The water bellows shows potential but needs to be made larger or have more working at once. I was working on some larger versions this month but they broke before use.
Seeing the more refined methods of smelting/furnace technology in your latest videos, are you going to be moving onto iron tools/equipment at any stage? Or is there even a point compared to rocks & sticks?
Do you think its possible the dilution of all the iron ore with the large amounts of ash is making recovery more difficult. Because then you have to heat a larger piece of slag that contains overall less iron in it.
What about balancing two of them on a pivot? One log on a stone as a pivot, link the left side to one water bellow, the other side to another, as one lowers the other rises. This would reduce the amount of work you have to do as the weight of the bellows would balance each other so you wouldn't actually have much to do to lift them. Sitting on the pivot point and balancing your body weight on the left to lower/lift the left/right bellow correspondingly, and opposite when shifting to the right. Routing the airflow could be tricky tho... And I wouldn't know how to attach them without the pots breaking with use
The brown-beige-green color of the slag at 8:56 seems to indicate that you produce a deoxidized mass at the end. This is great, since it means you have sufficient oxygen control. Since iron oxide imparts a darkening to the slag, the blacker the slag, the more oxidized it was during the smelt, and the more iron is lost in the process. Consequently, it is worth noting that green tinge can be caused by manganese, so it may indicate the presence of manganese in the ground? Id be curious to know what others think.
I tried yesterday to roast my iron ore , it worked, But except the more bright colors and super cool looking, there was this green tinge were alot of Magnetite and Limonite ( idk was orange) were meeting ,ts realy weird i taught i made copper and was like wtf but i searched online and it seems to be a weird Iron II stuff ----- from google ---- and i did pour some water on it. Green rust is an unstable corrosion product typically produced in a low-oxygen environment, such as on rebar in the chlorine-rich environment of seawater. The reaction between seawater and steel may result in [FeII3 FeIII (OH)8]+ [Cl·H2 O]-, a series of iron hydroxides ----
Wow i delete my comment .... I tried yesterday to burn iron to make it more brittle for powder and i puttet some coals aswell in there like 6 handfulls, after i was done i had mostly magnetite and very bright colored hematite and VERY bright lemonite, but there was this GREEN tinge and it seems to be only after i puttet water to cool down --- FROM GOOGLE -- Green rust is an unstable corrosion product typically produced in a low-oxygen environment, such as on rebar in the chlorine-rich environment of seawater. The reaction between seawater and steel may result in [FeII3 FeIII (OH)8]+ [Cl·H2 O]-, a series of iron hydroxides
My favorite part of each of these videos is in the comments a new group of people learning that there are subtitles. With each passing year it gets funnier to me but also weirdly awe inspiring. I know what's going on because the man's told me in very detailed English every step. Some people have no idea, but watch, for years, regardless, because he really just is that captivating. That's something else, a testament to this man's aura.
I appreciate how consistently he makes sure to include the entirety of the fire starter sequence. Very zen, very meditative. It's as though each time he says "See, it's not that hard. You can do this too!"
I was just thinking "there's always a cut in it" and there was with this as well. I think there are various videos where there aren't any cuts though otherwise he would get the whole "you didn't really do that!" stuff some people say.
But then again, this guy is a pro. If it were me in the video I'd have to edit it just so people don't get bored to death while I struggle to make fire.
I don't think I'll ever get bored of watching this stuff. I just had an idea that I'd like to see a video on if it's possible. Do you think you could farm the iron bacteria? Grow them in bulk in some settling pool with just a trickle of minerals coming in through the stream?
This would not work, the iron bacteria need iron to survive and multiply. The iron the bacteria use is erroded from the soil, due to the high amount of rainfall and acidity of tropical forest soil. This is why you can mostly see John collecting iron bacteria from the streams, because this is where the erroded iron runoff water perculates. Also I think there is no need to farm them, as there should be substantial amounts available in every local stream, why waste time and effort for something that is readily available, would be the same as him growing his own trees to use as fuel and lumber.
I feel like that's what he is already doing. He harvests when needed and they regrow. He could probably make a point of harvesting more frequently if he wanted to maximize the yield from that area, but he already has a trickle of minerals feeding an area he has access to and can harvest on demand. Not sure what the net gain would be (from the perspective of someone who was truly living off grid). He already has access to what amounts to an infinite supply over time, and the time involved in processing it is already such a huge demand....maybe if you wanted to supply a small tribe with weapons and tools? At which point the time invested in building the structure might be worth the increased yield...? Just thinking outloud. It's also mostly being yielded from the soil, isnt it? The bacteria are binding the oxygen readily available from the water and air to the iron that's in the soil? Its beena while since any of my environmental classes, but isnt the concentration of iron in the creek just trace amounts compared to the soil? Even a group of just 10 or 20 people would pretty quickly change the land scape and potentially run out of the iron bearing soil to work with...then they would need to move locations and use their iron tools to have a conversation with the next door tribe about how much they like THEIR pile of dirt by the other creek. You just wanna see him build an army, don't you? :p That's what this is about.
I always appreciate when he doesn't edit out the fire by friction part. It may seem hard to do or ridiculous to do in modern day; however, once you start a fire completely from hand with no extra gadgets - it is truly satisfying.
Still working on that one. I get a nice little pile of dark wood powder, lots of smoke, and even little gray flecks that look like ash, but I haven't been able to generate an ember yet.
