Casting Arch & Furnace Hearth

Casting Arch and Furnace Hearth. Beckley Furnace Industrial Monument. , Casting Arch , This arch was used to gain access to the hearth area of the furnace. It is the largest of the four arches in the furnace structure. It is from this opening that molten iron flowed into sand molds to form the iron "pigs" that were the final product of this furnace. , Waste material, called slag, was also removed from the furnace via this arch. , When the furnace was in operation the area in front of this arch was enclosed in a large building called the casting shed. The low stone walls around the furnace stack are the remains of the foundations of the casting shed walls. We know from old photographs that the casting shed had two large doors: one in the front where the iron was removed and one on the side toward the Blackberry River where the slag was removed., Furnace Hearth , This area of the furnace is where the molten iron was removed from the furnace. The restored hearth is shown cut away so that you can see the details of its construction. The small cylindrical chamber at the bottom of the furnace stack, called the crucible, is where the molten iron collected. Floating on top of this pool of iron was a layer of unwanted glasslike material called slag. The slag was drawn off and discarded in huge piles still to be seen across the river from the furnace. Openings in the crucible were plugged with clay to hold the molten liquids in place until the furnace was tapped. The first plug was removed to drain the slag and then the second plug to release the iron. The stream of molten iron was directed to molds made in the sand floor of the casting shed where it hardened into ingots called pigs. , This furnace had a water jacket around the hearth to lengthen the life of the refractory bricks and keep the furnace in service for longer periods of time., [Captions:] , This picture shows the casting shed structure which covered the area in front of the casting arch. , This building had a sand floor which was used to make molds for the molten iron. In the picture you can see large piles of ingots (pigs) stacked in front of the door awaiting shipment., A view of the sand-cast "pig" beds. Workers helped to direct the stream of molten iron into the molds made in the sand floor of the casting shed where it hardened into ingots called pigs.