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" Tatara" Process*

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" Tatara" Process* - A Pig Iron- and Steel-Making Process, Transmitted from Ancient Times in Japan - By lukichi KOZ lIka** Sy n op sis at " Cha-no-Yu ") were m a d e from it. From Gncient times 111 j ajJa n Ihere are excellent swords called In the following the a uthor d escribes " T a tara" " NijJjJon- t6" as a symbol of " Samurai" . The)' are weLL-knowll and p rocess putting the stress on the direct steelmaking sland high in their aesthetic value aLL over Ihe world. The material of m ethod, " Keraoshi " . " N ijJjJo /l-to" is " Tamahagallc" (c/'ltde steel ) or " H ocho-Ietsu" (c rude wrought iron) produced by " T atara " process which was devel­ II. The Historical Development of "Tatara )) oped jJeCl.tiiariy ill j ajJa Il alld has bem hallded down to us f rom ollr Process ancestors. This pajJer briefly describes the method of " Totaro " /J I"Qcess and From the a rchaeological viewpoint, it is regarded several malters related to it. that the process was brough t to j a pan for the firsL Lime from the Asia tic Con tinent in the first a nd second I. Introduction centuries. The primitive m ethod of the process ex­ R aw m ateria l used in " T atara " process is thc isted in the fa bulous age of j a pa n, when our a ncestors. specia l iron sand ca lled " M asa " or "Aka m e" whi ch manufactured by aid of natura l draft a mixture of is mined only in San-in distri ct, sou th-wes t pa rt of iron, steel, sponge iron, slag, a nd charcoal in a hole the m a in isla nd of j apa n . C ha rcoal is used as fu el. which is dug u nderground. After destroying the The sha ft of the furnace is low a nd recta ngula r, a nd furnace, this mixture was forged by ha nd into swords, the body is made of fire clay. Photo. 1 shows the weapons, a nd agricul tural instruments. furnace bod y. By the early 13th cen tury " T atara " process was improved to the present type a nd the process beca me to be operated indoors instea d of outdoors. In this way the direct steelma king industry in j apan was established, earlier than the establishment of it in E uropean countries by one hundred and several decades. Speaking of the development of iron sand sm elting, the development of bellows must be considered. The history of blast in j apa n began with na tural draft , a nd then leather bag bellow, blow pipe, a nd ha nd­ worked reciprocating bellow " Sashifuigo )) were de­ veloped . The last one was a lready contrived in the Photo. I. " Tatara" fu rnace eighth century in j apa n, a nd a ft er tha t several inven- • tions a nd improvements were introduced in it. The By " T atara " process a re produced sm a ll lumps o f motive power of bell ow cha nged from ha nd power to crude steel " T ama hagane ", blister steel " H era " treadle as we see a n example in tread bellow, " F umi­ (" T a ma hagane" incl uded in it), pig iron, etc. In fui go )) (see Photo. 4). W a ter mill had not been used the p rocess there a re two kinds of methods : one is as the power until the early 20th century. It is be­ direct steelmaki ng method ca ll ed " K eraoshi " by cause the wa ter stream nea r the furnace was regarded which m ore crude steel is p roduced tha n by the other moisturizing the fu rnace, a nd it was too diffi cul t at method , a nd the other is pig iron-making one " Zuku­ that time to set bl ast pipes over long dista nce. os hi " . But these methods a re so simila r in m a ny Around the la te 17th a nd earl y 18th cen turies, when points tha t the a bove-mentioned products are more the feuda l system in j a pa n was es ta blished, the p rod­ or less produced by either method . ucts by " T a ta ra " process became a n important Crude steel obtained is formed in to the shell of so urce of revenue in som e p rovinces. Thus the process sword by repeated forgings, while b lis ter steel a nd pig was developed more a nd more, and it became the iron a re converted to wrough t iron " H ocho-tetsu " present accomplished a r t. which is used as the core of sword . The furnace was opera ted by a chiefforem a n called H owever, the products were used not only a s the raw " O motemurage" a nd fo ur assistants. Building of m ateria