Dude i just remembered when i watched you videos as a 12-15 year old many years ago and I just wanna say: i respect you man. You got me to go outside and practise skills i never thought i would actually need. And I really appreciate that you are not fake like the two other guys. Much love and respect to you
But consider the perspective of the clay, per Kurt Vonnegut: The only way I can feel the least bit important is to think of all the mud that didn't even get to sit up and look around. I got so much, and most mud got so little. Thank you for the honor! Now mud lies down again and goes to sleep. What memories for mud to have! What interesting other kinds of sitting-up mud I met! I loved everything I saw!
genius. thank you for sharing what you do and not ruining the experience with begging for subscribers and noise. this is the reason i come to youtube...great ideas and creativity. Thank you.
The string attached to the handle is a good way to make the device flexible. You could potentially have string be d over a branch as a “pully” to direct the pulling motion downwards. You could add loops to the string so the bellows can be foot activated, sitting down similar to a stationary bicycle, if you had two at once. Adding a counter weight could maybe make the movement easier. You could potentially loop multiple pots to a single “pedal” loop, potentially operating 4 bellows at once. To prevent cracking you could possibly add a stop to the string, before it hits the ground, or maybe even just a knot etc to visually indicate how much room you have left. All in all- it feels like it may take more effort initially than the fan blower, but may eventually need less maintenance and last longer. Very cool, thanks for the upload!
I imagined a second bellow as a counter weight to the first with a string over the top of a branch - one up one down and pedal with your feet on top of the pots - you would need a couple of stopper knots to avoid smashing the pots i guess :)
Rope is very time consuming for him to make, and because it’s made out of bark, also very fragile. If he used a thin nylon rope your plan would work, but with the materials he’s limiting himself to, he’d get maybe a minute of pumping action before the rope is frayed through.
@@СусаннаСергеевна Not if he carved out an actual pulley from something. I think the bigger issue is he is constantly experimenting and rebuilding, so all that extra effort that would have to be redone every time he makes a new furnace somewhere else would not be worth the hassle. If he needed to repeatedly do things he has already done he would definitely benefit from machines, but since everything he does is so new he would end up spending more time building the things to "make his project easier" Than actually accomplishing what he set out to do.
You could make it a little easier by using a flexible branch or small tree as a spring, like they did with the first kind of lathes. No pullies or counterweights required. You only need a string and the tree, but I like the idea of the double bellows.
In my culture it’s tradition that when you watch a new primitive technology video you have to then watch all the rest of his videos until you fall asleep on the couch. Please help my culture celebrate this ancient and time honored tradition!
I like to believe there exists a planet in a parallel universe where all channels on their equivalence to our UA-cam are as dedicated and professional as this one. Such a joy to watch every episode!
I'm still wanting to see a treadle adaptation to the water pot; I think that it is uniquely suited for that, and would increase your productivity. That said, I'm still impressed with your output from what is, essentially, organic sludge. Oh, and the chattering of the kookaburras in the background is fun.
It would be an interesting collaboration to send out some of your slurry to a smelting UA-camr to see what they'd get out of the same raw materials using a modern process.
@@samuelmellars7855I would suspect this would go against his niche to make his own video using modern methods, but him showing the comparison in his hand and a link to that channel would be cool
I loved the text in this video. We are able to see the concepts come together just through context and minimal text input in all your other videos, but being able to watch and follow your thought process and conclusions in real time adds a level of immersion and perspective that I very much appreciated.
And this my fellow viewers was why sawmills, forges, and most industrial mechanisms were built on streams during the pioneer days. Thanks for another great upload! These always inspire to get my hands involved.
I've been thinkin about this a lot, and here's a few things I thought of: - consider a ventilated lid with a long shaft to move it. Until a lid gets glowing hot on the outside, it will help retain tons of energy. consider using more than one (or a thicker one) if it gets really really hot. - use thicker walls (this is easy enough) and follow it up with the next point: - the crucible (furnace) needs to come up to temp to retain heat better. try running a smaller fire in it for a very long time (possibly overnight?) The hotter the crucible before you start, the hotter it can get at the hot spot, because there's nowhere for the energy produced to go -air coming in is cool, meaning it simultaneously cools/ventilates the fire and loses a lot of heat (especially if it's humid, higher heat capacity of the air). Try running a longer air nozzle and covering it in a fire as well. Just heat soaking the intake air should increase the hot-spot temps
As much as I love this guy & his channel, I can't help but wonder what it would be like to see these technologies in full context - a small community of people doing all of this together. Because realistically, this was NEVER a one-person job.
He might just be an altruist enough to feel like sharing all his journey with these primitive technologies, but can't stand people. Both of which I respect and understand completely. Can you blame him for finding peace and serenity in solitude? I can't. I'm just grateful, that he's still around.
I click on the video after only 13 minutes of being uploaded, and there's already 140 comments!? All of the hype is SOO DESERVED, tho. This is definitely one of those channels that I can sit back in the couch on a weekend afternoon and just enjoy life to. Such good content!
Ive seen you in the past demonstrate how flowing water from a stream can be used to create rotational energy. Have you ever considered using a water wheel to power a blower to provide consistent air supply to a furnace? I believe you could also make a water bellows compatible version with a reciprocating motion design similar to the monjolo you have built.
He's made a water hammer in the past already, though the driving force behind that was a little different than what would get made for use as bellows. I think he's either avoiding using water because he either A) wants to build up to it, B) likely believes creating the infrastructure necessary to utilize the rotational energy is too much work for the benefit, or C) would be too difficult in such a small-scale scenario given how his local rivers/creeks might flow.
