay, don't keep staring at it, it will blind your eyes if you keep staring for a long time, just remember the color." Luo Chong looked at him staring at it stupidly, and hurriedly reminded him that there were no goggles at this time, and staring at the molten iron would definitely hurt your eyes.
After a while, the molten iron was finally drained, and the furnace was completely empty. The bronze crucible was also filled with molten iron, not more, not less, just one tank, after all, the size of the furnace and the total amount of materials added were calculated.
Without the addition of new molten iron, the temperature of the orange-yellow molten iron began to drop, and it turned slightly to orange-red, but it was not very obvious. The characteristics of iron as a metal are that it absorbs heat quickly but dissipates heat very slowly. After melting into liquid, it will not solidify quickly.
At this time, Luo Chong asked someone to push a cart of prepared fine iron ore powder. Someone immediately took a small wooden shovel to add it, one shovel, two shovels.
Dazui also took out an iron rod with a wooden handle and put it into the crucible to start stirring. This step is to fry steel, but Luo Chong didn't know what color steel would turn into. He only wanted wrought iron, so he had to add as much iron ore powder as possible within the allowed range.
Stir once and add one shovel, waiting until the bright yellow molten iron turns red. Although he can continue to add, Luo Chong is worried that the temperature will drop too low and affect the casting, so he immediately called a stop and began to direct them to pull the crucible over to cast.
The first thing to be cast was two ox-horn anvils, which are essential tools for blacksmithing. Even if there is nothing, the anvils must be cast first.
After the two anvil molds were filled, they were dragged aside to cool, and then someone immediately brought the die-casting mold of the iron pot, and Dazui also brought two large spoons made of crucibles to scoop up the molten iron.
Two tall and strong tribesmen took the spoon and scooped out a spoonful from the molten iron. A spoonful weighed about ten pounds. The work of holding the iron spoon was very physically demanding and most people could not do it.
A ladle of red molten iron was poured into the mold, and the color soon dimmed. The person who controlled the die pressing next to it also pressed down the upper half of the mold. The molten iron was squeezed by the mold with one side concave and the other side convex, and soon it became the shape of a pot.
Moreover, after the molten iron was squeezed, the heat dissipation area increased by dozens of times, and the temperature quickly dropped, and began to solidify into a dark red solid. At this time, the pot was already formed. The tribesmen who had been waiting for a long time immediately turned the mold over and turned the solidified iron pot upside down in the soft sand next to it to let it cool naturally. After
that, this process was repeated continuously. A row of iron pot die pressing machines kept working. Two big men carried iron spoons back and forth to pour molten iron into each mold. The molten iron in the large crucible was also consumed rapidly, and soon there was not much left.
There are two types of iron pots, one large and one small, both specially made for the stoves of the Han tribe. They are hemispherical, with the pot edge turned outward to form a three-centimeter-wide horizontal pot edge that can sit directly on the reserved hole of the stove. The entire pot wall is about four or five millimeters thick. A pot weighs about ten pounds, and a small pot weighs less than ten pounds.
After these pots are completely cooled, sand and gravel will be poured into the crucible, and then the sand will be shoveled back and forth to polish the inner wall of the pot smooth.
(End of this chapter)
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