American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 191 Orange Metal!
“This is a perfect, ready-made ‘dry distillation kiln’!”

"It can isolate the wood from the flames and be heated in an oxygen-deficient metal container, and its capacity is just right for me to carry out small-scale production."

He tightly packed the small iron bucket with the dried birch wood blocks he had prepared beforehand. The bucket, which had a capacity of about 20 liters, was filled with nearly ten kilograms of dried birch wood.

Lin Yu'an quickly calculated in his mind that, according to the most primitive dry distillation method, a charcoal yield of 20% would be considered a success. This batch could only produce less than two kilograms of charcoal at most.

His brow furrowed slightly: "Forging that thick steel rod is a huge energy-consuming process; each heating requires a large amount of charcoal."

"But if it's two kilograms, it's probably only enough for a few critical heating and pounding sessions. That means I have no room for error."

"However, fortunately..."

As he spoke, he walked into the shelter, dragged out a bundle of charcoal tied with nylon rope from a corner, and dumped it on the ground.

"Crash-"

A pile of black charcoal blocks of varying sizes and irregular shapes rolled out, weighing about five or six pounds.

He picked up a piece of charcoal and explained to the camera, "I've been accumulating these things since the first day I built this fireplace."

"When the firewood in the fireplace is piled up and burning, the wood in the center cannot burn completely due to lack of oxygen, thus forming this incompletely carbonized charcoal."

He forcefully broke a piece of charcoal in half, revealing the cross-section where some wood fibers still remained: "Look, its carbonization level is not as good as professionally fired charcoal, its calorific value will be slightly lower, and it may produce some smoke when burning."

"But it is perfectly adequate as a basic fuel, or when mixed with high-quality charcoal."

"These six pounds of charcoal, plus the box of high-quality refined charcoal I make, will give me about five kilograms of fuel in total. This greatly increases my margin for error."

"Now I only need to fire one round and replenish the high-quality charcoal. By tonight, all the preparations will be complete. Tomorrow is the day of the official forging!"

He found a suitable-sized soapstone slab, covered the opening of the iron barrel tightly, and then used "mud" to seal all the gaps between the slab and the barrel.

Only a few tiny vent holes were left in the mud bricks, made by inserting sticks into them, to allow the wood gas to escape.

Then, next to the forge, he quickly built a makeshift fire pit with a few stones and lit a roaring bonfire.

The "distillation vessel" filled with wood was placed steadily on the fire pit.

The flames rose greedily, and the iron box heated up rapidly. This self-operating "carbonization project" would produce the most crucial "black gold" for him in the next few hours.

While waiting for the fuel to be produced, he can focus on another equally complex task.

If charcoal is the "blood" needed for the upcoming forging, then the bellows is the "heart" that drives this blood to flow.

He towed the orange-yellow fishing float to the center of the shelter.

This was an extremely heavy object, which carved two deep furrows in the snow.

He walked around the box, carefully examining every detail, and a bold and ingenious design began to take shape in his mind.

He decided to use a horizontal push-pull bellows.

On the bottom edge of one corner of the enclosure, there was a small, broken hole. He planned to use this existing hole to expand it and transform it into the main air outlet.

He took out the steel tie rod bolt, heated one end until it was red-hot in the fireplace, and then, like a branding iron, began to enlarge the small hole.

The scorching hot steel rod made a hissing sound and emitted pungent white smoke when it came into contact with the cold HDPE plastic.

He patiently softened and scraped away the edges of the hole little by little until it was just the right size to accommodate the piece of PVC plastic pipe he had picked up earlier.

He inserted one end of the hose into the box, then stuffed a large amount of thin nylon thread, which he had taken from the fishing net, into all the gaps between the hose and the box walls before pouring the melted pine resin over it.

The resin penetrates into the nylon fibers, and after cooling, it forms a composite sealing material similar to glass fiber.

Next up are the piston and top cover, the most crucial components of the entire project.

He selected a rectangular plank from the stored driftwood, slightly smaller than the internal cross-section of the box, which would serve as the piston head.

They found a straight birch tree and sharpened one end to make a piston rod.