Thanks for this video, i would be so glad to see you trying to melt all the iron you've collected so far using a crucible and then pouring it into a mold ♥
I think that the biggest area for improvement is in the furnace and bellows setup itself. I think that if you invested the time and energy into creating a dedicated foundry, then you would start to see improvements in output. What I mean by this is making a permanent (or at least more permanent) furnace with good insulation. I also think that the spinning blower is the superior design, but it once again requires an investment of time and energy to make a more permanent one. What I was thinking of was setting the blower on its side, with the axle running horizontally, supported by simple bearings. Wrap a bit of cordage around the axle several times, and then around a thicker wheel (also on bearings) several times. Turning the wheel once will spin the blower axle many times. It’s a basic belt driven system. It provides mechanical advantage without needing precision cut gears. You could also try to use a bike pedal-like system to spin the blower. I also think that you should try replacing the blower fan with a stack of spaced disks with holes near the center. This is what is called a Tesla pump or Tesla turbine (a turbine is just a pump running backwards). It is very efficient, and I think I would not be hard to make out of any number of things. Much of these ideas would require, or benefit greatly from a certain degree of timber processing, but I don’t think it would require anything you don’t already have access too (axe, knife, bow drill, and adze (like an axe but the head is on sideways), also a froe wouldn’t be a bad addition). If you can nail down early carpentry (pun intended) then it will unlock a lot more possibilities. You can do some sawing by putting a pile of sand on top of where you want to cut, and then pulling tough cordage back and forth through the sand, but this is also quite harsh on the cordage, so expect it to break a lot.
Hey John I’ve had an idea for how the water bellows could be improved upon. If you were to make the water hole about double the current width you could have a secondary displaced piston of sorts. The idea being that if the current water bellows design was redesigned to have legs along the bottom lip to prevent it from sealing against the ground, you could leave the spout entirely still and use the displaced piston to push the waterline up and down. A little bit extra work to build but could make the use a lot simpler and could help make it slightly more permanent.
What about dual water bellows for continuous flow? If both were pulled with string, you could use either one as counter weight for the other on a lever - like some kind of see-saw motion (or teeter-totter if you're american).
It is interesting to see the provided yields from over time with things getting more and more standardised in your process, how things change with which strategies, it's cool.
That thing is begging for a pulley hooked up to a foot pedal or something. With the materials he has, it might be hard to make one that lasts longer than a couple smelts, though.
Bro is working to *simplify* his materials and get a process that works well enough, not perfect. People keep saying "pulley" this and "water wheel" that... this bellows has LESS moving parts than the last one, not more
I am always so amazed to see this. I wonder if iron or from rocks would just have higher amounts of iron and therefore take less efforts but imagine if all early iron would have to be recovered this way?? It would have taken thousands of people and smelts while having even less know how at the beginning
My man, thank you for your hands on survival tutorials. I was fantasizing and came to the conclusion that I wanted to make soap. Could you make an episode about making soap? I read its something with charcoal and rainwater to create lye, cooked with oil or animal fat to create soap?
IDEA: Static water bellow. Dig two holes A and B in the ground right next to each other, connect them at the bottom and fill them halfway with water. Hole A will have a static airtight lid on top with a one-way air inlet and air outlet. If you submerge a log (or anything) into hole B, water will flow into hole A, forcing air into the outlet. PROS: - simple and efficient scalability - no moving fragile parts - water flows into hole A from the bottom, so no splashing on the surface - Static connection to the furnace tubes CONS: - more moving water means more water erosion UPGRADES: - reinforce the walls of hole B with sticks to prevent abrasion - Hang the log on a bent tree (like a spring) - if sufficiently scaled, you can submerge into the hole B yourself. :D
To improve overall performance you can leave the bellows stationary, dig a bigger hole, and then with some object being placed in and out of the water, you raise and lower the level of the water itself (instead of moving the bellows, it will be the water that will be moving) so you don't put the bellows under stress and don't break it, And you can even make a bellows with a much larger area because you won't have to lift it.
As much as I [very genuinely] love primitive iron smelting experiments and clay/pottery firing experiments, I do miss some of the hut building/tool related stuff. I would especially like to see some more primitive machines like the water powered auto-hammer. Maybe something to assist with the smelting experiments. Or maybe make a better tool with the iron that's been made so far (maybe even the old knife)
Watching your videos is a true joy in life, showing every possible way to do things even when they aren't the most efficient is amazing. You have made water powered crushers in the past, and I wonder if you could combine your uni-directional blower with some sort of water wheel with a set gear to have a more consistent heating in your furnace, as well as possibly trying your hand at crucible smelting. I know you used a clay mold to form your first knife, just wondering if you would get a better/ easier to collect chunk of iron pooled at the bottom of the crucible after firing.
You never disappoint with these videos! I had an idea that might work if possible, do you think a water wheel system would be possible? With thatched paddles to power it via the creek? I don't know if a gear system would be easy to do, or how far away from the creek the workshop is, but a pulley system would probably make the job easier if a water wheel won't work. Automatic machines are cool but I don't know how everything works or if it would
Maybe you can use the law of communicating vassals? If you make a taller bellows like the one you have, but keep it stationary while connecting the hole its in with another hole filled with water. Now you can raise and lower something with a large volume in this hole, in order to raise and lower the water level inside the bellows.
The water bellows shows potential but needs to be made larger or have more working at once. I was working on some larger versions this month but they broke before use.
Seeing the more refined methods of smelting/furnace technology in your latest videos, are you going to be moving onto iron tools/equipment at any stage? Or is there even a point compared to rocks & sticks?
Thx for the new video!
