Rurik never expected that Klavasen had been using high-quality magnetite.
He immediately asked excitedly: "Could it be that...there are these iron ores in the mountains west of our Roseburg?"
"Of course, is it strange?" Clava Sen replied indifferently.
"Isn't it strange? This is the best ore! It is the best iron ore in our world."
When the child said this, he was bragging about Rose Fort, a bitter cold place, is actually full of treasures. At least for blacksmiths, setting up a blacksmithing workshop near the mines can indeed bring them a steady stream of wealth.
One of the reasons why the Ross tribe moved north to the Rossberg Fjord and took over this area from the Sami people to develop was that the land in the Svealand area became more and more populated due to the increasing population. It is an acceptable choice to leave it to develop in a new area. In fact, quite a few tribes and small families have been doing this.
The second reason is to pursue fur resources in the north.
But the tribesmen did not know that their pioneering journey north not only expanded their understanding of the world, but the blacksmiths discovered directly exposed iron ore in the mountains.
The blacksmiths do not know much about the iron content and taste of the ore. The few blacksmiths in their tribe are just very happy that the ore is relatively easy to obtain so that they can create more Axes, iron swords, iron pots, iron wrists, and iron nails, which are very necessary for shipbuilding.
What's more, there are not only a large amount of iron ore in the mountainous area, but also a small amount of copper ore.
For the Clavarsons, it was very easy for them to find iron ore, because they did not know at all that the fjord where Fort Ross was located was the remnant of a huge iron ore vein. , the iron content of the ore also exceeds 60%.
It was in this area that the future Sweden found the main vein and obtained ore with an iron content of up to 70%. It is almost a pure magnet and contains no impurities.
Because, located in the northernmost mountainous area of the Gulf of Bothnia, this vein originated from the orogeny 1.9 billion years ago. The very ancient Finnish Craton was lifted up, removing parts of the inner crust. The iron body is brought to the surface.
Due to this geological structure, although the structure of this 300-kilometer-long mineral vein was relatively complex when it was born, it has not experienced any more geological structural changes in the next 1.9 billion years. , making it very lacking in various impurities, especially that it contains almost no sulfur.
It contains almost no sulfur, and its body is almost a magnet. No giant iron ore of higher quality has been found on the entire earth.
Klavasen did not understand this at all, and he did not understand that because of these innate factors, he could smelt more high-quality wrought iron at the same cost than his Frankish counterparts. Due to the limitations of geography and vision, he had no idea that his smelting had always had strong advantages.
The iron content of the ore is extremely high, and it seems that just a little processing canIt is a very good quality stone tool.
Klavasen threw the ore into the furnace again, and urgently ordered his son Kawei to adjust the air outlet of the blower.
Afterwards, Klavasen used pliers to pick out a piece of hot carbon from another continuously burning stove and threw it into the iron smelting furnace. Soon thick smoke suddenly appeared. Due to the heat, almost all of the smoke was moving towards the chimney. They gather everywhere, which also shows that the phenomenon of thermal siphon is taking place.
The charcoal burned in the furnace, and Kawei struggled to drive the blower. He was so tired and sweating on the cold day that the young man's struggle soon paid off.
At first, yellow flames burst out, and thick blue and white smoke rushed out fiercely.
The color of the flame is changing, and gradually it becomes a bluish flame.
What does this mean? Blue flame is produced when charcoal reaches complete combustion. As fuel, charcoal has reached the limit of releasing heat in a small stove.
Rurik understood that if what Klavasen had in his hands was not a small stove, but a rammed earth blast furnace as high as three people stacked on top of each other, with a larger blower supplying air, the lowermost combustion chamber would The charcoal inside is the white flame. Only in that state does charcoal really reach its heat release limit, and the thick ceramic outer layer of rammed earth can very well suppress heat loss.
Only in that extreme state, the iron ore can be directly cast into pig iron by workers in the state of molten pig iron rich in carbon elements.
Ah, it’s just making a thick hoe, casting it in pig iron is mass production.
If the small furnace is transformed into a larger one, since the local magnetite is of very high quality, Rurik thinks that molten iron from pig iron can be produced.
Let’s see what else Klavason does.
