The Sage of Einar

Chapter 159 - Testing Furnaces With Fire Bricks

In a somewhat remote part of the tribe Einar was gathered with his father and his wives, while on the left side the Inuit warriors were guests and on the right side were the members of the Thing and other members of the tribe.

Due to the danger that could exist if any of the fire brick furnaces exploded or could not withstand the heat, they all had a safe distance. Even the forge bellows were joined with iron pipes so that Gerd could use it without endangering himself.

When everything was ready, Einar chose the first forge that would be used, which was the one with the molten mineral.

Approaching the forge he opened with his silver dagger a sack of coal which had gleaming coal which was anthracite which was obtained from an open-pit mine near the tribe.

After finishing filling the forge with charcoal, he put in a stone container, sand, caustic soda obtained from the ashes of the salicornia, and lime.

Because he did know the exact amounts, he decided to try a 6: 2: 2 formula. For every six cups of sand, two of soda and two of lime will be used.

When the stone container was full, he placed it on one side as he planned to put it on the fire when it was ready

'Very well, the material and the high-calorie coal are ready. Now I just have to light the forge, but I don't know when the fire will be at its peak.

So I will have to use a piece of iron, if I remember correctly when it looks white the temperature will be 1200 degrees Celsius.

So it should be time to place the stone container, I am grateful anyway that the iron one is large enough not to get close.

This reminds me a bit of when we used termite in a drug operation ... '

Einar at that moment showed a smile and shook his head 'Since I did not think of the termite if it is so easy to make it, I only need aluminum and iron for the termite and magnesium to ignite the compound.'

At that time, Einar's smile was erased. 'But obtaining aluminum is a real problem, I first need to boil the bauxite with caustic soda to generate a material that must undergo electrolysis.

I guess I'll have to wait until I can generate power with a copper coil and magnets. How complicated all this is.

But I suppose that it is necessary because even magnesium needs electrolysis to be obtained. How sad it makes me think of so many things and not being able to do any of them.

Although everything starts step by step, I do not need to worry about a future problem when at this very moment it is not my priority, nor do I have the tools to solve it. '

After thinking about this, he connects the iron pipe in its corresponding place in the forge to later use a little alcohol to wet the coal.

Once the charcoal was completely moistened with the alcohol, Einar lit a piece of cloth and threw it into the forge, then lighting the charcoal inside.

Making a movement of his hands, he indicated to Gerd that he would begin to oxygenate the coal so that the temperature could increase. In just a few minutes the color of the forge flame began to change colors.

So Einar at that time used the iron tongs to hold an iron sword with which he would know at what temperature he was in that forge.

Once he introduced it into the forge, the color of the iron began to change as it started from a black color to a yellow color that gradually became white.

Noticing that the temperature of the iron sword had already reached 1200 degrees Celsius, from the color of the iron that was already completely white.

Einar took the sword out of the forge and placed it on a bucket of water to later use the tweezers to hold the stone container which would be placed on some receptacles inside the forge.

Once he placed the stone container, then Einar decided to take his distance, and using a water clock that he had made, he began to take the time.

The operation of the clock was quite simple because it had a certain amount of water which represented one hour, therefore each second was a drop that fell through a specially made funnel.

Because they did not know how long it could take for the glass to melt, they decided to wait for the water clock to mark the end of an hour.

While they waited, Einar sat in a chair of tensegrity and looked earnestly at the forge made from the refractive bricks that had gone through the process of melting its materials.

"If everything works out correctly, then maybe we will be in the right forge, but it is important to see if it can withstand the heat."

Kassia who was next to him squeezed his hand "You don't seem very convinced with that forge, I imagine you are assuming something right?"

Einar nodded and sighed "I feel that the process to make the fire bricks were incorrect because the materials were melted and later poured into a mold where they were placed on some common raw bricks.

Although the front part of the bricks can withstand the high temperatures, the rest of the brick is made only of clay, I do not think it can withstand the constant heat.

But we can only wait to see the result, anyway, we are far enough away to avoid an accident ... "

Einar interrupted his words when a great noise was heard coming from the forge. It was then that his words came true when the bricks that supported the ceiling of the forge fell on the inside of the forge.

Causing what glass liquid there was will splash a few meters, although this surprised the Inuit warriors and some people.

Seren and the rest of the artisans knew it was a risk, so they just waited for the forge to turn itself off.

While they waited, Gerd disconnected the pipe from the forge bellows as it was dangerous to continue fanning the flames.

When it lost its source of oxygen and was burning in a place without a continuous stream of air, the interior of the forge began to go out in half an hour.

It was at that precise moment that a large group of warriors led by the artisans and brought buckets of snow to put out the fire that remained inside the forge.

After completely extinguishing the charcoal and cleaning the remains of glass that were on the floor, which looked like small transparent tears and had a green color.

Seeing one of those glass tears Einar smiled and looked at Seren "I think the amount of caustic soda, sand, and lime is correct, and it just seems that our sea sand is quite rich in iron.

If we only had manganese we could remove the green color from the glass, but at this point, I don't think it matters too much, as long as we can make glass.

We can improve the manufacturing process as time goes by, but now we have to prepare the other forge to see if this method works.

Seren nodded and together with Einar they began to prepare everything for the forge, from the coal to placing the iron pipe that would connect the bellows to it.

When everything was ready, they lit the coal, and doing the same process as before they used the same sword to measure the heat inside the forge.

As it is white, another stone container was replaced, which had everything necessary to be able to make glass.

After this, they walked away and waited with a great longing that the second forge could withstand the heat.

When the time passed Einar with a big smile, his face approached, and using tweezers he took a ceramic mold which he placed on the fire for a few seconds as it must have been hot before he could have the glass inside.

After heating the ceramic mold, he took the stone container which should be over 1600 degrees Celsius, and very carefully emptied the green-colored glass into the hot ceramic mold.

When he finished, the first thing Einar did was make a signal for Seren to come. When Seren arrived, Einar showed her the glass that was inside the mold.

"It seems that we succeeded. We only have to take the mall from a distant place and while Gerd continues to work oxygenating the furnace.

We must use it until we make sure that it will not explode or collapse. If it can withstand one day on, we can do tests using slaves to test it for a week.

If it can resist, then the use for the village will be approved, with the only condition that glass and steel will be strategic materials.

So only we the Jarl's family will be able to trade with them outside the tribe while within the tribe the price will be set by the Thing assembly.

But in case we need to use glass for constructions within the tribe, all the artisans will have to work completely for free, as it is something that corresponds to the future of the tribe. "

Seren laughed and looked proudly at the pottery mold that had glass in it "Einar, you know you have my support for the assembly of the Thing.

It will not be difficult to achieve what you want, I would just like to know why you made a mold in the shape of a brick for the glass. "

Einar flashed an ear-to-ear grin. "It's a shape that I plan to used to build a greenhouse, only we will have a long time before we can come up with a way to make glass plates.

As far as I can recall from Odin's information, we would need molten tin and rollers to make a machine, but that will be something for the future."