Your the only real wild guy❤
But I like survival builders tho they make them by using exerlators
Are there any other metals nearby that you might be able to get in larger quantities of ore so that you could have more to work with?
Do you think its possible the dilution of all the iron ore with the large amounts of ash is making recovery more difficult. Because then you have to heat a larger piece of slag that contains overall less iron in it.
What about balancing two of them on a pivot? One log on a stone as a pivot, link the left side to one water bellow, the other side to another, as one lowers the other rises.
This would reduce the amount of work you have to do as the weight of the bellows would balance each other so you wouldn't actually have much to do to lift them. Sitting on the pivot point and balancing your body weight on the left to lower/lift the left/right bellow correspondingly, and opposite when shifting to the right.
Routing the airflow could be tricky tho... And I wouldn't know how to attach them without the pots breaking with use
consistently the best series on the internet that i absolutely will never get to replicate any of the content
If you have to replicate what he's doing, you're in deep trouble ^^'
shame hes being stolen from by stupid insta reels posters, @primitive.technology, go report it please
It's getting old seeing him smelting, but never using what he smelted
Don't forget to turn on subtitles (closed captions)! He uses those to explain everything he does!
@@funkymunky7935he used the knives he made a few times
The brown-beige-green color of the slag at 8:56 seems to indicate that you produce a deoxidized mass at the end. This is great, since it means you have sufficient oxygen control. Since iron oxide imparts a darkening to the slag, the blacker the slag, the more oxidized it was during the smelt, and the more iron is lost in the process. Consequently, it is worth noting that green tinge can be caused by manganese, so it may indicate the presence of manganese in the ground? Id be curious to know what others think.
it's should be on top comments
Should be pinned and top comment!
I like turtles
I tried yesterday to roast my iron ore , it worked, But except the more bright colors and super cool looking, there was this green tinge were alot of Magnetite and Limonite ( idk was orange) were meeting ,ts realy weird i taught i made copper and was like wtf but i searched online and it seems to be a weird Iron II stuff ----- from google ---- and i did pour some water on it. Green rust is an unstable corrosion product typically produced in a low-oxygen environment, such as on rebar in the chlorine-rich environment of seawater. The reaction between seawater and steel may result in [FeII3 FeIII (OH)8]+ [Cl·H2 O]-, a series of iron hydroxides ----
Wow i delete my comment .... I tried yesterday to burn iron to make it more brittle for powder and i puttet some coals aswell in there like 6 handfulls, after i was done i had mostly magnetite and very bright colored hematite and VERY bright lemonite, but there was this GREEN tinge and it seems to be only after i puttet water to cool down --- FROM GOOGLE -- Green rust is an unstable corrosion product typically produced in a low-oxygen environment, such as on rebar in the chlorine-rich environment of seawater. The reaction between seawater and steel may result in [FeII3 FeIII (OH)8]+ [Cl·H2 O]-, a series of iron hydroxides
My favorite part of each of these videos is in the comments a new group of people learning that there are subtitles. With each passing year it gets funnier to me but also weirdly awe inspiring. I know what's going on because the man's told me in very detailed English every step. Some people have no idea, but watch, for years, regardless, because he really just is that captivating. That's something else, a testament to this man's aura.
I kind of wanted to turn off CC so it's more... quiet... Settled on making them small and moving them to the top of the screen.
same bro same, i spent my first few years watching him without realizing there was subtitles LOL
Today I learned
I've known for years but I like it without subs, it's more immersive and relaxing that way.
Watched for 3 years before realizing cc was a thing.
I appreciate how consistently he makes sure to include the entirety of the fire starter sequence. Very zen, very meditative. It's as though each time he says "See, it's not that hard. You can do this too!"
I was just thinking "there's always a cut in it" and there was with this as well.
I think there are various videos where there aren't any cuts though otherwise he would get the whole "you didn't really do that!" stuff some people say.
But then again, this guy is a pro. If it were me in the video I'd have to edit it just so people don't get bored to death while I struggle to make fire.
guy is probably prometheus by how quick and east and casually just makes fire with the stick rubbing. like i get it, in theory it can be easy but man!
@@morgredtheblack the most effort is finding and preparing the right material to start the ember,
Very demure.
9 years, not a single word, fascinating videos!
This is what youtube should be!
Looks like it is...
Dont forget to turn on subtitles.
Truly a meaning in this day and age!
Maybe when he's ready to retire or broken a world record or something 😂
@@Zoiyya yeah, I wish most content creators would stf up, too....
This man continues to captivate the audience without speaking a word. Keep on keeping on.
there's captions tho btw (in case you didnt know)
Don't forget to turn on subtitles (closed captions)! He uses those to explain everything he does!
hes like mr bean
I don't think I'll ever get bored of watching this stuff. I just had an idea that I'd like to see a video on if it's possible. Do you think you could farm the iron bacteria? Grow them in bulk in some settling pool with just a trickle of minerals coming in through the stream?
Hi nighthawkinlight
That’s a neat idea. I was also wondering what would make it easier to separate the iron from the slag as it’s forming. I just can’t think of anything.
This would not work, the iron bacteria need iron to survive and multiply. The iron the bacteria use is erroded from the soil, due to the high amount of rainfall and acidity of tropical forest soil. This is why you can mostly see John collecting iron bacteria from the streams, because this is where the erroded iron runoff water perculates. Also I think there is no need to farm them, as there should be substantial amounts available in every local stream, why waste time and effort for something that is readily available, would be the same as him growing his own trees to use as fuel and lumber.