He didn't have nails, but he had a more primitive and sturdy method.

He used a bow drill to drill several corresponding small holes in the center of the piston head and at the end of the piston rod.

He then passed the piston rod through the hole and secured it firmly at the bottom with a crossed wooden wedge.

Then, he took out the nylon rope that had been soaked in water and began to tie it up. The rope would shrink rapidly after drying, locking the piston rod and piston head together firmly, making it even stronger than ordinary nails.

Next came the sealing rings. Lin Yu'an pulled out two complete rabbit skins he had obtained from a previous hunt. They were soft, dense, and had flexible leather, making them perfect materials for making sealing rings.

He laid the complete rabbit pelt flat on a clean stone slab, fur side down, and then placed the rectangular wooden piston head upside down in the center of the pelt.

He first used several heavy stones to weigh down the piston head and prevent it from moving. Then, using a piece of wire as a tie, he used a cross-stitching method similar to that used for sewing leather boots to pull the edge of the rabbit skin up and tightly wrap it around the side wall of the piston head, folding it over to the top of the piston head.

Once all the tripwires were tightened, the entire sidewall of the piston head was covered with a complete layer of rabbit skin.

The soft, fluffy rabbit fur naturally spreads outwards, forming a perfect, self-adjusting, sealed "skirt".

A piston head with a perfect seal is now complete.

He went to the other side of the fishing pontoon and carefully cut an opening with a red-hot steel rod, just big enough for the piston rod to pass through.

Then, he inserted the prepared piston head, with the rabbit skin sealing ring, into the box from the top.

At this moment, the entire structure of the bellows is clearly visible.

A box about to be sealed, with a powerful air vent at one end and a lever connecting to an internal piston extending from the other end.

(ps: similar structure)
Having finished the piston, he began working on the massive wooden top cover.

He placed the top cover tightly over the opening of the box and secured it firmly with more nylon rope to form a completely sealed box.

Beneath the dark backdrop, two flames burned tirelessly inside and outside Lin Yu'an's shelter.

One pile was a campfire that provided continuous heat for the "dry distillation tank," while the other was a fireplace that brought warmth and light to the shelter.

Lin Yu'an hadn't gone to sleep yet, waiting for the first bucket of charcoal to cool down.

The extreme shortage of fuel left him no room for complacency; he had to ensure that this barrel of charcoal was formed in one go!
When the sun reached its zenith the next day, it was already noon.

The charcoal barrel had completely cooled. Removing the soapstone lid released a burst of dry, pure carbon fumes! "Black gold!"

The box, which was originally full of birch wood blocks, has now been transformed into charcoal that has shrunk in size, retains the texture of wood but is extremely lightweight. It is completely black and makes a crisp sound when struck.

He carefully counted the contents; the two boxes together yielded approximately two and a half kilograms.

"It's a little better than expected, but there's still no room for error."

Then, without further hesitation, he began the forging process.

He moved the huge, flat granite stone that he had chosen as the "anvil" to the best position, just a step away from the furnace operating opening.

Then he placed the large bucket of ice water used for quenching on the other side of the stone anvil.

The furnace, anvil, and bucket form an efficient working triangle, allowing him to complete the fastest actions with minimal movement in the following operations.

Next, he preheated the furnace, but instead of immediately adding the precious charcoal, he first lit a small fire inside the furnace with some easily flammable dry grass and firewood.

Then, he began to slowly and rhythmically push and pull the bellows, using a gentle airflow to gradually and evenly raise the temperature of the furnace.

"The entire furnace must be fully preheated before it can officially begin."

Lin Yu'an's voice rang out amidst the rhythmic breathing of the bellows, sounding unusually calm: "This serves two purposes. First, it completely removes any residual moisture from the soapstone and clay to prevent them from causing structural damage during the subsequent rapid heating."

"Secondly, it allows the entire furnace to store enough heat. A hot furnace can greatly reduce heat loss when adding charcoal later, allowing each piece of fuel to play its maximum value."

The soapstone lining and outer layer of stones, heated by the flames, began to emit bursts of heat, completely driving away the residual moisture inside.

