Smelting MALACHITE into a KNIFE

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I travel to England to learn the art of forming tin and copper together to ultimately make bronze. I create a bronze dagger from scratch and take our series into the Bronze Age!
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How to Make Everything
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Adrian Noland, alex latzko, alkalinekats, Andrew Nichols, Anthony Steiner, Benjamin Maitland, Cameron Small, Carissa Vixen, Chad Nodo, Conner Crabtree, Daffyd Wagstaff, Daniel Rondags, David Beckett, Dylan Rich, Fruitymasterz, Heikki Otsolampi, Jason Kaczmarsky, Jason Lewis, Jenny Wolf-Matte, Jon Niezgoda, Lana Sinapayen, Larry Ullman, Liz Roth, Makendra Hess, Morris Hunter, Phil, Remi_Scarlet, Sandy & Jayremy Lester, Skylar MacDonald, Stephen C Strausbaugh, Stephen DeCubellis, Steven Ingles, and Taylor Korthals
▼ Credits ▼
Created and Hosted by Andy George
Assistance, Research and Cohosting by Annalise Engelke
Camera and Cinematography by Daniel Garritsen
Primary Editing by Joseph Knox-Carr
Music by Taylor Lewin: taylorlewin.com/htme

[@htme]

Check out some more footage from the Beltain Festival I visited while at Butser Ancient Farm this spring in the UK, on our secondary channel: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGnTlKiNrK2lgNk

[@224Jaman]

I love the tech tree graphic

[@lacybookworm5039]

Will you be making a kilm? Do you have enough clay available locally? HTME ♥️

[@MannyJazzcats]

So cool that you came to the UK

[@cretudavid8622]

Try make a crossbow

[@generalerich9196]

Build a phone!

[@smplyscuffed3216]

Fr tho what caveman was like “yo guys this rock is fricken green let’s burn it lol”

[@HavokTheorem]

I dunno, when I discovered how to make fire as a child I instinctively wanted to try burning all sorts of things to see what happened. Fire is fascinating and so are rocks.

[@benjaminbarr8714]

Maybe they made a fire pit with the green rocks cause they were a cool color

[@FreeRangeLemon]

I’m guessing it was an accident, like they just put them in a kiln for support and ended up with metal. That’s basically what happened with all inventions.

[@colonelstriker2519]

Now imagine inventing some food “Yo fam this white thing just came out of a flappy boi let’s eat it!” - egg

[@ethank.6602]

@@FreeRangeLemon that or they noticed that the rust on native copper was the same colour as malachite and put 2 and 2 together

[@LibertyTreeStudios]

That British dude was amazing, the humor was perfect 👌🏻

[@SF-li9kh]

Delightful guy. Felt bad for him though. His asthma is holding him back

[@Xtreme4mil]

Dude looks like he bout to make a park full of dinosaurs from an insect amber

[@eidolor]

Precious bastard that

[@DeadwaterGaming]

Dang, didn't expect to see you here @James Walker. I always seem to run into our subscribers on random videos I watch, somehow.

[@LibertyTreeStudios]

Deadwater Gaming Feels good to be semi famous 😎😂 Are you guys Minnesota Gang too?

[@RedBloopCreature]

I love this reboot. This is just amazing and exactly what I look forward to every week.

[@gunnaryoung]

Exactly! It's what I wished this channel was when I first stared watching, it's perfect!

[@asshattery]

Couldn't agree more.

[@nopenope6750]

@@gunnaryoung what was it before?

[@gunnaryoung]

@@nopenope6750, it was similar but he worked with modern tools so it wasn't a good portrayal of how technology progressed

[@pigmaster7747]

I loved the British guy, he was just so genuine and kind. I hope the best for him

[@rock3tcatU233]

Yep, plus he understood the importance of having slaves.

[@kevbrand8824]

That was also a favorite part. Probably nice sitting and chatting with him.

[@epoc162]

I love how MEL Chemistry sponsors like, every video. It really is the perfect type of sponsor for a channel like this.