I feel like that's what he is already doing. He harvests when needed and they regrow. He could probably make a point of harvesting more frequently if he wanted to maximize the yield from that area, but he already has a trickle of minerals feeding an area he has access to and can harvest on demand.
Not sure what the net gain would be (from the perspective of someone who was truly living off grid). He already has access to what amounts to an infinite supply over time, and the time involved in processing it is already such a huge demand....maybe if you wanted to supply a small tribe with weapons and tools? At which point the time invested in building the structure might be worth the increased yield...?
Just thinking outloud.
It's also mostly being yielded from the soil, isnt it?
The bacteria are binding the oxygen readily available from the water and air to the iron that's in the soil? Its beena while since any of my environmental classes, but isnt the concentration of iron in the creek just trace amounts compared to the soil?
Even a group of just 10 or 20 people would pretty quickly change the land scape and potentially run out of the iron bearing soil to work with...then they would need to move locations and use their iron tools to have a conversation with the next door tribe about how much they like THEIR pile of dirt by the other creek.
You just wanna see him build an army, don't you? :p That's what this is about.
@brokentwilight3136 That makes sense, I didn't know the bacteria was so readily available, though.
I always appreciate when he doesn't edit out the fire by friction part. It may seem hard to do or ridiculous to do in modern day; however, once you start a fire completely from hand with no extra gadgets - it is truly satisfying.
From there to propelling our eyes to other planets.
Still working on that one. I get a nice little pile of dark wood powder, lots of smoke, and even little gray flecks that look like ash, but I haven't been able to generate an ember yet.
Dude i just remembered when i watched you videos as a 12-15 year old many years ago and I just wanna say: i respect you man. You got me to go outside and practise skills i never thought i would actually need. And I really appreciate that you are not fake like the two other guys. Much love and respect to you
That dented pot is iconic, I feel like I've known it for longer than I've known my mother.
Same with the pestle.
I was today years old when I discovered, turning on captions gives you detailed instructions on what hes doing. Been watching for 9 years...
...
Gotta go re-watch everything from the start.
Already started @@Leopablo87
Now it's time to go back and watch his whole channel again
I agree. That's the best reason to rewatch everything
I am glad that it was the clay that failed and not the VERY HARD WORKING LITTLE LEAF
But consider the perspective of the clay, per Kurt Vonnegut:
The only way I can feel the least bit important is to think of all the mud that didn't even get to sit up and look around.
I got so much, and most mud got so little.
Thank you for the honor!
Now mud lies down again and goes to sleep.
What memories for mud to have!
What interesting other kinds of sitting-up mud I met!
I loved everything I saw!
I worked almost 12 hours today. And what relaxes me is to watch this dude play with mud lol
quit your job, free yourself
genius. thank you for sharing what you do and not ruining the experience with begging for subscribers and noise. this is the reason i come to youtube...great ideas and creativity. Thank you.
John: Ok, I need to focus during this shot. Random kookaburra: Nope.
thats part of why this channel is great
Don't forget to turn on subtitles (closed captions)! He uses those to explain everything he does!
Is that what that was around 1:06?
Definitely makes up for the missing monkeys 😅
@@akashmaharaj3389 yep
lol
The string attached to the handle is a good way to make the device flexible. You could potentially have string be d over a branch as a “pully” to direct the pulling motion downwards. You could add loops to the string so the bellows can be foot activated, sitting down similar to a stationary bicycle, if you had two at once. Adding a counter weight could maybe make the movement easier. You could potentially loop multiple pots to a single “pedal” loop, potentially operating 4 bellows at once. To prevent cracking you could possibly add a stop to the string, before it hits the ground, or maybe even just a knot etc to visually indicate how much room you have left. All in all- it feels like it may take more effort initially than the fan blower, but may eventually need less maintenance and last longer. Very cool, thanks for the upload!
I imagined a second bellow as a counter weight to the first with a string over the top of a branch - one up one down and pedal with your feet on top of the pots - you would need a couple of stopper knots to avoid smashing the pots i guess :)
I had exactly the same thought. Also, if it was counter-weighted and leg driven, the size of the bellows could possibly be increased.
Rope is very time consuming for him to make, and because it’s made out of bark, also very fragile. If he used a thin nylon rope your plan would work, but with the materials he’s limiting himself to, he’d get maybe a minute of pumping action before the rope is frayed through.
@@СусаннаСергеевна Not if he carved out an actual pulley from something.
I think the bigger issue is he is constantly experimenting and rebuilding, so all that extra effort that would have to be redone every time he makes a new furnace somewhere else would not be worth the hassle. If he needed to repeatedly do things he has already done he would definitely benefit from machines, but since everything he does is so new he would end up spending more time building the things to "make his project easier" Than actually accomplishing what he set out to do.
You could make it a little easier by using a flexible branch or small tree as a spring, like they did with the first kind of lathes. No pullies or counterweights required. You only need a string and the tree, but I like the idea of the double bellows.
In my culture it’s tradition that when you watch a new primitive technology video you have to then watch all the rest of his videos until you fall asleep on the couch. Please help my culture celebrate this ancient and time honored tradition!
In my country, we have the same ancient tradition. Perhaps we're not all so different!
So many forgetting this tradition. It's time for a renaissance.
In my country all we want is John to call out Primitive Skills as a fake tuber.😊😊😊
Separated by borders, united by primitive technology
I do indeed partake in the occasional Primitive Technology marathon whenever a new video drops. 😅❤ - USA
can't wait till big dawg builds his first primitive computer
I like to believe there exists a planet in a parallel universe where all channels on their equivalence to our UA-cam are as dedicated and professional as this one. Such a joy to watch every episode!
