American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 190 Wilderness Version of the Forge
On the twenty-fifth day, the sun cast its first pale rays on the horizon, yet it was stingy with any warmth.

Lin Yu'an stood in front of the mobile ice fishing shed he had painstakingly built in a day, carefully inspecting the tightly woven willow branches to make sure that every knot was secure and reliable.

This wooden shed is a qualified "shield," but it also needs a "spear," an ice drill spear that can pierce through thick ice.

He knew very well that he could go there now with his forest axe, and with his physical abilities, he could also carve a hole in the thick ice in some time.

However, this is a short-sighted strategic move.

He spoke to the camera in a deep and serious voice: "Sound and vibration travel much more efficiently in water than in air, and ice is an excellent solid sound transmission medium, like a giant drumhead."

"If I use an axe to perform high-intensity impact chiseling, the resulting enormous noise and irregular high-frequency vibrations will be transmitted through the ice layer to the entire underwater area with almost no attenuation."

"Fish are extremely sensitive to water pressure and vibration. In the relatively calm underwater environment during winter, this kind of explosive impact from above is the highest level of danger signal."

He continued his analysis: "The consequences are predictable. The fishing spot will be severely disturbed, and the fish will immediately enter a state of stress and scatter to deeper and more distant waters."

"And we will remain highly vigilant about this area for a long time to come. A one-time violent excavation could completely destroy a fishing spot that I have carefully explored and that has long-term value. That would be a losing proposition."

"Therefore, I plan to use rotary cutting to create the hole."

“The continuous, low-frequency cutting of the ice layer by the auger bit produces much less noise and vibration, and it is more regular, more like the sound of water flow or the friction of the ice layer itself.”

"This minimizes disruption to the underwater environment and allows the drilling to be completed before the fish exhibit a large-scale stress response."

Therefore, before setting foot on that frozen river, he must first return to the shelter to complete a more technically demanding task.

He turned around, his gaze falling on the cold, heavy steel tie rod bolt.

It's time to forge his tools with fire and iron!

To transform that cold, hard steel tie rod bolt into a tool with a sharp edge, he must first master the power to wield metal—continuous high temperature.

“The open fire in the fireplace will cause the heat to dissipate uncontrollably in all directions. I once used it to melt lead blocks, but lead only melts at around 300 degrees Celsius. That was just a child’s game.”

"For steel to make its molecular structure more active and to be rearranged and recombined by external forces, that is, to enter a 'plastic' state, its temperature must be raised to at least 800 to 900 degrees Celsius."

"And when forging, welding or more complex processing is required, temperatures of 1100 to 1200 degrees Celsius may be necessary."

"In that temperature range, steel will emit a bright orange-yellow or even nearly yellowish-white light. To reach this temperature, firewood alone is not enough."

“I need charcoal with a higher calorific value. And most importantly, a forced draft system to inject a massive amount of oxygen into the fuel to catalyze a violent combustion.”

His gaze fell on the huge, orange-yellow fishing float next to the shelter.

Today, he will use this discarded waste to launch the first step of his "industrial revolution"—to make a bellows.

The complexity of this project far exceeds that of any previous project. Lin Yu'an knows that it will require at least a full day, as well as absolute focus and precise execution.

But his first task today was not to start making bellows, but to prepare a forging furnace that could withstand and concentrate high temperatures.

Instead of starting from scratch, his gaze fell upon the rectangular stone trough he had built more than ten days earlier for mass-grilling mussels by the outer wall of the shelter.

The structure, built of flat stones, was blackened by smoke after repeated use, but it remained sturdy.

This ready-made stone trough saved him a lot of initial work. However, the structure used for grilling seafood did not meet the requirements for heat resistance and heat retention of forged metal, and it had to be completely modified.

He turned and walked toward the back of the shelter, where there was a snow-covered mound of earth, the soil he had piled up when he dug the cellar. He used the back of his axe to break through the frozen surface, revealing the dark soil underneath, which remained loose.

He took out the tin bucket he had found on the beach, filled it to the brim with soil, and returned to the shelter.

Then, the soil and water are mixed together, and some chopped hay is added as reinforcing fibers. The mixture is then repeatedly kneaded and pounded until it becomes a sticky and uniform "mud".

Next, he began to upgrade the old stone trough. He started by using this homemade "mud" to carefully fill all the gaps between the stones, just like a bricklayer.

He pressed the clay firmly into every crevice with his fingers, ensuring that the bottom and sides of the entire stone trough were completely airtight, preventing any precious heat from escaping through the cracks.

