Chapter 372 - 161: First Forging (Part 2)
As for these three core structures, as long as the layout is designed well and the wind chamber can send air into the combustion zone to improve combustion efficiency, that’s sufficient.
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After seven or eight days of research and drawing a pile of design diagrams, feeling that his theory had no major flaws, Chen Zhou officially started work.
The space opened up in the Forging Room is ample for use.
However, before building the forge, he still needed to fire some refractory bricks.
It rained continuously outside, and the pottery kiln couldn’t be used properly, so Chen Zhou could only build a temporary brick kiln inside the Forging Room to produce in small batches the construction materials he needed.
Fortunately, the volume of the forge wasn’t large, so not many refractory bricks were needed.
In less than half a month, he prepared enough white clay bricks, then dismantled the temporary brick kiln and started building the forge against the outer wall.
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For fields he’s not adept at, Chen Zhou always liked to choose a conservative design approach, and this forge was no exception.
Its combustion chamber and heating chamber use a very traditional, simple top-and-bottom layout.
The wind chamber, however, was slightly different from traditional forges—
Heated air helps promote the full combustion of unburned gases, so modern forges typically have a heat exchanger for heating air.
When designing the forge, Chen Zhou considered this factor and deliberately divided the wind chamber into top and bottom parts, using the residual heat from the combustion zone to pre-heat the air first, then sending the heated air into the combustion zone via the furnace bottom.
The heating chamber of the forge adopts a direct-through structure, lacking redundant designs.
While constructing the exhaust system, Chen Zhou thought about adding a new channel in the main flue to let flue gases enter the heat exchange zone, further utilizing the released heat from the fuel.
However, there was already a heat exchange zone in the wind chamber, adding another in the flue seemed redundant.
If the weather was clear and outdoor work wasn’t affected, allowing the building of a larger pottery kiln, Chen Zhou did consider firing a square ceramic tank to install on the sides of the heating chamber, heating water as a byproduct during forging.
Unfortunately, current conditions didn’t allow for that.
Besides, Chen Zhou wasn’t fully confident in the actual performance of this forge, so he didn’t consider those extraneous functions, instead focusing on building this "tool" that could help him enter the Iron Age.
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Having accumulated enough construction experience, now as half a "civil engineering buddy," Chen Zhou managed to build the forge skillfully.
Whether it was the combustion chamber or the wind chamber, or the heating chamber, none posed a challenge to him; only making the bellows was a bit troublesome.
Because he didn’t understand leather tanning, merely learning fur tanning from others online, the edges of the bellows he made weren’t airtight, causing air leakage during operation.
For this, Chen Zhou even took out precious seal skin to replace sheep leather, but it didn’t improve much.
In the end, he had to cut open Ultraman’s skin suit and use rubber materials combined with sheet iron for the edging, finally achieving the desired effect.
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March 17, 1662.
After more than a month of preparation and construction, the forge was finally placed precisely outside the Forging Room.
It was overall square in shape, with the heating chamber suspended above the combustion chamber, roughly at Chen Zhou’s waist level, covered with a layer of white clay on the outside, appearing both bulky and sturdy, bringing an indescribable sense of solidity.
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Pre-cut small metal pieces were neatly arranged on the long table beside the furnace, pitch-black, shiny charcoal placed in the fuel area.
An oil lamp hanging under the ceiling emitted a faint glow, yet before igniting, the room subtly exuded a fiery aura.
Saturday and Sunday stood behind Chen Zhou, curiously staring at the newly built colossal structure, silently guessing what this peculiar construction was for.
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"Light it up," Chen Zhou said.
Attempting forging for the first time, images of old blacksmiths in knife-forging competitions flashed repeatedly in his mind; he could feel his heartbeat gradually accelerating.
Whether it’s a mule or a horse, it has to be taken out for a walk eventually; no matter how anxious or afraid of failure he was, today work had to begin.
He spread small pieces of charcoal evenly inside the furnace and placed some dry twigs within, accompanied by the crisp sound of a lighter being pressed, and the flame began to spread.
The furnace temperature quickly rose, and those standing in front of the forge all felt the heat rushing upon them.
Gazing at the bright, vigorous flame, Chen Zhou couldn’t help but recall a poem from his instructor—
"Man and ape parted ways, only a few stones were ground away in childhood.
Flames flickered in copper and iron furnaces, when would they guess? It’s just a few thousand cold and warm days.
Hardly a smile in a lifetime, on the field of battle bending bows at each other. Blood flowed all over the suburbs and plains."
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From apes to upright walking, then from the Stone Age to the Iron Age.
The crimson tongues of fire about to emerge will produce both iron shovels and hoes for agriculture and production, but more still, weapons for killing.
Thinking thus, Chen Zhou turned to look at the two aborigines behind him who still didn’t comprehend what this forge meant for human development history, drawing in his mind the scene of them holding iron weapons and battling "tribesmen."
"War is cruel, but human development cannot be separated from war.
There’s only fear that these small tribes living in resource-poor areas, although their systems are still very backward, won’t realize the importance of productivity and technology.
They only know to provoke conflicts blindly, devouring each other, a road leading to self-destruction..."
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While observing the fire, Chen Zhou called the two aborigines beside him, instructing one to add charcoal and the other to press the bellows.