Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c22.19

c22.19

*Steel* *manufacture* The manufacture of steel, even as a service rent is quite extinct; but two very old men at Alutnuvara still keep up the tradition, and are able to demonstrate the process when required; with these men a knowledge of the process will be gone, so that a record of their methods is of much value. The steel makers are smiths (*navandannō*), thus of much higher caste than the *yamannu* from whom they buy the iron required. The process of steel making is more delicate than that above described. The furnace (Pl. LIII., 5 and 6, and Fig. 100) is smaller, and at the ground level, instead of being raised three feet above the ground; it is a semi-circular hearth filled with charcoal, into which air is conducted from the bellows, which are identical with those of the iron furnace. The hearth is defined by a low clay wall, rising about six inches above the ground. The steel is made in clay crucibles, each about eight inches long, two inches in diameter, and a quarter of an inch in thickness. Into the crucible is put a piece of iron, with some chips of *ranavarā* (*Cassia auriculata*); in the proportion of 12½ oz. iron to 5 oz. wood,* in the case examined. The crucible is covered with a lid, having small holes pierced for the escape of gas; six crucibles thus prepared are embedded in the charcoal, and a fire started. Very soon the gases burn off, and while this goes on the blowing is stopped. Then the blast is kept up continuously, while the tubes are turned about and more charcoal added, the great object being to keep up a constant and even distribution of heat. When the steel is likely to be ready, a hole is opened in the front part of the hearth, so that the blast goes right through the furnace, and the tubes are lifted up one by one in long iron tongs and shaken to see if the steel is quite liquid. Any which are not quite ready are returned to the furnace for a time. The others are laid down to cool and subsequently broken open and the bar *Metal work* of steel removed. The steel is highly crystalline, and is used for the best cutting tools. The bars, which weigh from 12 to 15 oz., are worth from 75 cents to a rupee each. A specimen of the steel has been analyzed at the Imperial Institute, with the following results:—