On Mon, 12 Mar 2012 10:57:03 -0700, Jim Stewart wrote:

Tim Wescott wrote:
I was just Wiki-walking instead of working, and while reading the
Wikipedia page on steel, came across the statement:

"Though steel had been produced by various inefficient methods long
before the Renaissance, its use became more common after more-efficient
production methods were devised in the 17th century. "

And it made me wonder -- do any of these _efficient_ methods apply to
the small-scale workshop (i.e., one or two people, or at most a dozen),
or if one were inclined to do a spot of home steel-making would one be
reduced to using methods from the 1600s?

Not that I'm going to go digging for iron ore on my property or
anything; I'm just curious.

Just guessing but I'd say no because of the square- cube law and the
heat needed.

OTOH, you're the man that made that tiny engine run...

That was hardly tiny as such engines go, just kinda small.

The smallest production model airplane engine that I know of was the Albon
Diesel, at 0.009 cubic inches; Cox successfully made an 0.01 cubic inch
glow motor for years. Individual machinists have made engines as small
as half that size, and made them run.

--
My liberal friends think I'm a conservative kook.
My conservative friends think I'm a liberal kook.
Why am I not happy that they have found common ground?

Tim Wescott, Communications, Control, Circuits & Software
http://www.wescottdesign.com