[@Greentrees60]

And I am convinced! In 8 years I will be buying it for my little niece or nephew!

[@Minikin1]

@@Greentrees60 Roughly in that same boat. Basically biding time for my nephew to come of age.

[@geoffreyfoster3595]

If I had kids, I'd be all about MEL, real talk. And in the future, when i wanna teach my kids some science, bam, who am I gonna check out?

[@josequiroz5902]

I agree

[@dew7555]

5 years from now: This episode of HTME: Space Age is sponsored by SpaceX

[@linecraftman3907]

jokes aside, there is a crowdfunded company called Copenhagen Suborbitals aiming to send a human on a suborbital flight

[@Vortex-zb6be]

Linecraftman hey you wanna know who else sends people on sub orbital flights. Virgin airlines or any other plane company

[@linecraftman3907]

@@Vortex-zb6be oh ffs 😂

[@walker9192]

Linecraftman more like 25 years it took him 3 years to make a te shirts

[@VexChoccyMilk]

SpaceX: Find your forever home, on Mars!

[@mistermangoman9293]

“They had a power tool we couldn’t afford, slaves”

[@sharonhamilton3095]

HO HO HO SANTA IS HERE

[@sharonhamilton3095]

MINCRAFT UNSPEKABLE ARMY

[@animationspace8550]

Time

[@FlameRat_YehLon]

"Cutting edge technology" Ah, I see where that term comes from :)

[@juggleyourballsoff]

more like good good

[@mr.osamabingaming2633]

Ye, nævr thüt œv thæt.

[@gilmour6754]

that smelter guy was cool. he sounds like he'd be really fun to sit and chat with over a pint.

[@John_Conner222]

this is pretty cool to see. Im glad you are exploring these lost arts from a "from scratch" perspective. To answer your question about why Bronze was developed first over things like paper and writing well you just have to understand human nature first. Even today we have to "Establish a Perimeter" before we can do more delicate tasks like writing a document. Monsters, the dark, and other humans want to take your food. No time to write when there are constant threats lurking just beyond. Once you have the tools and the bodies standing guard only then can you take the time to create something that is not going to protect you, help you gather food, or make shelter.

[@joshd2013]

Its the long way of saying function over form form can be done only when you have time

[@lostarcher1]

It always amazes me just how innovative and smart "primitive" people were when it came to making things and just how smart we sometimes think we are compared to them until we try to make the same items that they were making with ease.

[@mortemsteam]

Well as technology advances old tech is phased out

[@gayusschwulius8490]

They didn't do those things "with ease". It took them millennia to figure them out. They weren't especially smart, they were persistent. That's the key to all ancient technologies.

[@azzgunther]

@@gayusschwulius8490 In terms of raw intellectual potential, they were pretty much what we are. You could go back 5000 years and, after navigating language barriers, be impressed by their organization or philosophy or technique. In some ways their generalist skill set might actually put the average Bronze Age person ahead of the average modern person, since we in the West tend to be hyperspecialized in one thing and marginal at most things. It's an interesting thing to think about. A real eye opener for me was reading Marcus Aurelius' _Meditations_ some years ago. Ideas like those coming from somebody 2000 years ago really forced me to eschew some biases.

[@harryniedecken5321]

We don't see it so much today, but sometimes those materials occurred naturally or very near each other. These people were very used to the idea of putting things in a fire and beating on them to make tools, even arrow tips and other tools

[@Pupsi]

Heyy! When you get to the iron age, you can easily harden iron to high carbon steel with case hardening. It's just packing the ready tool head into an airtight clay vessel filled with charcoal and firing it. The carbon will seep into the iron. To finish off you smash the ceramic and quench it. Firing times can range from 30 min to a couple hours. Most tools only need to hold an edge so it's common to leave the core more flexible ~30/60 min firing.

[@baddonkey6876]

Yeah, i saw Clickspring's vid on case hardening

[@theFLCLguy]

That's more the steel age than the iron age.

