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UID:event-6159@feralskills.com
DTSTAMP:20260919T191411Z
DTSTART:20261001T140000Z
DTEND:20261001T220000Z
SUMMARY:Viking-Era Smelting: Iron-Age Technology in the Modern Era
URL:https://feralskills.com/events/viking-era-smelting-iron-age-technology-
 in-the-modern-era-2026-10-01
STATUS:CONFIRMED
DESCRIPTION:It’s always interesting to take materials back to the source: w
 oodworking courses regularly head out to harvest birch\; basketmakers can 
 be spotted in local ditches cutting branches and twigs\, and we even have 
 the occasional sheep on campus for the fiber folk. But taking metalwork st
 raight to the source—you don’t find that just anywhere! Enter Wayne Potrat
 z\, sculptor and ironworker and Phil Stephens\, sculptor and blacksmith\, 
 to co-lead this unique metal experience. These two smelts will be Wayne’s 
 final involvement in North House smelting. Students will build two types o
 f smelting furnaces: a Viking-era style furnace and a brick hybrid furnace
 \, then use them to make steel through the direct reduction of Minnesota m
 agnetite iron ore into high-carbon steel. Additionally\, the workshop may 
 build small “Aristotle-style” furnaces to consolidate some of the smaller 
 bits of steel produced into more workable blooms. The resulting steel bloo
 ms can be consolidated and hammered into billets suitable for tool and bla
 de making. This course will be of interest to knifemakers\, blacksmiths\, 
 sculptors\, metallurgists\, and students of the history of technology. Eac
 h student should come away with a piece of high carbon steel in an amount 
 suitable for a small blade or other tool.
LOCATION:North House Folk School\, Grand Marais\, MN
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