About half an hour later, when the entire furnace was scorching hot, he cleaned out the remaining ashes from the firewood.

Now, it's time for the main character to make his appearance—charcoal.

Using wooden fire tongs, he tightly stacked the largest charcoal blocks at the bottom and sides of the furnace, forming a long, U-shaped charcoal bed that perfectly contained the heat.

Then, he gripped the bellows lever again, this time with a more forceful motion.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The bellows began to roar heavily and powerfully! Strong streams of air were precisely injected into the core of the charcoal pile through plastic water pipe nozzles.

The charcoal, which was originally just dark black, was instantly activated under the catalysis of a massive amount of oxygen! It began to crackle and pop, its color rapidly changed from red to yellow, and its light became increasingly dazzling.

The entire furnace began to emit a low hum.

The light from inside the furnace shone through the gaps in the control opening, casting a vibrant orange hue over the snow in front of him.

He only stopped blowing air when the entire coal bed reached a stable, dazzling bright yellow color.

Instead of touching the cold steel bar directly with his hands, he walked to the side and picked up the tool he had prepared specifically for this purpose: a simple long-handled clamp.

He found two birch sticks about a meter long, and used a hunting knife to carve grooves into one end, clamping the steel rod between them. Then, he used annealed steel wire to securely wrap and bind the three together.

At this moment, the cold steel pole now has a one-meter-long, heat-insulated, and sturdy wooden handle.

He gripped the end of the long handle with both hands and steadily inserted the front ten-centimeter section of the steel rod through the opening, burying it in the hot charcoal pile.

Then he started blowing air again.

Lin Yu'an's entire attention was focused on the gap in the control panel. He squinted and stared intently through the narrow slit at the small section of steel rod that was being consumed by the flames.

As time ticked by, the color of the steel pole began to change, rapidly transforming from a cold, grayish-black to a dark red as it was heated. With continued blowing, the red became increasingly vibrant.

"not enough."

He continued to operate the bellows steadily, and finally, the red faded, replaced by a brighter cherry red.

"The temperature is close."

He didn't stop; the roar of the bellows grew louder and louder, and the light inside the furnace was so dazzling that it was impossible to look directly at it.

Finally, at a certain moment, the heated tip of the steel rod emitted an orange-yellow light, like the midday sun!

"It's now!"

Without hesitation, he threw down the bellows lever, gripped the end of the long handle tightly with both hands, and pulled the scorching hot steel rod out of the control port!

The scorching heat wave hit him, but he was far enough away that he was completely unaffected.

Without pausing for a moment, he rushed to the center of the workshop, to the huge, flat granite block that he had chosen as his "anvil"!

He pressed the red-hot tip of the steel rod firmly and heavily onto the cold stone anvil.

The moment the scorching metal came into contact with the cold stone, it made a slight hissing sound, and a wisp of steam rose.

He pressed down hard on the long handle with his left hand, firmly fixing the glowing metal to the anvil and precisely adjusting its angle.

He raised the heavy forest axe in his right hand and, with the flat back of the axe, smashed it down hard on the orange-yellow mass of metal that seemed to be still flowing!

"when!"

A deep, resounding, deafening roar echoed across the silent snowfield!

This sound was no longer the slightly crisp metallic clanging of before, but a powerful roar emanating from the resonance of steel and anvil!

Countless sparks, like fireflies, scattered from the metal being frantically squeezed by the axe back and the stone anvil. Some even landed on the surrounding snow, instantly melting into tiny black holes.

The stone anvil remained as steady as Mount Tai, perfectly absorbing and rebounding the immense force of each blow.

Without pausing, the muscles in his arms bulged, and he began to pound continuously with a powerful and rhythmic motion!

"Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang!"

Each strike landed precisely on the same spot. His left hand constantly made fine adjustments to the long handle, allowing the steel rod to roll slowly on the anvil, ensuring that each blow was evenly distributed across the entire circumference.

The round steel rod began to yield and deform under his battering ram-like blows.

The originally circular cross-section was gradually flattened and extended to both sides by the solid surface of the stone anvil.

(End of this chapter)