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46-565: Speedwell Ironworks was an ironworks in Speedwell Village, on Speedwell Avenue (part of U.S. Route 202 ), just north of downtown Morristown , in Morris County , New Jersey , United States. At this site Alfred Vail and Samuel Morse first demonstrated their electric telegraph . Speedwell Ironworks also provided most of the machinery for the SS Savannah , the first steamship to cross

92-453: A bloomery is iron that is easily forgeable , it requires a low carbon content. The temperature and ratio of charcoal to iron ore must be carefully controlled to keep the iron from absorbing too much carbon and thus becoming unforgeable. Cast iron occurs when the iron absorbs 2% to 4% carbon. Because the bloomery is self- fluxing , the addition of limestone is not required to form a slag. The small particles of iron produced in this way fall to

138-399: A bloomery's size is increased, the iron ore is exposed to burning charcoal for a longer time. When combined with the strong air blast required to penetrate the large ore and charcoal stack, this may cause part of the iron to melt and become saturated with carbon in the process, producing unforgeable pig iron, which requires oxidation to be reduced into cast iron, steel, and iron. This pig iron

184-432: A high iron content, it can also be broken up and may be recycled into the bloomery with the new ore. In operation, after the bloomery is heated typically with a wood fire, shifting to burning sized charcoal, iron ore and additional charcoal are introduced through the top. Again, traditional methods vary, but normally smaller charges of ore are added at the start of the main smelting sequence, increasing to larger amounts as

230-461: A higher carbon content) by manipulating the charge of and air flow to the bloomery is also possible. As the era of modern commercial steelmaking began, the word "bloom" was extended to another sense referring to an intermediate-stage piece of steel , of a size comparable to many traditional iron blooms, that was ready to be further worked into billet . The onset of the Iron Age in most parts of

276-405: A natural draft effect (into the range of 200 cm tall), and increasing bloom sizes into the range of 10–15 kg. Contemporary experimenters had routinely made blooms using Northern European-derived "short-shaft" furnaces with blown air supplies in the 5–10 kg range The use of waterwheels , spreading around the turn of the first millennium and used to power more massive bellows, allowed

322-450: A noncarburized bloom, this pound, fold, and weld process resulted in a more homogeneous product and removed much of the slag. The process had to be repeated up to 15 times when high-quality steel was needed, as for a sword. The alternative was to carburize the surface of a finished product. Each welding's heat oxidises some carbon, so the master smith had to make sure enough carbon was in the starting mixture. In England and Wales, despite

368-416: A spongy mass referred to as the bloom . Because the bloom is typically porous , and its open spaces can be full of slag, the extracted mass must be beaten with heavy hammers to both compress voids and drive out any molten slag remaining. This process may require several additional heating and compaction cycles, working at high 'welding' temperatures. Iron treated this way is said to be wrought (worked), and

414-425: A wind-driven furnace was found in an excavation site. Such furnaces were powered by the monsoon winds and have been dated to 300 BC using radiocarbon-dating techniques. These ancient Lankan furnaces might have produced the best-quality steel for legendary Damascus swords as referred in earlier Syrian records. Field trials using replica furnaces confirmed that this furnace type uses a wind-based air-supply principle that

460-553: Is derived from the Greek words sideros - iron and ergon or ergos - work. This is an unusual term in English, and it is best regarded as an anglicisation of a term used in French , Spanish , and other Romance languages . Historically, it is common that a community was built around the ironworks where the people living there were dependent on the ironworks to provide jobs and housing. As

506-529: Is distinct from either forced or natural draught, and show also that they are capable of producing high-carbon steel. Wrought iron was used in the construction of monuments such as the iron pillar of Delhi , built in the third century AD during the Gupta Empire . The latter was built using a towering series of disc-shaped iron blooms. Similar to China, high-carbon steel was eventually used in India, although cast iron

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552-662: Is located in Fengxiang County , Shaanxi (a museum exists on the site today). The earliest records of bloomery-type furnaces in East Africa are discoveries of smelted iron and carbon in Nubia in ancient Sudan dated at least to the seventh to the sixth century BC. The ancient bloomeries that produced metal tools for the Nubians and Kushites produced a surplus for sale. All traditional sub-Saharan African iron-smelting processes are variants of