To further enhance the insulation effect, he applied a thick layer of clay to the inner wall of the stone trough, forming a smooth initial refractory layer.

After completing these basic modifications, he didn't stop. His gaze fell upon a pile of carefully sorted stone slabs against the wall of the shelter. These slabs were ones he had discovered while exploring the riverbed, and they were quite different from the granite commonly found around them.

He pulled out several stone slabs that were bluish-gray in color and had a peculiarly smooth, soapy texture.

“Sometimes, an unexpected discovery can come in handy at the most crucial moment.” He ran his fingers along the surface of the stone slab, feeling its unique, wax-like texture.

He explained to the camera, "These are soapstones. When I found them, I originally planned to make a barbecue slab because they conduct heat very evenly and won't crack like ordinary stones due to sudden temperature changes."

"Its main component is talc. Although it is not hard, it has two characteristics that are most needed by forging furnaces: extremely high heat resistance and excellent heat capacity."

"Not only can it withstand temperatures of thousands of degrees without cracking, but it can also store heat like a battery and then slowly radiate it out. Now it seems that its true mission is not to cook food, but to create tools."

What he wanted to do was a more refined internal upgrade, installing a professional high-temperature resistant lining on this ordinary stone hearth.

Lin Yu'an first cut off a sleeve from a discarded T-shirt, moistened it with a little water, and made a simple dust mask. Then he took out the frame saw and began to cut the soapstone slabs.

Soapstone is not very hard, which makes it relatively easy to process, but cutting it produces a lot of fine dust similar to talcum powder, which is harmful to health if inhaled.

He deliberately chose a location with the wind at his back and made sure to protect his mouth and nose.

Over the next few hours, Lin Yu'an shaped them into standard rectangular and trapezoidal pieces that could fit perfectly into the stone trough.

He then pressed the largest, cut soapstone slab tightly against the bottom of the trough, and then used other smaller pieces to lay them seamlessly on the inner walls of the trough on both sides.

He carefully filled the gaps between each soapstone slab with homemade adobe mud, ensuring that the entire lining was an airtight, highly integrated structure.

After all this was done, the inside of the stone trough was completely covered with a layer of smooth, dense bluish-gray soapstone.

He patted the dust off his hands with satisfaction and said, "In this way, the flames and the highest heat will be completely absorbed and reflected by the internal soapstone lining."

"The ordinary stones on the outside now only serve as structural support and secondary insulation. The temperature transmitted to them will be greatly reduced, which completely eliminates the risk of them cracking or exploding due to overheating."

A three-layer composite forging furnace, consisting of an external structure of ordinary stone, a soil sealing layer, and a soapstone refractory lining, has been completely completed.

Next, he used a soapstone slab to cover the top of the furnace as a movable lid.

The main cover does not completely cover the entire stone trough, but leaves some space at both ends.

At one end of the stone trough, he left a rectangular opening for adding charcoal and inserting steel in the future.

At the other end, he used a smaller piece of soapstone to create an adjustable, downward-facing air inlet from which the bellows nozzle would extend. He also had a third slab of stone placed beside it.

He demonstrated to the camera: "The core of this design is controllability. When heating, I can cover most of the operating opening with a spare stone slab, leaving only a gap to observe the color of the steel, thus minimizing heat loss."

"It can be moved away whenever fuel needs to be added or steel needs to be handled. It's simple, efficient, and absolutely safe."

When he finished all this, the simple stone trough that was originally used for cooking had been transformed into a professional horizontal forging furnace with a safe and reliable structure and extremely high thermal efficiency.

It lay there quietly, waiting to be given a new mission by flames and steel!

However, a furnace alone is not enough to ignite a flame sufficient to melt steel.

He needed fuel with a higher calorific value, and the first and only feasible solution he thought of was charcoal.

Lin Yu'an demonstrated to the camera using a burning stick: "When firewood burns, the yellow and orange parts of the flame are mainly volatile substances in the wood, such as wood gas. Their heat is dispersed and the temperature is not concentrated enough."

"The parts that actually provide the high temperature are the bottom parts, which are red-hot and carbonized. Making charcoal is about removing all these volatile substances beforehand, leaving only the purest carbon."

"It has a higher ignition point and burns without an open flame, but it can release stable and concentrated radiant heat that far exceeds that of firewood."

With no means of excavating the frozen soil to build a kiln, his gaze eventually fell on the metal barrel he had dragged back from the coast.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

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(End of this chapter)