The charcoal core in the stove is where the heat is. Facing the stove about three meters away, Rurik's little face is also illuminated very comfortably.
He paid special attention to the discharge port at the bottom of the small furnace. Although the furnace was simple, the workers could at least understand the state of the ore in the furnace.
It was just a pile of magnetic black crystal luster ore, but after a long time, it has turned into a red-white hot mass. What temperature did the ore become? It must be at least over a thousand degrees! The magnetism has disappeared due to the high temperature, and the oxygen in the ore reacts completely with the carbon in the charcoal on a large scale, turning into carbon dioxide and releasing it into the air. The silicide slag has turned into a viscous liquid, like molten glass. Rurik saw with his own eyes that the slag slowly flowed out of the furnace!
The weather outside has completely turned black, and the iron smelting stove indoors is even a bit hot. The open wooden door allows some cold wind to come in. It is no longer cold, and Rurik actually feels To comfortable refreshing.
He had been sitting for a long time, and his hunger made him and his servant very unhappy.
He suddenly asked loudly: "Klavason, are you okay yet?"
"You still need to wait, maybe you are hungry? That's okay." Klavason immediately ordered Tim Chai's Kawei, "You goInform your mother and give the best meat to our guests. Go quickly! ”
Because of tradition, women are not allowed to participate in smelting and blacksmithing. Maybe this is not a form of discrimination, but simply because of the contradiction between the relative weakness of women and the huge physical exertion of smelting and blacksmithing. An IQ People who grow up will not require their wives or daughters to engage in heavy manual labor.
Klavasen’s wife is also very old. She is the logistics housekeeper of the blacksmith’s family, and Rurik will soon eat it. The jerky made by him is made by his own hands.
It seems that the jerky made by the entire tribe has the same taste. The blacksmith provides him and Rumia with jerky and rough bread cubes, except for the taste. A little ground salt is an old onion.
Onions are something that can be grown in the short frost-free period of the Ross tribe. People have to grow them on a large scale because they have almost no sugar. There is no good benefit. The only advantage of onions is that they taste sweet and then spicy. This feeling can offset the bitter taste of coarse sea salt.
How long has it been? p>
In fact, a full three hours have passed since Otto went home first. The blacksmiths didn’t have any timers at all, and they relied entirely on their feelings to estimate the temperature.
“The time should be right. arrive! "Klavasen, who had already had dinner, gave the order, "Kawei, let's go. And Rurik, you're going to see our knocks. ”
Rurik pulled Lumia to his feet and couldn’t help but take a few steps back.
A large lump of molten ore was pulled out by iron pliers, and the young and strong Kawei He struggled to move it to the blacksmithing table, and then Klavasen smashed it hard with the big hammer held in both hands.
Rurik could see a lot of sparks flying out due to this blow. Cut, the molten ore shrank immediately.
“This! Is this hot forged sponge iron? ! ”
Rurik’s eyes widened. He had a lot of super-era knowledge in his mind, but there were very few opportunities to practice it.
The blacksmithing of the Klavassen family is really amazing. The father and son went into battle. At first, the son held the pliers to fix the sponge iron, and the father swung the hammer to beat it.
When the father got tired, he switched to his son to beat the sponge iron as it got bigger. Small, in fact, the loose and porous structure inside is smashed into a denser structure.
It is beaten for a while and then thrown into the furnace to continue heating, followed by a long period of striking while the iron is hot. The boring time passed, and the exhausted Rurik finally waited for the birth of an iron weight.
“What do you think now? Rurik? I specially knocked it into this shape. "Clavasen looked proud because his father and his son had beaten a pile of sponge iron into a basically angular cube iron weight.
The blacksmiths were able to make the ore like this using primitive methods. The processing technology is already very good, but the current situation of the iron weight is just a large piece of wrought iron that contains almost no carbon.
Klavason 1.With a flattering look on his face: "Now, kid, can you tell me how to turn it into the hardest iron?"
Rurik calmed down and asked: "If no one tells me, What will you do with this piece of iron?"
"I will put it in the stove again, heat it up, take it out and pound it into the shape of an axe. If you suddenly put it into the cold snow water, the ax will become harder, but it will still be too soft compared to your father's sword."
