Expert: Mike Fulcher - 8/8/2006

Question
I just read that in the early Iron Age the way steel was made was to put the iron into a container high in carbon then heating it bery hot so the carpbon migrated into the iron making steel.. but what I read did not offer any examples of what type of thing would constitute a "container made of carbon".  Can you give me an example of some simple items that might fit that description?  This is for a historical novel, so nothing modern please.  Thanks!

Answer
Not having been around then I can only speculate on what might have been used.  The most common item would be a wooden container, such as a carved bowl, that the iron would be poured into.  The hot iron would instantly carbonize the inner surface of the bowl, and provide carbon for diffusion into the iron.  This seems fairly logical to me, but truth be told I can't be 100% certain.  I hope this helps.