I'm a simple man; new Primitive Technology drops, I drop what I'm doing, sit down, and click through.
I'm still wanting to see a treadle adaptation to the water pot; I think that it is uniquely suited for that, and would increase your productivity.
That said, I'm still impressed with your output from what is, essentially, organic sludge.
Oh, and the chattering of the kookaburras in the background is fun.
I was going to bed when I saw a new video was on.
@@lairdcummings9092 you got the right idea there, buddy
Best comment I've seen today.
Good enough for Santa Clause, good enough for me.
Always worth the wait for a new smelting video, no matter how it turns out! Your videos are legendary. Thanks, JP!
It would be an interesting collaboration to send out some of your slurry to a smelting UA-camr to see what they'd get out of the same raw materials using a modern process.
I want to see this happen
Or just to run his own fully modern diy setup, refractory bricks, electric blower, coke or propane or whatever is usually used.
@@samuelmellars7855I would suspect this would go against his niche to make his own video using modern methods, but him showing the comparison in his hand and a link to that channel would be cool
That would just kill the idea of primitive technology...
that would be cool to find out the max yield
I love when he adds how much time each task takes him
I loved the text in this video. We are able to see the concepts come together just through context and minimal text input in all your other videos, but being able to watch and follow your thought process and conclusions in real time adds a level of immersion and perspective that I very much appreciated.
And this my fellow viewers was why sawmills, forges, and most industrial mechanisms were built on streams during the pioneer days. Thanks for another great upload! These always inspire to get my hands involved.
Remember to turn on caption
Never! 😄
I didn´t learn about this until like a year ago, than I started watching all his videos since the beginning lol.
Thats for the second watch. First try to just be a primitive man watching some other primitive man do his skill silently. Just magic
I've been thinkin about this a lot, and here's a few things I thought of:
- consider a ventilated lid with a long shaft to move it. Until a lid gets glowing hot on the outside, it will help retain tons of energy. consider using more than one (or a thicker one) if it gets really really hot.
- use thicker walls (this is easy enough) and follow it up with the next point:
- the crucible (furnace) needs to come up to temp to retain heat better. try running a smaller fire in it for a very long time (possibly overnight?) The hotter the crucible before you start, the hotter it can get at the hot spot, because there's nowhere for the energy produced to go
-air coming in is cool, meaning it simultaneously cools/ventilates the fire and loses a lot of heat (especially if it's humid, higher heat capacity of the air). Try running a longer air nozzle and covering it in a fire as well. Just heat soaking the intake air should increase the hot-spot temps
good point, I have seen garage furnaces that do the same thing using modern materials
John is one of the only building people that actually build it and don't fake it.
It is so crazy how much energy we need to smelt ores. And if I remember correctly, iron isn't even one of the hardest ones to smelt!
Indeed. Aluminum takes absolutely crazy amounts of electricity to smelt.
I love Kookaburras, they never fail to make me chuckle along.
Wait he’s Aussie?
Yes @@alexandersakellarakis9803
@@alexandersakellarakis9803 yeah he lives in far north queensland
Was guessing Alabama
@@LeroyBrown bruh
As much as I love this guy & his channel, I can't help but wonder what it would be like to see these technologies in full context - a small community of people doing all of this together. Because realistically, this was NEVER a one-person job.
I keep saying this. I think the undertone is that he needs a wife and kids or something 😅
@@Taygetea in this economy? He would need at least a 15 grams of iron per smelt salary to support a family.
@@mzimmerman1988 And women would only get 12.5 grams from the same amount of ore.
There is this project in France where they are building a castle with original methods and tools
He might just be an altruist enough to feel like sharing all his journey with these primitive technologies, but can't stand people. Both of which I respect and understand completely. Can you blame him for finding peace and serenity in solitude? I can't. I'm just grateful, that he's still around.
Quick reminder to always enable subtitles for these videos! I just realized that he explains everything he's doing.
Welcome to the club of the Enlightened! Took me only 5 videos to find that out. A long long time ago in a galaxy not that different from yours.
Young man, I dont know what you do for a living, but I must say after looking through your play list, I am very impressed,, yes Sir very impressed!
2:00 forbidden peanut butter
Needs more likes 😂😂😂
2:10 what happens if you eat it
you vomit.
@@gregbaatard7105Iron Man
I click on the video after only 13 minutes of being uploaded, and there's already 140 comments!? All of the hype is SOO DESERVED, tho. This is definitely one of those channels that I can sit back in the couch on a weekend afternoon and just enjoy life to. Such good content!
My day: *bad*
Primitive Technology: *uploads*
My day: *good*
日本は朝だからこの動画見て金曜日も頑張って仕事ができる
Bad day too. Felt the same.
Feel better folks ❤
So true. Made my day significantly less shitty.
💯%
Ive seen you in the past demonstrate how flowing water from a stream can be used to create rotational energy. Have you ever considered using a water wheel to power a blower to provide consistent air supply to a furnace? I believe you could also make a water bellows compatible version with a reciprocating motion design similar to the monjolo you have built.
He's made a water hammer in the past already, though the driving force behind that was a little different than what would get made for use as bellows. I think he's either avoiding using water because he either A) wants to build up to it, B) likely believes creating the infrastructure necessary to utilize the rotational energy is too much work for the benefit, or C) would be too difficult in such a small-scale scenario given how his local rivers/creeks might flow.
I love this man and how these videos have remained consistently beautiful throughout the years. Thank you, I hope we are able to support you.