[@59232]

@@baddonkey6876 Clickspring is awesome

[@rowanbcapr]

how do you get rid of carbon though? because most of the time you’ll get cast iron rather than wrought iron when you smelt down iron ore

[@chrisfox961]

I love the progression that you show in technology. This reminds me of playing the computer game Civilization!

[@OptimisticNihilist15]

I denounce you

[@llamallama1509]

63 episodes from now, he builds an ICBM

[@trevorhunting1211]

OK BOOMER!

[@Blutwind]

Good thin Ghandi already left the server or else is playthrough would end badly

[@cristianvillanueva8782]

After watching this channel I started getting back into the civ series, so your nottjeonly one lol

[@Goldiloxz]

This dude is just playing Minecraft in real life. Finally we too can punch wood into submission. Lovely

[@-Kerstin]

These videos are a pretty good companion to TerraFirmaCraft; a mod for Minecraft that makes you go through all these steps Andy does to craft tools.

[@Goldiloxz]

@@-Kerstin Ethoslab actually has, I think, 3 playthroughs of that Also quite an amazing modpack, really puts the Communist Manifesto in Craft

[@-Kerstin]

New episode today ^^

[@Goldiloxz]

@@-Kerstin Literally watching it right now

[@redking36]

@@Goldiloxz There is also a TFC+ which expands on TFC.

[@Serahpin]

Might I suggest the book "Primitive Technology" by John Plant, available at all reputable booksellers near you.

[@emeraldh80]

I have a vision of you in five or ten years hosting a show where you set challenges like "make a copper ax" for teams of contestants with eliminations every week and an eventual winner

[@TheFancyUmbreon]

He should call it Primi-tech.

[@gayusschwulius8490]

Great idea, I'd absolutely watch it.

[@gregwenderski9147]

OMG, what a great episode! I've cast a lot of bronze, but never made it from scratch! Hats off to you--this was quite an achievement!

[@jurian0101]

7:15 is so Dr. STONE

[@razorgodzz7898]

jurian0101 Good job mentalist

[@scottkrametbauer90]

Of course there is a reason Senku skipped this age, Japan is rather lacking in tin

[@blossomnessstudios4446]

I help my mom with homeschooling my younger siblings, (8 and 6 years old) and I remembered this channel, so I'm going to start showing them these videos and then doing a project related to them. Thank you SO MUCH!

[@zipzesty3215]

Could have also made wind drums for the blower. It's an old African way of folding hide on top of a special drum to create a one way valve

[@mangokraken]

loved your show before the reboot, been around since about 100k followers, but now it feels more organized and easy to follow. great work!

[@Greg29]

It's always fascinated me how the ancients knew how to work with metals, to be able to differentiate the various ores, how to refine them, and mix them in certain ratios to make alloys.

[@Spoon80085]

Next episode: Late Bronze Age & Slavery

[@graywolfdracon]

Do the interns count?

[@canaan5337]

@@graywolfdracon as long as they are unpaid and poorly treated I would count them.

[@pneumarian]

@@canaan5337 Hey, slaves don't HAVE to be unpaid & poorly treated. They just have to jump before you're finished saying "jump," even if they don't want to. Which is why unpaid & poorly treated has always tended to be pretty common.

[@great-wall-of-nowhere9377]

So guys I've just arrived in Somalia

[@trevorhunting1211]

aaaahhhh ok BOOMER!

[@ahnabellasmith9573]

My favorite thing about these episodes is scrolling through the comments and seeing people’s predictions for future episodes a few years down the line. Who the hell knows what they’ll do? I love it.

[@jep9092]

Bread? Bread? BREAD? BREEEEEEAAAAD!!!!! I LOVE BREAD I'm into baking sourdough bread and artisan loaves so the next episode will be awesome

[@-Kerstin]

Yeah I look forward to the bread episode too

[@markospaic314]

Will definitely try this myself. You inspire me to learn unwritten history. Thank you for uploading quality content on youtube. Just if there was more people like you.

[@daltorb8739]

@8:55 To hollow out bamboo with less cracking, take a heated rock (like really hot) and drop it down the shoot. Then use the seperate stick to push the rock through the nodes.

