With all this talk of case-hardening chain shirts and building firepits, I thought I'd make an initial inquiry to this learne'd list:

How would one go about smelting a small quantity of iron?  Say, large enough for a dagger.  I understand that a large quantity of ore is subjected to high heat until a "bloom" of iron makes its way to the bottom... but what else is involved?  Anyone have experience with this, or know some great reference sources?

With thanks!

Lord Manfred Wolf - Budding knife maker, but tired of stock removal
Barony of the StarGate, Ansteorra
 
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