Thanks for this video, i would be so glad to see you trying to melt all the iron you've collected so far using a crucible and then pouring it into a mold ♥
yes, these videos lack tangible result. don't end your video with some useless speckles of goop.
1:05 those kookaburras are absolutely stoked about the new furnace
maybe they're expecting it will fail? :D
I think that the biggest area for improvement is in the furnace and bellows setup itself. I think that if you invested the time and energy into creating a dedicated foundry, then you would start to see improvements in output.
What I mean by this is making a permanent (or at least more permanent) furnace with good insulation. I also think that the spinning blower is the superior design, but it once again requires an investment of time and energy to make a more permanent one. What I was thinking of was setting the blower on its side, with the axle running horizontally, supported by simple bearings. Wrap a bit of cordage around the axle several times, and then around a thicker wheel (also on bearings) several times. Turning the wheel once will spin the blower axle many times. It’s a basic belt driven system. It provides mechanical advantage without needing precision cut gears. You could also try to use a bike pedal-like system to spin the blower.
I also think that you should try replacing the blower fan with a stack of spaced disks with holes near the center. This is what is called a Tesla pump or Tesla turbine (a turbine is just a pump running backwards). It is very efficient, and I think I would not be hard to make out of any number of things.
Much of these ideas would require, or benefit greatly from a certain degree of timber processing, but I don’t think it would require anything you don’t already have access too (axe, knife, bow drill, and adze (like an axe but the head is on sideways), also a froe wouldn’t be a bad addition). If you can nail down early carpentry (pun intended) then it will unlock a lot more possibilities. You can do some sawing by putting a pile of sand on top of where you want to cut, and then pulling tough cordage back and forth through the sand, but this is also quite harsh on the cordage, so expect it to break a lot.
Hey John I’ve had an idea for how the water bellows could be improved upon. If you were to make the water hole about double the current width you could have a secondary displaced piston of sorts. The idea being that if the current water bellows design was redesigned to have legs along the bottom lip to prevent it from sealing against the ground, you could leave the spout entirely still and use the displaced piston to push the waterline up and down. A little bit extra work to build but could make the use a lot simpler and could help make it slightly more permanent.
If I could only learn 1 skill by 1 person it be you and your survival skills. Great work man
I was several minutes in before I realized I didn't have CC on and was just that familiar with everything you've been working on.
What about dual water bellows for continuous flow?
If both were pulled with string, you could use either one as counter weight for the other on a lever - like some kind of see-saw motion (or teeter-totter if you're american).
IIRC he's french, living in the tropics, some island.
As an American, nobody calls it a teeter totter
Thank you for these!!
Watching the goopy iron ore, my man has to enter the Spatula Age asap!
Just came back to this channel from about a two year break. He still makes good videos!
¡Gracias! I am always happy to watch all of your videos, very educative, relaxing and entertaining!
Much appreciated!
Just what I needed
1:05 kookaburra in the background going crazy
Edit, holy crap 250 likes
Made the whole video for me
At least we know it wasn’t added in post like they did in Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark. Hearing the bird call out of place can be jarring.
thanks for that. i saw this comment right as i was about to bust out the Merlin app and ID that son of a gun lol
I... always thought they were monkeys 🤦
i was like what is that😂
2:40 that's the doodoo-est looking brick I've ever seen in my life
Dude, its always amaze me seeing you efortlessly making a fire with only sticks and leaf.
2:10 yeah, we all had mornings like that.
I instantly knew this comment existed when I got to that part.
When ya gotta go, ya gotta go…
🤣
@@anselmitiikkola6258 Same, immediately clicked
The worst part is having to sift through it each time
Brain smelting stuff, as usual. Bellowing my mind.
The pawprint in the mud at 2:18 😂
raccoon?
@@nolan_meyer we dont have trashpandas here in australia, we do have possums thou
The biggest thing i get from these videos is the bros complete dedication and the amount of mahi and intention. chur
Thank you for leaving on the natural sounds in! Im glad you dont redo takes
Hallowed is the silent creator.
Bringing us such teachings.
Building primitive smelters.
Free of modern leeching's.
🙏
Slave'd over bricks and stone.
Endless days of working.
Isolated yet not alone.
Save us viewers lurking.
Primitive technology and the fat electrician, are the only two youtube channels I will stop what im doing to start watching their videos.
electroboom is not exactly buff, but 'fat' is a bit harsh ;-)
@willdarling1 yeah I was talking about @the_fat_eletrician
Nice! Another vid from the best UA-camr!
It is interesting to see the provided yields from over time with things getting more and more standardised in your process, how things change with which strategies, it's cool.
You definitely need it to be a bit longer so you can sustain the blast of air more.
I wonder if a pulley system could be used to automate the movement of the bellow in any way? Would be very interesting to see.
That thing is begging for a pulley hooked up to a foot pedal or something. With the materials he has, it might be hard to make one that lasts longer than a couple smelts, though.
Yes! He could fire the bellows and put charges in at the same tome
A walking beam.
Could even have two water pumps rigged so one goes up when the other goes down
Bro is working to *simplify* his materials and get a process that works well enough, not perfect. People keep saying "pulley" this and "water wheel" that... this bellows has LESS moving parts than the last one, not more
Never gets old watching you make fire with two sticks
I agree. There's no need to fake fire-making when it can clearly be done in under two minutes if you know what you're doing!
Two sticks and the magic kindling. The kindling is the critical part.