[@erictaylor5462]

4:00 "My late father's shaving brush." Is he late because he couldn't find his shaving brush?

[@chrisbolland5634]

HAHAHAHA

[@JPRTonundFilmstudio]

Yeah! 7:15 A tech tree!! My wish from the last video was granted xD

[@SB-or5mj]

You should use thinner blowpipes. Every time you blow, you have to replace all of the air that's currently in the pipe. If you put your hand at the ends it probably feels like it's not outputting as much as your inputting. A thinner pipe helps that.

[@ieshi23]

0/10. didn't eat the charcoal

[@CarpetHater]

that is a different channel.

[@linecraftman3907]

7:19 That techtree is super cool!!!

[@masterimbecile]

Smelting the copper makes him an alchemist... a full metal one, one might even argue.

[@timmorris8932]

He's still missing a few elements to earn that designation

[@JosueHernandez-nu5cp]

I kinda want to make a knife like the one he made in this video but I don’t know if I should extract copper from Malachite like he did in the video or just get copper ore because I am a bit concern about the toxicity of malachite

[@rw42000]

3:03 "But they had a power tool that we can't afford, that's time. haha... and slaves, of course." Hahaha, the delivery is perfect

[@LittleDergon]

When you get to the iron age, are you going to be following crafting from the iron rich sources of the west (i.e. broadswords) or from eastern iron poor sources (i.e. japanese folded metal)

[@canaan5337]

Probably bog iron would be the easiest Iron ore to acquire.

[@tanszism]

@@canaan5337 he isn't talking about ore, but the uses. The west had an abundance of iron and thus used it heavily. The east, not so much, so they made thin, master craftsman-only tools.

[@sandervanduren2779]

PersonalPerson you do realize that katanas are thicker and heavier than equivalent European swords, right?

[@amefeu4259]

@@tanszism/videos Considering his current smelting and blacksmithing skills he should probably stick to the west methods. Produce a large bloom, pick the best bits of metal, and make something that does the job despite being unrefined.

[@ThePandaInTheTrash]

@@sandervanduren2779 this was done to make up for their poor quality iron. Japan has really low quality iron ore. Europe had some of the highest quality iron ore. That's why traditional European swords were better than traditional Japanese swords, and why it took the Japanese months to create just one katana. It took a lot of time and skill to turn bad iron into decent steel and then into a good weapon.

[@pb7199]

i love seeing otzi the ice man! i remember studying him briefly in my ancient history class in high school! he was lactose intolerant (normal at the time because humans had only just started domesticating cows and didn't drink milk past infancy) and had grains, meat and plant matter in his stomach which suggested an omnivorous diet. i forgot what the evidence was but something in combination with the arrow wound in his shoulder suggests he was shot at a distance from uphill while running away from attackers.

[@byronperry8931]

All raw materials used in thus series so far Basic reources: Wood-Local Stone-Local Pine Resin-Local Cattails-Local Hemp-Local Clay-Local Bamboo-California Turkey Feather Grown In His Garden: Gourd-His Garden Flax-His Garden Rocks, Minerals and Metals: Obsidian Galena-Illinois Native Copper-Michigan Malachite-California Casserite-Cornwall, England Flint-England

[@TheWildWondersSA]

This was pretty cool. Greetings from South Africa

[@cholulahotsauce6166]

Putting the lessons of the musical instrument episode to good use i see. The band is getting back together!

[@DesertNavy]

2:40 Cassiterite is an ore that yields tin. So yeah, it would be complicated extracting copper from it. 😜

[@cvspvr]

alchemists were just built different

[@austinames8959]

I can’t wait till episode 500 when he goes to space 😂😂😂

[@brockdaff_3125]

new series is just amazing, good job and keep it going!!!!!

[@AlexanderTzalumen]

The thing I find most people don't realize about the wheel is that the metal banding around the wheel and the metal clamps that hold the axle in place are what give the wheel the durability and utility to actually function... Moderately advanced copper and bronzeworking had to be achieved before the wheel to create those parts.

