You are in the middle of a huge state forest, several days of walking away from civilization.Suddenly, you come across this structure. What do you do?
>>2866335Assuming I keep my skin colour in your hypothetical scenario, I'll proceed to take a picture with my potato phone and leave. Otherwise I'll just loot and rape whatever happens to be there
I go find the nearest forest janny and tattle immediately.
>>2866335Find the person who made this and ask them what they're doing Looks like a furnace for smelting maybe?
>>2866357What could you possibly smelt with this? Maybe ice, and even that just barely
I hike in remote places a lot and I've always dreamed of finding a secret camp or cabin and the people there offering me food or a place to stay or even to come live with them, but it has never happened. I hiked 9 hours through a remote wilderness and all I found manmade was a single old rail tie when my entire route was once a narrow gauge railroad.
>>2866335Keep my eyes peeled. Pretty sure Primitive Technology is silently observing me from somewhere in the bush.
>>2866335I take measurements to finally settle if he's 170cm or 150cm
>>2866335>What do you do?Genuflect.
>>2866335if someone is around i'd probably say hello, but i'd otherwise just fuck off like how i otherwise would have if there was nothing to begin withits like finding any other site/building; its obviously not a drug operation or schizo hut, because (violent) criminals & crazies don't do that sorta shitat worst i get to be in a youtube video, at best i meet an interesting & well educated person
>>2866335build a cabin right beside him
>>2866335i always try to help people in need so i would drop my shirt inside the hut and leave
>>2866471show us the steel you've made in your simple clay furnace, white man
>>2866335Man's probably out looking for arrowrootsGive him some metal since he's been trying so hard to get metalI do want to go out there and make a structure like this but I live in a third world shithole and the forests are full of gangs and thieves
>>2866335That's shack is where a violent murderer lives. Everyone thought he drowned at summercamp, but he was actually lost in the woods and lived there alone like a feral animal. Very dangerous
>>2866363Listen for the crack. Boy's pretty good with a sling.
>>2866335I won't expect much conversation, that's for sure.
>>2866335Outside of Alaska, where in the US can you be several days of walking away from civilization?
>>2866362>wilderness>was once a railroad
>>2866916Are you not from America or just retarded or what's going on here?
>>2866550## Step 1: Build a Simple Clay Furnace (Bloomery)You’re making what’s called a **bloomery furnace**.**Materials:*** Clay + sand (to prevent cracking)* Straw or grass (helps structure)* A pipe/nozzle (called a *tuyere*) for air* Charcoal (not regular wood)* Iron ore (hematite, magnetite, or even rust)**Shape:*** About 50–100 cm tall* Narrow shaft (cylinder)* Hole near bottom for air inputLet it dry completely before using.---## Step 2: Add Air (Critical)You need a steady airflow:* Hand bellows, foot bellows, or even a blower* This raises temperature to ~1200°CWithout enough air, you won’t get usable iron.---## Step 3: Smelt the Iron1. Preheat furnace with charcoal2. Add layers: * Charcoal * Crushed iron ore3. Keep feeding both for several hours (3–6h)**What happens:*** Iron doesn’t fully melt* You get a spongy mass called a **bloom** (iron + slag)---## Step 4: Extract and Forge the Bloom* Remove the glowing bloom* Hammer it while hot to squeeze out slagNow you have **wrought iron**, not steel yet.---## Step 5: Turn Iron into Steel (Carburization)This is the key step most people miss.1. Heat the iron in charcoal for a long time2. Carbon from charcoal diffuses into the iron3. Repeat heating + hammeringThis process slowly creates **steel** (iron + carbon).---## Reality Check* You will **not get molten steel** in a simple clay furnace* You’ll get **solid-state iron**, then convert it* It takes multiple tries to get good quality steel---## Simple Summary* Furnace makes **iron bloom*** Hammering makes **wrought iron*** Reheating in charcoal makes **steel**
>>2866916Any state west of the rockies.
>>2866916Interesting question
>>2866917most wildernesses were once railroads or at a minimum skid roads to haul logsthings only become wilderness when they are undesirable for farming or other commercial use, they have already taken the timber, coal, gas etc. and a private owner wants to make money off of useless land by selling it to the governmentthese railroads usually existed for 10-20 years at most and were just there to extract logs and then they took all the ties and sold them for scrap it also turns the road into horrible horrible mud if it was a railroad and then isn't maintained and regraded and no drainage system is added
>>2866335You think if i sat down and offered the guy some food he would be chill and talk to me or would he sperg and try to shoot me with a crossbow?
>>2866550Go to any museum with medieval steel items.They didn't even have the internet and step by step guides for it.
>>2866550I'd recommend the book Frontier Iron if you actually care.White men literally blazed trails, roads, and supply lines a thousand miles from the coast with no authorities or existing infrastructure and starting forging on the spot because no one could haul steel anywhere.
>>2866335prepare to rape.
>>2866358Copper, lead, iron.
