Presentation about Swift given in Prestonburg

[Ken S.]

I would think that Swift would have used a rock house to make charcoal in . at least in my mind it would be the smart way to have done it back in the day. By using a rock house you could have made more with least amount of manual labor. I mean he would have only had to cover the front to got the same effect as a pit and the amout would have depended on how big the rock house was.

 

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[KY Hiker]

I think the pit method shown in the videos was standard for the time up through the 1850s. Makes sense to store it in a rock house until it is needed to fire a furnace though. Probably the same one the furnace was in? Who knows...

 

[Ken S.]

I don't think Swift done much by the Standards of them days.

 

[KY Hiker]

Well, now I am worried...rgb1 has not been heard of or from in several weeks. I hope he is OK, if anyone knows anything please chime in!

 

[rgb1]

i have been very busy trips to ky among other things thanks hiker for concerns will be talking to you pm me any time rgb1

 

[KY Hiker]

i have been very busy trips to ky among other things thanks hiker for concerns will be talking to you pm me any time rgb1

 

[rgb1]

when i found the three mines there were pits where the ore was roasted also piles of cinders from the ores + piles of cinders that appeared to be from coal most were distroyed by strip mineing when i went back im not saying swift used coal but this is what i found

 

[KY Hiker]

The coal was probably used locally to process iron there unless there is/was a real iron furnace nearby? Your pit theory that you had explained before is interesting, seems very probable with lead but because silver has such a high melting point how would that work without bellows or some other form of air drafting to get those temperatures?

 

[rgb1]

actually they did use bellows i believe i explained this as you know the metal brushy found was rounded slightly on bottom when the roasting is done
in pits as i described from de re metallica the ores are roasted at low temps. around 850 to 1150 degrees for about 8 hrs. this turns oxides , hydroxides, and carbonates after driveing off the oxygen out of the ores then the heat is increased to smelting temps by bellows the carbonic acid in the fire generated by the carbon present and higher temps. turnes the metalic values into metal and this melts dripping into bottom of pits when metalic values are mostly in bottom the fire is quenched or let to burn out then metall retrived this would explain rounded bottom on brushys .metal and also the raised nodles on the top of samples brushy found

 

[KY Hiker]

actually they did use bellows i believe i explained this as you know the metal brushy found was rounded slightly on bottom when the roasting is done
in pits as i described from de re metallica the ores are roasted at low temps. around 850 to 1150 degrees for about 8 hrs. this turns oxides , hydroxides, and carbonates after driveing off the oxygen out of the ores then the heat is increased to smelting temps by bellows the carbonic acid in the fire generated by the carbon present and higher temps. turnes the metalic values into metal and this melts dripping into bottom of pits when metalic values are mostly in bottom the fire is quenched or let to burn out then metall retrived this would explain rounded bottom on brushys .metal and also the raised nodles on the top of samples brushy found

Sorry, I guess I missed the bellows part in your description.

 

[rgb1]

.hiker just found this on post by boomer stories and notes of old mines page 1 written by one who knows 3rd. paragraph near bottom mundy says he was made to pack coal for smelting i did not see this before been reading old threads not much else going on

 

[KY Hiker]

.hiker just found this on post by boomer stories and notes of old mines page 1 written by one who knows 3rd. paragraph near bottom mundy says he was made to pack coal for smelting i did not see this before been reading old threads not much else going on

Yes that is from an article written by Mrs. Timmins, she claimed to have the original journal and worked and searched Swift Camp Creek in the RRG in the 1870s-90s. She is the oldest documented searcher with journal in hand. Nice catch on that, I would think the coal would have ill effects in the purity of the silver? Not to mention, they would have to mine the coal AND the silver! I would think wood charcoal would burn cleaner than coal would.

 

[rgb1]

coal or charcoal does not affect purity of metal either one in roasting process gives good supply of carbonic acid thruthe expulsion of carbon monoxide gasses the purity of the metals are determined by proper fluxing componets and seperation methods. wood fueled fires also gives off carbonic acid and can also be used in the roasting process. charcoal or coal will provide plenty of heat for smelting charcoal gives much less smoke than coal with bellows there is very little smoke only when new fuel is being fed or when starting the fire for either one.

 

[KY Hiker]

I for some reason thought there was arsenic and other nasties in coal, was thinking they would bond in the oxidation process of burning.

 

[rgb1]

arsnic is actually a common impurity in ores .also several others like what brushy found in metal he found

 

[KY Hiker]

Oh yea, antimony I think was in his finds.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

JEEPERS! All this stuff sounds like ALCHEMY!

 

[KY Hiker]

JEEPERS! All this stuff sounds like ALCHEMY!

Smelting ore and refining probably is a form or process of alchemy.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

Turning "stuff" into GOLD, eh...?

 

[KY Hiker]

Not exactly.... but.... Alchemy was many things in its hay day... physics, geometry, chemistry, geology, pharmacy and medicine. Turning lead into gold was a goal, by finding the alchemists stone...it was their holy grail...some suggest that they are one in the same and try to tie The knights of Christ (Templars) and masons to the alchemy of the middle ages. Most alchemists were considered heretics in the middle ages though.

Pre Dark age Alchemy was something more.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy