Art Conservation Department students under the supervision of professor Jonathan Thornton and assistant professor Aaron Shugar will conduct an experimental iron smelt using techniques dating from the Iron Age of ancient Rome.

Using clay, straw, and sand, an iron smelting furnace will be built on the east lawn of Bacon Hall. Iron ore from Virginia will be smelted to produce a “bloom” using charcoal as the fuel. The furnace will be modeled on one that Thornton built and operated in Eindhoven, Holland, for an international symposium on early iron technology.

The furnace will be built and cured on Friday, October 15, and the smelt will be conducted on Saturday, October 16. Extraction of the bloom (if successful) will occur near the end of the day on Saturday. Other early metalworking technologies, including the smithing of iron and casting of bronze, will be explored. Again, appropriate ancient technologies will be used including a hand bellows-operated forge and melting furnace.

For more information, contact the Art Conservation Department at (716) 878-5025.

Related
See Flickr gallery

Read Buffalo News article: "Students Get Fired Up Over Iron"

Watch WIVB-TV Video: "Buff State Brings History Back to Life"