[@opi_is_me1576]

Love the reset of the channel man, super interesting seeing you going thru the stages of evolving technology.

[@johnburr9463]

Andy, y'all are nailing it with this reset. I love these episodes. I found you way back when Grant Thompson mentioned you in one of his early videos and have watched your progress. You are a hero in my eyes.

[@lolsflint7598]

YES! THANK YOU! A DAGGER HAS BEN MADE!

[@m4rvinmartian]

*9:00** Wrap the bamboo in vines, let them dry in the sun, it'll reduce the chances of splitting. Also, use the smallest dowel you can, then increase the size. A sharp pebble is better at piercing through. Drop it down and hit with the dowel.*

[@atmankost3261]

Man, I really wish I could support you! This channel, PrimitiveTechnology and a few others are my favorite channels as you are exploring primitive technology and showing everyone else, basically how to do it from scratch! Keep up the amazing work!

[@ChillyCows]

Another great episode! Love watching the progression. Keep up the great work!

[@w1ld51]

Best channel on yt, hands down

[@mudddober]

Great video. I have been a living history reenactor for 15 years and i would suggest a smaller blow pipe as it intensifies the air to make fire plume hotter. the bigger pipe allows to much room for air dispersal and you waste breath as a cause of it.

[@bertnelson4087]

I really appreciate the amount of time that goes into these videos. So much work involved.

[@aitchpea6011]

I used to live near Butser Hll, and went there for events many times. It's great seeing it get mentioned on videos like this, they do great work there.

[@joecoastie99]

“Unlocked” it’s like a tech tree in a game but human history. I can dig it

[@zak686]

I do enjoy this tech reset you've done. It makes for a great combination of history/primitive survival and chemistry/technology. I look forward to seeing you work into the iron age and all the challenges that entails.

[@adrianoluca1435]

How to make everything is soooo educational. I love it soooo muuch

[@unvergebeneid]

It's crazy that people figured out to do this with next to no knowledge of metallurgy!

[@dekyed]

I'm liking the Live Action Dr. Stone series!

[@irishmigit]

Can't wait to see more! Great video!

[@jamie8602]

I would look into work hardening the edges of the tools with a hammer stone rather than just sharpening for both bronze and copper. This gave them a much more durable edge and a simple way to sharpen them.

[@fdk7014]

This is a brilliant series!

[@brodyjo5563]

Best channel on youtube we learn with you and really let's us appreciate history

[@civilisedzombie]

i liked the restart so much that after a 1 to 3 years of watching your vids, i finally subbed and turned on notifications!

[@cetyl2626]

Glad to finally see you be able to smelt copper like that!!

[@OffGridHacks]

Blacksmith, iron worker here. Should be able to cook the moisture out of the clay. With what you have i would make a 3 inch thick "pot" or "form" for your casts. Bake the clay for many hours in the fire, maybe get a moisture meter to check to save failure. Of course fine sand is best for casting, but clay SHOULD be able to work. I would really focus on perfecting your skill in creating tools now, in doing so that will directly affect the quality of future work and yes, it is more time spent now, but I promise you that you will get that time back and more in saved time later. You can do it!

[@rickcoona]

i really appreciate this series thank you for showing folks what it took to get civilization to where we are today

[@rebeccahindle5312]

Loved the episode! I just can't imagine how someone went I'm gonna burn wood covered over and ended up with charcoal, let alone oh these are nice rocks. What if i layered them with the charcoal and blew at them for a while....

[@casparvoncampenhausen5249]

It all happened accidentally and gradually. Somebody accidently dropped ore in the fire and when it had cooled down they noticed it was useful. Somebody else accidentally mixed it with charcoal and noticed that worked great...

[@kittiesice]

this legit reminds me of the anime dr. stone.

[@hunterpatton1370]

ashley nickle yeah, but Andy isn’t as good as Senku and Dr. Stone kinda skipped the Bronze Age

[@kittiesice]

@@hunterpatton1370 lol true, but the way he explained it reminded me of when Senku talks about rebuilding from the ground up lol

[@Zamolxes77]

Man those tools look so crude, but I love them. Must be very satisfying knowing you made them, in primitive conditions !

