Primitive Technology: Blower and charcoal

Primitive Technology
Primitive Technology
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Published 2018-05-18
I made a blower and some charcoal at the new area in order to create higher temperatures in for advancing my material technology. I took Fan palm leaves and fashioned them into an impellor (about 25 cm in diameter) held in a split stick as a rotor. I then built a housing from clay (slightly more than 25 cm diameter with inlet and outlet openings about 8cm in diameter) and assembled the blower. I opted not to make a bow or cord mechanism as I’ve done before due to the complexity and lower portability of such a device. The lighter impellor material (leaf instead of the previous bark) made it easier to spin by hand anyway as it has a lower momentum. Each stroke of the spindle with the hand produces 4 rotations, so about 2 strokes per second gives 480 rpm. The blower increases the heat of a fire when blowing into it and I would guess it’s more effective than a blow pipe and lungs but don’t how it would compare to a primitive pot or bag bellows for air supply. A small furnace was made and then fired with wood fuel. The wood was wet but managed to fuse and partially met sand in the furnace.
To get better performance, I made charcoal from the poor quality wood. I made a reusable charcoal retort to make it. This was different from the previous reusable mound I built as it consisted of a mud cylinder with air holes around the base. To use, it was stacked with wood and the top was covered with mud as opposed to the previous design which had a side door. The fire was lit from the top as usual and when the fire reached the air entries at the base (after an hour or two) the holes were sealed and the mound left to cool. The top was the broken open the next day and the charcoal removed. Another batch was made using significantly less effort as the main structure of the mound did not need to be rebuilt each time, only the top.
Iron bacteria was again used to test the furnace. Charcoal and ore was placed in the furnace and the blower utilised. After an hour of operation the furnace was left to cool. The next day the furnace was opened and only slag was found with no metallic iron this time. I think increasing the ratio of charcoal to ore might increase the temperature so that the slag flows better. Further experiments will be needed before I get used to the new materials here.
The new area I’m in is significantly wetter than the old area and this has affected the order in which I create my pyro technology. The old spot was a dry eucalypt forest with an abundant source of energy dense fire wood. As a result, I developed kilns early on, powered with wood fuel and a natural draft, before developing charcoal fuelled forced air furnaces. In contrast, the new area is a wet tropical rainforest, where wood rots nearly as soon as it falls off the tree in the damp conditions. Wood is also more difficult to collect here because of hordes of mosquitoes (away from the fire) and unpleasant, spiky plants. Because of this I developed a forge blower first as it allows higher temperatures from a lower quantity and quality of fuel.
This poor quality wood can further be improved by converting it to charcoal first. In future, it may be necessary to cut fire wood green and dry it as opposed to picking it up off the ground dead as was preferable in the Eucalyptus forest I came from. The blower is also handy for stoking a tired campfire back into flames, I simply scrape the coals into a small mound around the nose of the tuyere and spin the impellor. I use the blower each day I’m at the hut for this purpose to save blowing on hot coals each time I need a fire for something.
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All Comments (21)
  • @Lumencraft-
    I love that you went with blower and charcoal for the title. 3/4 through I was pleasantly surprised at what you were trying to do. Loved every minute, and no clickbait. Your an inspiration to us all!!!!!
  • @tonykiburis8068
    In 1949-1950 I helped my grandfather who came to the US from Lithuania make charcoal just like this young man has done. Thank you for bringing me those fond memories!
  • @KIRBA30
    This guy deserves A LOT credit. Since he, amongst other many things, is showing us all how important fire is in the process of life. He deserves some sort of award from any institute of history, since he is DOING what most are simply talking about. Been following this channel for a while and every time I think. This dude deserves CREDIT.
  • @Cam-wo1dt
    For any new viewers who don’t know,turn on captions he explains what he’s doing
  • @dougler500
    Please keep going with the metal experiments! Basic metal work interest me so much. The point when humans started to move from just the basic natural materials onto refining is mind blowing and your experiments here really show how much effort is actually required for that kind of thing. So cool! Primitive Technology best Youtube channel? Yes!
  • @robinheil
    We are all pulling for you to enter the iron age! The work you are doing on this channel is great. It helps us remember who we are.
  • @b.c.2281
    You've inspired so many copycat channels it's getting harder to wade through the garbage. Can't believe you're so close to 10M. I've been watching your videos for almost as long as you've been on YT and I keep coming back.
  • @santig8521
    Most YouTubers: 4mins of content =10 min video This guy: 6 days content =10 min video
  • @austinerickson8282
    That smoke on the ground that was flowing like a river was oddly satisfying
  • @zachmora4680
    You know it’s a good day when primitive technology posts.
  • @KhanhTheLearner
    This channel takes me back to nature. It's so serene and peaceful I fell into a trance (or maybe I just fell asleep) and hit my head on the mouse and the mouse was on the subscribe button. I don't regret anything!
  • @David-yh5po
    Thanks for the great video. I enjoy the way the guy works his butt off to get it done.
  • @CockatooDude
    Man it really goes to show why it took so long before iron production was mastered. It really is a lot more complex than it seems.
  • @secrets4877
    If you want to have any usable amount of iron from this you need to have a lot more than just a pot of ore. A year back with my brother we attempted to make some metal and after one failure we succeeded. From about 25kg of iron ore after reforging we were able to make a small knife. A lot was lost during the purifying and welding it on on itself tho. You need to keep it up the temperature for wayyyy longer than one hour. Get your furnace higher and a little wider, DRY IT stuff it up with wood, once it burns down, fill it with charcoal all the way to the top and put the first batch of ore. Every now and then when there is place on top put a bucket of charcoal and a layer of ore. After a few hours it should be good to take out and hit with a big stick on a stone (pro info, works). GL next time, keep the great work!
  • @sinnful6020
    So soothing with the natural noises and the dude being quiet
  • @boycerazor
    I watch these and then remember that the captions explain everything. So then I enthusiastically watch them again.
  • @lhallora1
    Wait he's an Aussie?? Wow that makes me proud!! Aussie men. Real Aussie men 🇦🇺❤️