On 26 Mar 2006 03:40:38 -0800, "oneota" wrote:

I recently visited a Korean craftsman who smelts and smiths iron/steel.
He has built what looks like a bloomery, but the iron apparently
actually melts and flows out an opening.

Iron or steel ? A bloomery works with a bloom, not a melt. This is
pretty fundamental. The composition varies between iron through to
blister steels.

Melting is usually done with iron, in a cupola furnace. This won't work
for steel.

If you're melting actual steel, then you're into the territory of either
Huntsman's crucible cast steel and its sophisticated ceramics workign to
make the enclosed crucibles. Modern furnaces with modern refractories
could use either arc, muffle or reverbatory furnaces without ruinign
steel metallurgy.