Great video brother from the imperial county California 👍🇺🇲
I am always so amazed to see this. I wonder if iron or from rocks would just have higher amounts of iron and therefore take less efforts but imagine if all early iron would have to be recovered this way?? It would have taken thousands of people and smelts while having even less know how at the beginning
My man, thank you for your hands on survival tutorials.
I was fantasizing and came to the conclusion that I wanted to make soap. Could you make an episode about making soap? I read its something with charcoal and rainwater to create lye, cooked with oil or animal fat to create soap?
Using water to push air to fuel fire encased in earth-this guys the avatar!
Those birds sound otherworldly.
in person some Aussie birds are mind blowing - I wouldn't be surprised if we found out they make sounds that our speakers and mics cannot deal with
IDEA: Static water bellow.
Dig two holes A and B in the ground right next to each other, connect them at the bottom and fill them halfway with water. Hole A will have a static airtight lid on top with a one-way air inlet and air outlet. If you submerge a log (or anything) into hole B, water will flow into hole A, forcing air into the outlet.
PROS:
- simple and efficient scalability
- no moving fragile parts
- water flows into hole A from the bottom, so no splashing on the surface
- Static connection to the furnace tubes
CONS:
- more moving water means more water erosion
UPGRADES:
- reinforce the walls of hole B with sticks to prevent abrasion
- Hang the log on a bent tree (like a spring)
- if sufficiently scaled, you can submerge into the hole B yourself. :D
And then use the water of the stream to power it
and then use the turbines to generate free electricity, brilliant! wait, what are we talking about? I didn't understand these comments
@@majermike Edited, is it more understandable?
hole A has an air inlet and an air outlet? why not just 1 hole?
Glad you explored this further as it seemed very popular from the last bellows vid that ended with the water bellows.
Fire building is such a beautiful art and he's always been so good at it.
To improve overall performance you can leave the bellows stationary, dig a bigger hole, and then with some object being placed in and out of the water, you raise and lower the level of the water itself (instead of moving the bellows, it will be the water that will be moving) so you don't put the bellows under stress and don't break it, And you can even make a bellows with a much larger area because you won't have to lift it.
Being late to school is less important than this
For real it’s 1 am for me but this is more important than sleep lol
@@orishaharя собиралась спать, тоже час ночи,но надо посмотреть. Интересно.
This IS school.
Being late to school is a good survival trait these days
go to scchool at a reasonable hour, its good for you, and your brain. staying up late is linked to higher risks of dementia
Those birds at 1:15 sound awesome. What are they? Also is that hole in your foot causing any issues?
Do you mean the kookaburras from 1:05
@@PCrailfan3790 Kookaburras!
😂
I love how helpful and smart everyone is in the comments!! And for once on the Internet that isn't sarcasm! This is my favorite UA-cam group!
I love how in this shot he tells us the length and width of the hole in case we want to do it ourselves (with captions)
As much as I [very genuinely] love primitive iron smelting experiments and clay/pottery firing experiments, I do miss some of the hut building/tool related stuff. I would especially like to see some more primitive machines like the water powered auto-hammer.
Maybe something to assist with the smelting experiments. Or maybe make a better tool with the iron that's been made so far (maybe even the old knife)
3:09 what an amazing demo. John Plant is the Steve Jobs of making your own iron tools from bacteria.
7:56 PUSH THE TEMPO, PUSH THE TEMPO
@efa666 is a Rockefeller Skank confirmed
Excited to see a final product and what he’s planning on making after collecting all this iron
Using water for the bellow is so clever!
Psychological comfort
07:37 never expected to hear steam engine on this channel...
Iron Bacteria sounds like some Iron Maiden comedy tribute band tbh
Watching your videos is a true joy in life, showing every possible way to do things even when they aren't the most efficient is amazing.
You have made water powered crushers in the past, and I wonder if you could combine your uni-directional blower with some sort of water wheel with a set gear to have a more consistent heating in your furnace, as well as possibly trying your hand at crucible smelting. I know you used a clay mold to form your first knife, just wondering if you would get a better/ easier to collect chunk of iron pooled at the bottom of the crucible after firing.
Man I'm way too happy when this guy uploads
Primitive Technology has now entered the Iron age. Soon he'll be progressing into the classical age.
Yet another iconic bush craft W.
@2:35 forbidden brownies
You never disappoint with these videos! I had an idea that might work if possible, do you think a water wheel system would be possible? With thatched paddles to power it via the creek? I don't know if a gear system would be easy to do, or how far away from the creek the workshop is, but a pulley system would probably make the job easier if a water wheel won't work. Automatic machines are cool but I don't know how everything works or if it would
Maybe you can use the law of communicating vassals? If you make a taller bellows like the one you have, but keep it stationary while connecting the hole its in with another hole filled with water. Now you can raise and lower something with a large volume in this hole, in order to raise and lower the water level inside the bellows.
"Помочь" огню - водой?! Это сильно!! 👏🏻
Прекрасная идея 🤔
Просто ведь, на поверхности, но честно.. Сам бы Я мог не додуматься 😄😅
0:53 Drain addict embient)
And why drain addict always use that sound effect... Im very curious
What bird is that actually?
@@zhitaburnurli9631 kookaburra
2:10 delicious
The only UA-camr I am 100% sure will never disappoint me.
the myth himself, the og, the one that puts me to sleep when having trouble sleeping. I love you man.
LIKE TO VOTE: Next Video, A double bellows linked to a counterweight system 👇✅
Yes please!
You can tell doing it for an hour isn't easy This would solve the problem
@@BijanAzimi-id2rbHen had to switch holding positions like 4 times
@@BijanAzimi-id2rb Counterweight is the way to go for sure
Fascinating