Primitive Technology: Pit and chimney furnace ─ Primitive Technology

Primitive Technology: Pit and chimney furnace - Creating a pit and chimney furnace from scratch.
Subscribe: http://bit.ly/subPT | Never miss a video! Enable 'ALL' Notifications!
More videos, watch me build Iron Prills from scratch: https://youtube.com/watch?v=DyGLE0usN...

Follow Primitive Technology:
Wordpress: https://primitivetechnology.wordpress...
Patreon: https://patreon.com/user?u=2945881

Watch More Primitive Technology:
Latest Uploads: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG...
Pyrotechnology: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG...
Shelter: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG...
Weapons: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG...
Popular Videos: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG...

About this video:
While I'm working on other projects I'll put up this video of an experimental furnace I built that operates by natural draft and uses charcoal as a fuel. The furnace burns the fuel on a grate for maximum area of air entry. The chimney attached to the furnace is 2 m tall above ground level. The pit is 25 cm cubed and extends below ground level. The whole structure took about 2 weeks to build.
A brick of iron oxide (from iron bacteria) mixed with charcoal powder was made and placed in the furnace sitting on a grate about 12.5 cm tall. The furnace was lit with wood and fired. Charcoal was added after this point and a high temperature was reached. The ore brick melted and produced some tiny beads of cast iron.
In contrast to the other furnace I made in the previous video, this one produced less iron while consuming the same amount of charcoal. I'd actually built this furnace before the previous video in an attempt to reduce labour by having a tall draft chimney replace the work and complexity involved with using a blower. I'll keep experimenting with natural draft furnaces, the principle is sound but the method of introducing the ore (batches of ore on a grate instead of continuous addition of ore pellets) is probably inefficient or could be improved on.

About Primitive Technology:
Primitive technology is a hobby where you build things in the wild completely from scratch using no modern tools or materials. These are the strict rules: If you want a fire, use a fire stick - An axe, pick up a stone and shape it - A hut, build one from trees, mud, rocks etc. The challenge is seeing how far you can go without utilizing modern technology. I do not live in the wild, but enjoy building shelter, tools, and more, only utilizing natural materials. To find specific videos, visit my playlist tab for building videos focused on pyrotechnology, shelter, weapons, food & agriculture, tools & machines, and weaving & fiber.