Iron smelting. Bloom extraction and processing in the forge.

In this video, I show iron bloom extraction from the reconstruction of the roman period bloomery furnace. This kind of furnace is called a slag pit furnace. In the smelting process, we used 20 kg of hematite ore and 20kg of charcoal (charging ratio 1:1). After the extraction bloom has been compacted using a wooden mallet, the iron at this stage is still not suitable for forging items and requires an additional process of purification, what is done in the hearth.