Irish Bog Iron
What is Bog Iron?
In the bogs of Ireland lives a natural bacteria that floats on the water and would be easily mistaken for oil or pollution of some sort. As part of its life cycle it removes iron from the water and converts it into iron oxide.
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Unlike geological iron ore which can take millions of years to form, bog iron is replenished every generation or so, And unlike the pockets of bog iron that can be found in other parts of Europe, Irish bog iron is very low in phosphorous. Making it much more suitable for smelting into workable iron.
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Using a clay furnace and charcoal, I reduce the iron oxide to a metallic iron bloom, the iron bloom is then consolidated and folded at a welding heat many times to drive out impurities and homogenise the iron bar.
Unlike modern steel at no point in the process is the iron in a liquid state. If I wish to convert it to steel for tools or knives it must then I put refined iron bars into a smaller furnace to add carbon producing a steel puck which again must be folded and homogenised.
A smelt with 10kg of bog ore will produce about a 3 kg bloom, after refining I will have about 1-1.5kg of good quality forgeable iron. If being turned into steel i can expect 1kg of iron to make about 400g of good steel.
Much of my work in this area is experimental and we are only now rediscovering the methods that were employed by the Romans, Celts and Vikings to make their Iron and Steel.
I love making and working with bog iron, it can be highly polished or after the item is finished it can be dipped in an acid to reveal (what I think) are beautiful and organic looking colours and patterns created by the folding process.
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I regularly do demonstrations of forging and smelting at heritage festivals across Ireland, check my blog for the latest information.