Blast Furnace (1940-1949)

[@dusanstevic89]

This video is far better than any modern I've sought about this topic.

[@christophernorton33]

Thank you for this very clear explanation . After watching the demolition of the Redcar blast furnace it's nice to understand how the plant worked. My grandfather was a blister but sadly he died before I was born. So I never got the chance to speak with him. It must have been like working in the pit of hell. Much respect to the brave men who did this very dangerous work 👍

[@joshschneider9766]

Blister steel maker? Legend! Some of the toughest workers in those places dude. You better believe he was a strong back for sure!

[@miketag7541]

Stopped by sloss furnace In Birmingham. Thank you for this video.

[@HanzelikR]

White iron is great for turning in to steel. The grey iron is perfect for casting.

[@danielwalker5682]

Excellent film.

[@pilotmike7569]

Awesome, very well explained!

[@edyr]

wish I knew how work these plants and beyond easy breezy

[@darylcheshire1618]

fascinating that this is a continuous chemical reaction and can run for 100 days if you keep feeding it the raw materials.

[@sovietmining7720]

Thank you for uploading this.

[@chrismcdonald3221]

This video shows how blast faces work

[@tomweickmann6414]

Talk about some hard working guys at those plants. Tough and brave. Engage Time Machine. Go back and buy these guys a beer!

[@stewartmcmanus3991]

That was an excellent film and very accurate. However what it couldn't convey was the heat, the smell, sweating men dragging heavy equipment, white hot sparks flying, the crashing of rail trucks all very dramatic.

[@samsulhoda7905]

Thanks you explanation old blast fce

[@danielthoman7324]

I worked at u.s. steel a long time ago. 65 to 83. I worked on the blast furnace from time to time. It all looks very familiar. However, the one big difference is the old film none of the men are wearing any kind of safety equipment whatsoever. That was kind of shocking.😮

[@thrashmetalfiend]

Did you work at Gary Works?

[@billindurham]

I worked the J&L blast furnaces in Pittsburgh for just 6 months around 1975. As 3rd helper, I was lowest man on the floor and was responsible for directing slag into 2-3 slag cars every 3 hours. On J&L’s setup, the iron and slag were all drained out of a single tap and allowed to separate in the ‘tub’. Lots of memories of hot and dangerous but somehow very satisfying work. We were issued full asbestos coats, hood, gloves and spats but one quickly learned to wear as little as possible and never to wear the hood. With hot slag running in trenches along the floor, any trip or fall could kill or maim so you wanted the best possible vision and no tangled gear. The workers in this video are wearing some leather protective gear but know how to keep exposed skin on their faces turned away from the heat and always moving. Otherwise it will burn your skin right off. But that’s better than tripping into a trench!

[@vikramnithi7827]

What is the term or word you used for close slag holes? Can you spell?? I do not understand

[@flavioaraujo3995]

Dolly I believe

[@Blackcountrysteam]

@@flavioaraujo3995 The term we used was 'plugged' or 'stopped' and the device used 'clay gun'

[@davidgray2653]

Reminds me of BSC.corby.

[@mopo3953]

1950 videos put modern youtubers to shame ahah

[@Blackcountrysteam]

Good film however how the furnace was charge very over simplified, on the large blast furnace I worked on four charges of coke or ore were dropped onto the large bell (term used for the two seals ) then the space between the small and large bell was pressurised to the same pressure as the inside of the furnace this allowed the large bell to open once this was done the space between the two bells was 'relived' thus allowing the small bell to open. The pressurisation sequence of the blast furnace was very important to the operation of the furnace and I,m surprised it was skipped over ! I said at the beginning 'four charges of coke ' this could vary on the condition of the furnace some times the charging sequence would be changed to 6 and 2, 6 of coke 2 of ore the changing of the charging sequence was a little complicated requiring an electrician (me on my shift) to enter the control room and physically change over the programming switches and only when the next charge was to be coke and the left hand skip was at the bottom.On one occasion not on my shift I must add the change was made with the right hand skip at the bottom resulting in a few tons of coke being deposited where the left skid should have been and this was a hard and laborious job for the furnace hands that did the digging.

[@stevemorris6855]

Does anyone else think 'Harry Enfield' listening to this?

[@johncarlisle6865]

aka cholmondeley - warner

[@mcleodclan]

And now the U.K. has lost this knowledge forever, now with no Blast furnaces left making us reliant on other nations. Deindustrialisation, I hate that word.