[@ShadowRebornRZ]

Senku from Dr Stone had his full playlist on loop

[@Travis7109]

You can pinch the air down to a smaller opening on the exiting side of the blow pipe to increase velocity.

[@UtahSustainGardening]

Great series!

[@SF-li9kh]

FINALLY.. The metal ages. Dude, where's your tech tree at the start/end?

[@Striker9]

I'm in love with this series, can't wait until they get to gunpowder xD

[@Nono-hk3is]

I am so freaking impressed. Time to join your patreon.

[@jannepeltonen2036]

Awesome episode!

[@alexhamon9261]

You can burn through the segments in bamboo with charcoal rather than punching through it and probably splitting it in the process.

[@humphrey7079]

"It actually holds an edge pretty well but it dulls super quickly" So which one is it HTME

[@timmorris8932]

Both. They are not mutually exclusive conditions.

[@DH-xw6jp]

@@timmorris8932 yes they are, "holding an edge" means it doesnt dull quickly, because it holds. "Gains an edge pretty well" can be used in this scenario though.

[@timmorris8932]

@@DH-xw6jp semantics. The OP pass talking about how it will take an edge but losses it quickly. That was pretty obvious.

[@buttersquids]

Woah, I loved that tech tree at 7:16! Please do include it in future videos!

[@evilbaron]

The most important relic of the Bronze Age: the Nebra Sky Disk (or Himmelsscheibe von Nebra) around 3600 years old, middle Germany. Also today 09. November 2019 is 30 years Fall of the Wall (Called Mauerfall here in Germany)

[@toolzshed]

I love this show!

[@hoagy_ytfc]

Loved this.

[@wazzar1000]

18:50 "Cutting edge technology" Was the pun intended

[@MegaAdeny]

That James fellow is just wonderful!

[@ashleyking3961]

How about a collaboration with Alec Steele in Montana, In the future when it comes to the iron or steel age I reckon that would be right up his Street.😁

[@SustainableCraig]

Love your channel. I've been wanting to try this myself. How long was the crucible in the kiln/foundry?

[@diegoparga9324]

Now I have a craving to play Age of Empires

[@TheStrayHALOMAN]

Do you realize you just made a Glass Dagger from The Elder Scrolls Games! Legend

[@gierdziui9003]

"Tin have to be crushed to fine dust and separated from the calcite that way" *happy macerator noises*

[@jammehrmann1871]

Nice joke :D

[@agentchicken852]

I'm surprised that axe can cut wood. If I was doing the same thing I would've definitly recasted that one.

[@velazquezarmouries]

you can also carve the molds on. talcum rock or soapstone

[@greypaladin4560]

Just an idea that might help; Maybe try baking your clay molds like your crucibles to drive off the moisture--or even incorporating the mold pattern into the bottom of a crucible? And, to prevent the mold from cracking when you pour hot metal into it, try to preheat it in the fire so there is less thermal shock. Lastly, for a more consistent mold pattern, make a wooden form to press into the clay. Good luck with your future metal projects. I'm looking forward to when (and if) you get to aluminum.

[@jordythecat7181]

I heard of one way people made bronze things in the old days. They sculpted what they wanted to make from bronze out of wax, then put clay around it, and baked it the wax would get runny and drip out of the mold, while the clay hardened. Then that’s when they put in the molten metal, and when it was cooled, just... break the clay away.

[@DanCooper404]

Lost Wax

[@keppi157]

yo i swear this channel is amazing and should get more views

[@simon-patrickjohnson]

This channel is popping off👌

[@llthylacine]

A wonderful observation of the technology of man. Reminds me of the book Guns,Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond.

[@monad_tcp]

I can't wait for you to get here to 1950, I'm trying to create my own microchips.

[@starphoenix42]

Oh man, that tech tree is so awesome. I really hope you make a poster of it

[@xavierharnett1046]

I turn off Adblocker for this content! This is so cool!