598-500: Is set up as an open-air 19th century estate, complete with residential buildings, a granary and two carriage houses. The site is currently open to the public, with 19th century ironworking materials and historical artifacts about communication on exhibit. Today, the site is maintained as a public park and museum by the Morris County Park Commission. It includes nine buildings furnished to depict life at Speedwell during

644-439: Is the preparation of the charcoal and the iron ore. Charcoal is nearly pure carbon , which, when burned, both produces the high temperature needed for the smelting process and provides the carbon monoxide needed for reduction of the metal. The ore is broken into small pieces and usually roasted in a fire, to make rock-based ores easier to break up, bake out some impurities, and (to a lesser extent) to remove any moisture in

690-653: The Atlantic Ocean . The site is still open to the public, and has seven buildings on display. The site, now named Historical Speedwell, is a historic site of the Morris County Park Commission . It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1974. Situated at a natural gorge of the Whippany River , several hydraulic powered forges existed, predating the establishment of the ironworks by Stephen Vail and two business partners. Vail became sole owner of

736-631: The Nsukka region of southeast Nigeria in what is now Igboland . The site of Gbabiri, in the Central African Republic , has also yielded evidence of iron metallurgy, from a reduction furnace and blacksmith workshop, with earliest dates of 896–773 and 907–796 BC, respectively. During a hydroelectric plant project, in the southern foothills of the Central Highlands, Samanalawewa, in Sri Lanka ,

782-577: The missions , encomiendas , and pueblos . As part of the Franciscan Spanish missions in Alta California , the "Catalan forges" at Mission San Juan Capistrano from the 1790s are the oldest existing facilities of their kind in the present day state of California . The bloomeries' sign proclaims the site as being "part of Orange County 's first industrial complex". The archaeology at Jamestown Virginia ( circa 1610–1615 ) had recovered

828-607: The 12th century. The oldest bloomery in Sweden, also found in the same area, has been carbon-14 dated to 700 BCE. Bloomeries survived in Spain and southern France as Catalan forges into the mid-19th century, and in Austria as the Stückofen to 1775. Iron smelting was unknown in pre-Columbian America . Excavations at L'Anse aux Meadows , Newfoundland, have found considerable evidence for

874-475: The 19th century usually included one or more blast furnaces and a number of puddling furnaces or a foundry with or without other kinds of ironworks. After the invention of the Bessemer process , converters became widespread, and the appellation steelworks replaced ironworks. The processes carried at ironworks are usually described as ferrous metallurgy, but the term siderurgy is also occasionally used. This

920-455: The Ironworks buildings burned in 1908, and the property is now a public park. Stephen Vail also bought an adjacent 40-acre (16 ha) lot to which he eventually retreated in 1844 for an active retirement. The Vail Homestead or Speedwell Village , as it is sometimes known, is the site of Historic Speedwell , a National Historic Landmark , part of the Morris County Park Commission . The site

966-481: The West, iron began to be used around 1200 BC. China has long been considered the exception to the general use of bloomeries. The Chinese are thought to have skipped the bloomery process completely, starting with the blast furnace and the finery forge to produce wrought iron; by the fifth century BC, metalworkers in the southern state of Wu had invented the blast furnace and the means to both cast iron and to decarburize

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1012-773: The arrival of the blast furnace in the Weald in about 1491, bloomery forges, probably using waterpower for the hammer and the bellows, were operating in the West Midlands region beyond 1580. In Furness and Cumberland , they operated into the early 17th century and the last one in England (near Garstang ) did not close until about 1770. One of the oldest-known blast furnaces in Europe has been found in Lapphyttan in Sweden , carbon-14 dated to be from

1058-711: The bloomery process. There is considerable discussion about the origins of iron metallurgy in Africa . Smelting in bloomery type furnaces in West Africa and forging of tools appeared in the Nok culture of central Nigeria by at least 550 BC and possibly several centuries earlier. Also, evidence indicates iron smelting with bloomery-style furnaces dated to 750 BC in Opi (Augustin Holl 2009) and Lejja dated to 2,000 BC (Pamela Eze-Uzomaka 2009), both sites in

