Hematite

[Spectrus_Wolfus]

why can't we still use pick axe's on this like we could on iron ? i'm just curios since it would seem to make some sence to me*shrugs* just asking and hoping

[Solfius]

because that was overlooked when I entered the entry. You should be able to use a pickaxe on it, and I'll change it when I log in next

[new.vogue.nightmare]

*pat pat* Silly Solfius

[west]

And where's my titanium sabre?

[sammigurl61190]

Oooo.....pretty titanium....

[new.vogue.nightmare]

ADAMANTIUM? In Knatr? Wow! Thanks a lot, it's way better than steel!

[sammigurl61190]

Uhhhh...........

[Solfius]

I made the change, hematite now allows for the use of pickaxes. Thanks for pointing that out.

[Spectrus_Wolfus]

no worries anytime ya bugger up ......... i mean make an oversite i'll be sure to point it out for ya

[The Industriallist]

Dragging the topic forcibly in a new direction:

Secrets of hematite revealed by my Chemistry textbook:

After mining, Any ore needs to be mechanically purified. This is usually done by smasshing it into tiny bits and separating the part you want by density.

Then, it must be smelted. The only method described is a blast furnace, but it seems to me that any really hot reducing-atmosphere furance would do. Blast furnaces are cool, though. This requires the ore, limestone, and coke. Coal would be a really bad substitute, because sulfer contamination makes iron brittle. The limestone helps keep silica and alumina from mixing into the iron by isolating them in the lighter, glassy slag.
Pig iron produced:ore:coke:limestone:air(very hot) = 1:1.7:0.5:0.25:2
(by mass)

The pig iron produced by this can then be made into steel by melting it and blowing air/oxygen across or into it, in combination with a flux of silica, lime, or magnesia, depending on the type of contaminants present. External heat is not neccesarily required once the iron is melted, since the oxidation of contaminants produces a great deal of heat.

Another way of making steel, not noted in the textbook, is to beat the iron out repeatedly in a particlar way. Someone else might know this better, but the persians and japanese could make steel swords this way, without the jets of pressurized air. I think it was extremely slow, however. Maybe 5-10g a day, in cantr terms?

[new.vogue.nightmare]

Or you could make a steel sword or whatnot out of iron and a few things (like maybe a small smelting furnace or any source of heat) and it would just take much longer..

[David]

There are these steel swords in Japan that researchers still have been unable to replicate in hardness etc... probably some group of slaves had to beat on the steel there entire lives... lol

[Spectrus_Wolfus]

do you mean the ancient samurai swords that have been hammered into layer's some of them having over 2000 layer's of steel in them ? and even with all our fancy stuff now still can't replicate hehe

[Sho]

Japan never really had slaves. In any case, swordsmiths in Japan did most of the work themselves. I didn't know the steel was particulary hard, though. The way they steel was shaped certainly made it stronger, but harder? Interesting.

[grayjaket]

Must...keep...up....with....Sho...
Uhh yeah...right, steel and swords...hey Solfius, weren't you supposed to uhh give me a million sabres cuz of the uhhhhh glitch thingy? Yeah...yeah the glitch thingy....