This lasts about two and one-half hours. At the end of this
time he stops putting in charcoal, and standing upon the masonry, walks
from one cadinhe to another, carrying a large rod, in order to study the
lay of the bloom. Then, the fire being entirely out, he scrapes out the
bed of sand and charcoal that closes the opening in the bottom of the
crucible, removes the mass of ferruginous scoriae which forms a hard
paste and surrounds the bloom, and takes this latter out by means of a
hook.
The workman runs the four cadinhes at once, this being easily enough
done, since he has neither to bother himself with regulating the wind,
which enters always with the same pressure, nor with the flow of the
scoriae, which remain always at the bottom of the crucible. His role
consists simply in keeping his fires running properly, being guided in
this by the color of the flame without making an examination in the
interior. He draws each of the four blooms out from its bed at the end
of the operation, while the assistant carries the first to the hammer
and the three others to the reheating furnace.
Pages:
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111