1104-409: The bloomery to become larger and hotter, with associated trip hammers allowing the consolidation forging of the larger blooms created. Progressively larger bloomeries were constructed in the late 14th century, with a capacity of about 15 kg on average, though exceptions did exist. European average bloom sizes quickly rose to 300 kg, where they levelled off until the demise of the bloomery. As

1150-474: The bottom of the furnace, where they combine with molten slag, often consisting of fayalite , a compound of silicon , oxygen , and iron mixed with other impurities from the ore. The hot liquid slag, running to the bottom of the furnace, cools against the base and lower side walls of the furnace, effectively forming a bowl still containing fluid slag. As the individual iron particles form, they fall into this bowl and sinter together under their own weight, forming

1196-415: The bottom, one or more pipes (made of clay or metal) enter through the side walls. These pipes, called tuyeres , allow air to enter the furnace, either by natural draught or forced with bellows or a trompe . An opening at the bottom of the bloomery may be used to remove the bloom, or the bloomery can be tipped over and the bloom removed from the top. The first step taken before the bloomery can be used

1242-443: The carbon-rich pig iron produced in a blast furnace to a low-carbon, wrought iron-like material. Recent evidence, however, shows that bloomeries were used earlier in ancient China , migrating in from the west as early as 800 BC, before being supplanted by the locally developed blast furnace. Supporting this theory was the discovery of "more than ten" iron-digging implements found in the tomb of Duke Jing of Qin (d. 537 BCE), whose tomb

1288-462: The context of the iron industry, the term manufacture is best reserved for this final stage. The notable ironworks of the world are described here by country. See above for the largest producers and the notable ironworks in the alphabetical order. The largest Japanese steel companies' main works are as follows: Bloomery A bloomery is a type of metallurgical furnace once used widely for smelting iron from its oxides . The bloomery

1334-546: The early 19th century. The Vail House, a historic house museum restored to 1840s period style, possesses some original family furniture and Vail memorabilia. The Wheel House houses an operational 24-foot (7.3 m) overshot waterwheel. The Homestead Carriage House houses an exhibit on the SS Savannah , the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean, with an engine built at the Speedwell Ironworks, and an exhibit about

1380-414: The following: The mills operating converters of any type are better called steelworks, ironworks referring to former processes, like puddling . After bar iron had been produced in a finery forge or in the forge train of a rolling mill, it might undergo further processes in one of the following: Most of these processes did not produce finished goods. Further processes were often manual, including In

1426-538: The history of the ironworks. The Ford Cottage is a 19th-century saltbox cottage, the Moses Estey House is an 18th-century Georgian mansion, and the early 19th century L'Hommedieu-Gwinnup House houses changing exhibits and education space. On exhibit in the factory buildings are 19th century ironworking materials and historical artifacts of communication. Speedwell Village was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974, preserving seven buildings. The designation

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1472-519: The iron content of the primary bog iron ore found in the purpose built 'furnace hut' with the iron remaining in that slag, an estimated 3 kg iron bloom was produced. At a yield of at best 20% from what is a good iron rich ore, this suggests the workers processing the ore had not been particularly skilled. This supports the idea that iron processing knowledge was widespread and not restricted to major centers of trade and commerce. Archaeologists also found 98 nail, and importantly, ship rivet fragments, at

1518-425: The ironworks closed down (or was industrialised) these villages quite often went into decline and experienced negative economic growth. Ironworks is used as an omnibus term covering works undertaking one or more iron-producing processes. Such processes or species of ironworks where they were undertaken include the following: From the 1850s, pig iron might be partly decarburised to produce mild steel using one of

1564-526: The ore. Any large impurities (as silica) in the ore can be removed as it is crushed. The desired particle size depends primarily on which of several ore types may be available, which will also have a relationship to the layout and operation of the furnace, of which a number of regional, historic/traditional forms exist. Natural iron ores can vary considerably in oxide form ( Fe 2 O 3 / Fe 3 O 4 / FeO(OH) ), and importantly in relative iron content. Since slag from previous blooms may have

1610-472: The processing of bog iron and the production of iron in a bloomery by the Norse. The cluster of Viking Age ( c.  1000 –1022 AD) at L'Anse aux Meadows are situated on a raised marine terrace, between a sedge peat bog and the ocean. Estimates from the smaller amount of slag recovered archaeologically suggest 15 kg of slag was produced during what appears to have been a single smelting attempt. By comparing