Rurik nodded deeply: "Okay, I will. Tell you how to turn it into the hardest iron."
"Ah! I..." The excited Clavarsons hurriedly pulled their son over, and the two grown men sat on the leather cushions and listened. Teachings from children.
It would be great if you could learn the skills of steelmaking in just a few words. Klavasen seemed to have his wish, but he always suspected that Rurik was just amusing himself.
Clavason's face became solemn. He couldn't believe it. For example, to make iron hard, he only needed to throw the iron weight into the furnace, heat it red, cut it into strips, fold it and continue. Beat into strips. The cooled iron bars were not quenched at all and were thrown back into the furnace for heating. They were taken out after they were red-hot and continued to be beaten. They were folded and then beaten further.
He widened his eyes and asked: "How is this possible? It's so ridiculous. Does it mean that as long as it is grilled and beaten repeatedly, the iron will become harder and harder?"
Rurik His expression remained unchanged: "Yes, it will get harder and harder. This is the only way you can achieve it now."
"No way! What's the point of forging iron when it's red-hot? It's iron."
"So, do you think the sword my ancestor got on the battlefield was really a gift from Odin? No! It was actually made by some mysterious blacksmith. Forging. Believe me, just follow my method and repeat the grilling and forging for ten or fifty times. Although you will be very tired, the color of the iron will no longer be changed. , it will become whiter, just like the color of silver cast during the day."
Ordinary iron swords are also gray-white after polishing, which is essentially different from the bright white of silver. .
"But..."
"Do you still have doubts? Is it a matter of money?" Rurik estimated that he would dislike the fatigue of more than ten times of repeated exercise, so he said : "I want a good dagger, and I am willing to work hard. I ask you to do it according to my method. No matter you succeed or fail, I will pay you ten silver coins. These ten silver coins are just to buy your blacksmithing. If I still need money, I will invest it again.”
If you have money to make, why should you shirk it? What's more, the leader's son is really generous.
Klavasen’s fatigue was almost gone. He suppressed the doubts in his mind and followed Rurik’s request with all his heart.
In this way, a vigorous work of hammering and refining steel has officially begun!
This blacksmith’s cabin near the beachHere, Rurik could not sleep for a long time because of his excitement, so he continued to stay in the blacksmith workshop, guiding two equally excited workers to forge iron at any time.
Rumia was temporarily taken away by Clavarson's wife. They went to the longhouse to rest in order to avoid the place where the blacksmith sweated, but in the silent night they could still hear Clavarsen's voice. The constant banging.
The sound of blacksmithing seemed so strange that nearby residents were curious. The blacksmith must have received a rare and large order today, forcing him to keep blacksmithing.
Yes, it is indeed a big order, and the sponsor has invested nearly forty silver coins in total.
The value of a silver coin is very high, and Rurik is not really that wealthy, just because the money comes too easily, and it is all the huge profits brought by the short-term soap violence. He and Rumia are quite similar in this respect. Neither of them is very clear about the true purchasing power of silver in this time and space.
Seven-year-old Rurik is also a tragedy. The farthest place he has been to in so many years is the hillside west of Roseburg. He has never left Roseburg, and he still doesn't know the true situation of the outside world. Those so-called southern allies are only rumors. Only the thousands of residents prove that the alliance is real, and he is an ally.
Wrought iron was put into the furnace and heated red. It was beaten into strips for the first time and folded and beaten for the first time.
When Klavason was about to obey Rurik's request to see him put back the hot stove, Rurik suddenly stopped him.
"What? You can't put it in?"
"No! Your stove is too hot." Rurik stopped him and said.
"Shouldn't it be heated red?"
"Of course not, you have to barely heat it red first, and then leave it quietly outside until it cools down naturally."
"Why?"
"Because this is called tempering!" Rurik directly said the word tempering, describing this processing process at once, but the principle cannot be explained in a few words. Make it clear. He emphasized: "Just do as I say. When it cools down, you can heat it red, and then fold it and forge it repeatedly."
Clavason nodded and said nothing. Following the sponsor's instructions, he and his son Kawei actually memorized the word "tempering."