ls of the sword bu t a lso as importa n t ma teria ls the furnace, cha rging of the m a teria ls, pulling ou t of of hig h q uality tool steels. As pig iron has specia l the p roducts, etc. were carri ed out on " Murage " 's q ua lity, specia l castings (for examp le, teakettle used own responsibili ty. H e opera ted the furnace in ac- * O rigina ll y publi shed in T etsu-to-H agalli, 52 ( 1966), 1763 in J apanese . English version received April 12, 1967. ** Ya sugi works. Hitachi M eta ls, Ltd ., Yasugi. ( 36 ) Report Transactions ISIJ, Vol. 8, 1968 [ 37) Section aa G.L. G.L. "u '"E • ~ Section bb ...."" G.L. Charcoal 4352 ""~ Fur. bottom, "Hondoko" ----t Air chamber ---------l Dry clay "" Shingles '"'~ Round stone, "Bozuishi" -----+ Ditch ""'"' • '"' Fig. I. "Tatara" furnace, (mm), a scale 1/40 cordance with the art succeeded from his forefathers, adhered on its surface are chipped off. Then it is as well as with his own several experiences. cut off by machine or hammer to select the parts which The operation method was kept secret and handed contain a lmost constant carbon. They are crude down to only his heir, consequently if " Murage " steel called " Tamahagane". died out, the method was not transmitted to the The remainder of the product is used as the raw younger generation. materials of wrought iron, crucible steel, and tool steel. III. Products and Their Treatments The amount of the pig iron produced in the process By " Keraoshi ", direct steelmaking method in is about 20% of the total products. "Tatara" process, an iron block of about 1.1 x2.9x 0.27 m (in thickness) is produced in the furnace. The IV. Construction oj Furnace block called "Kera" (blister steel) is a mixture of The furnace is constructed at the weathered and steel, iron, sponge iron, pig iron, slag, and a few pieces perfectly dried granite zone in San-in district. of charcoal. As Fig. I shows, digging about 3.5 m underground After the furnace is destroyed, the block is pulled is made in the centre of a ditch that is an outlet of out a nd cooled in air, and then foreign substances moisture. On the ditch, round stones (about 40 cm Report ( 38 ) Transactions lSI], Vol. 8,1968 130-+---430 ---'---';:-Td 320 110 130 "----445 --!---jl/ View a Section b r---375 - '----!I" • View e Section d 10? ~mw~ - ::T ~ tur:re 145 ISO .. ~ .. -<t---j{- .. -R-~~~H-r.: Fig. 2. 38 ~ Tapping hol e "Tatara " furnace body, (mm). Scale, upper 1/ 10, below 1/20. • in dia.) are tightly spread covering the area of 6.5 x dust, charcoal powder, clay, mud, etc. 5.5 m, then it is paved 30 cm thick with shingles, Above the ground the furnace body IS erected, and moreover dry clay is put on it in a thickness of closely connecting with the furnace bed. 60 cm. Thus the furnace foundation is completed. Fig. I shows "Tatara" furnace entirely, while Upon the furnace foundation the furnace bottom called Fig. 2 the part of the furnace body in detail (see " Hondoko " is set up in the centre, and on both the Photo. I ). left and right sides of it are installed the air chambers, The furnace body is built with spccial fire clay (see " Kobune ", which are insulations from heat and mois­ Table I) by foremen. ture. In the lower part of the furnace bottom there There are three tapping holes, (for pig iron and slag) is another air chamber which is used as a fuel hole on the right and left sides and at the centre of the for charcoal making. furnace foot. The tapping holes on both sides and The furnace bottom is filled up with firewoods, at the furnace foot are partitioned by wall. But, as which are burnt into charcoals just as in a charcoal kiln. operation goes on, the furnace wall is eroded by slag The upper 1/5 ofthe charcoals is crushed a nd squeezed and the partition is automatically cleared off. It by mallet. Thus the furnace bed is completed. means that the fire clay used for furnace building be­ The walls of the furnace bottom and air chambers comes slag making material, too. are built of stones or gravels with clay as a binding There are 19 tuyeres horizon tally lined on both agent. The crevices in them are filled up with dry sides of the furnace. These tuyeres are connected Report Transactions ISH, Vol.
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