1656-576: The remains of a simple short-shaft bloomery furnace, likely intended as yet another "resource test" like the one in Vinland much earlier. The English settlers of the Thirteen Colonies were prevented by law from manufacture; for a time, the British sought to situate most of the skilled artisanry at domestic locations. In fact, this was one of the problems that led to the revolution. The Falling Creek Ironworks

1702-575: The research and development in the ironworks facilities, they chose the factory house for demonstration. Without the repeater , the range of the telegraph was limited to two miles (3 km). The inventors had pulled two miles (3 km) of wires inside the factory house for the demonstration. The first public transmission was witnessed by a mostly local crowd. [REDACTED] Media related to Speedwell Ironworks at Wikimedia Commons Ironworks Ironworks succeeded bloomeries when blast furnaces replaced former methods. An integrated ironworks in

1748-418: The resulting iron, with reduced amounts of slag, is called wrought iron or bar iron. Because of the creation process, individual blooms can often have differing carbon contents between the original top and bottom surfaces, differences that will also be somewhat blended together through the flattening, folding, and hammer-welding sequences. Intentionally producing blooms that are coated in steel (i.e. iron with

1794-542: The site as well as considerable evidence for woodworking – which points to boat or possibly ship repairs being undertaken at the site. (An important consideration remains that a potential 3 kg raw bloom most certainly does not make enough refined bar to manufacture the 3 kg of recovered nails and rivets.) In the Spanish colonization of the Americas , bloomeries or "Catalan forges" were part of "self-sufficiency" at some of

1840-404: The smelt progresses. Overall, a typical ratio of total charcoal to ore added is in a roughly one-to-one ratio. Inside the furnace, carbon monoxide from the incomplete combustion of the charcoal reduces the iron oxides in the ore to metallic iron without melting the ore; this allows the bloomery to operate at lower temperatures than the melting temperature of the ore. As the desired product of

1886-563: The works in 1815 and expanded it, producing a variety of agricultural and industrial machinery. The ironworks innovated the first durable iron tire for railroad locomotives in January 1836. With changing industrial trends and a decline in the flow of the Whippany River, the ironworks were shut down in 1873, its equipment being sold to ironworks in Brooklyn and Coatbridge , Scotland . The remains of

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1932-515: The world coincides with the first widespread use of the bloomery. While earlier examples of iron are found, their high nickel content indicates that this is meteoric iron . Other early samples of iron may have been produced by accidental introduction of iron ore in copper-smelting operations. Iron appears to have been smelted in the Middle East as early as 3000 BC, but coppersmiths, not being familiar with iron, did not put it to use until much later. In

1978-512: Was considered a waste product detracting from the largest bloomeries' yield, and early blast furnaces , identical in construction, but dedicated to the production of molten iron, were not built until the 14th century. Bloomery type furnaces typically produced a range of iron products from very low-carbon iron to steel containing around 0.2–1.5% carbon. The master smith had to select pieces of low-carbon iron, carburize them, and pattern-weld them together to make steel sheets. Even when applied to

2024-513: Was made in recognition of the role the facility and its proprietors the Vails played in the development of the telegraph . The old factory building on the grounds of the ironworks was constructed by Stephen Vail for hobby purposes upon his retirement. It is the site of the first public demonstration of the Morse electromagnetic telegraph on January 11, 1838. Although Morse and Alfred Vail had conducted most of

2070-427: Was not used for architecture until modern times. Early European bloomeries were relatively small, primarily due to the mechanical limits of human-powered bellows and the amount of force possible to apply with hand-driven sledge hammers. Those known archaeologically from the pre-Roman Iron Age tend to be in the 2 kg range, produced in low shaft furnaces. Roman-era production often used furnaces tall enough to create

2116-455: Was the earliest form of smelter capable of smelting iron. Bloomeries produce a porous mass of iron and slag called a bloom . The mix of slag and iron in the bloom, termed sponge iron , is usually consolidated and further forged into wrought iron . Blast furnaces , which produce pig iron , have largely superseded bloomeries. A bloomery consists of a pit or chimney with heat-resistant walls made of earth, clay , or stone . Near

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