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It was!

I have two other short manufacturing movies on my channel. One id called 'How to Make Steel Tube' and the other is 'Rattunde Cutting Machine'.

Thanks for watching!

It’s crazy, isn’t it? Thanks for watching!

@@GrayHare I love it. Was there a machine to stack them? I did notice a device to help in the removal of them. I can't imagine the heat of this place. Everything is just one big thermal battery.

You saw the temporary platform that was raised as the union brick layers played the million refractory bricks. No machines to help. It has to be done by hand because the steel shell can be warped and skewed with heat and age. The bricks aren’t perfect rectangles either. Their sides are tapered so that the diameter is about 20’. Also, it does take a while to cool down and heat back up due to the mass of the furnace.

@@GrayHare Fantastic work.

Thank you! Guess what? I’m a grandfather, too. Seems like the steel industry is changing dramatically. Back in the day, it was strong and employed many people. Now, only a few active Blast Furnaces remain. Thanks for appreciating us old guy’s memories.

I bet we crossed paths at some point after 1993, which is when I was there. I worked mostly in the HSM and CM. I’m sorry you experienced the destruction of the Boiler House. I hope you’ve recovered from that. I was at the ROB and stayed the whole night trying to get everything shut down safely.

You’re not kidding! We were required to wear dust filters where we were demoing any refractory. If there was any chemical fumes we used chemical respirators. The bad part was that the heat sometimes made the filters/respirators uncomfortable to wear.

That about sums up what the video depicts! I’m glad you benefited from watching. I feel pretty lucky to have been able to see it from my side.

@@GrayHare I've never seen equipment at the superstructure areas from the close range. Have seen that in textbooks just as drawings when studied metallurgy in junior college. Have worked myself at hot strip mill divisions on primary and secondary rolling mills. Born and raised in steelmaking city.

I actually started my career in steel as a combustion engineer working in the soaking pits for ingots and also the reheat furnaces for slabs. That was a long time ago! I did project work for HSM, Pickle Lines, Annealing, Tandem Cold Mill, Temper Mill… It’s sad to see that industry just rust away.

Yep, it’s very dangerous. Kinda like fire fighters running into a burning building. Thanks for watching and commenting. 😊

That would be cool! I can tell you that it was awesome being there and seeing it in person.

Thanks for watching and commenting! I made this just for people like you!

Thank you for watching and commenting! I lived through the modernization of the industry in the US in the 1980s. We started out with analog controllers that used air pressure signals from 3psi to 12psi, similar to today’s 4-20 milliamp signals. I remember buying, installing, and programming our first PLCs. Thanks again for watching/commenting!

Heavy manufacturing like the steel industry needs to return to the shores of the US. We don’t need to dominate, just participate in an industry.

Now you know! I always wanted a tinted window into the furnace that you could see what's going on in the inside.

@@GrayHare That would have been awesome! Probably would look like a volcano. Thanks again for posting the video!

Did you see the size of the furnace? It’s the size of a small high rise. The refractory total was over 1 million bricks! I know you’re exaggerating when you say 1 day, but 3 mos was the norm back then and you only had an extra week or two built in to that.

@@GrayHare I apologise, I was being slightly facetious. But, having seen the Chinese achieve in one evening what it would the British to accomplish in several years it does make me wonder why the Anglo Saxons are so slow at everything. It does appear, at face value, to be inefficiency. I used to work with South Korean contractors and Japanese architects, project managing large high technology facilities in mainland China. The north Asians work extremely hard and efficiently. Roads or bridges that would take a year to build in the west, finished overnight, with zero impact to existing transport users. Even periodic factory shutdowns, weeks in the west compared to days in the east. There is some learning to take from them if we are ever to compete.

Thanks for watching! The process of making steel is very dangerous. These people have been working around steel so long that you can become oblivious to some of the dangers. Many safety rules are in place, but you have to know them, then follow them.

Me, too.

I remember there were several female trades people on the job. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell by just looking at the clothes.

Hmmm, I knew details like the total man hours back then. We worked for 3 months on the reline from shutdown to start up. I’m going to guess we had at least 500 workers and most everyone would’ve been on 10-12 hr shifts. 3mos would be 90 days x 24 hr/day is 2,160 hours x 500 people is 1,080,000 manhours. Hope this makes sense. There’s many more people involved than can be seen. Look at the steel structures that came in already fabricated and just needed installed. Thx for watching and commenting!

I agree. Every American steel company I worked for was either sold or went bankrupt. Armco and Rouge Steel companies are just memories now.

It was satisfying making/publishing the movie. Thanks for watching! 😊

The politicians had nothing to do with it. It was all the work of greedy executives chasing profit. People need to realize that disposable politicians aren’t to blame, it’s corporate America that is to blame.

You’re right! Detroit trades are very skilled and equipment/processes like this couldn’t be done without them.

​@@GrayHarealso like how this is a giant version of what ancient ancient Europeans used to make. Just instead of a person with a tool it would be an iron smelter with a stick poking a hole for the iron to flow out.

@@RobertCraft-re5sf I’d love to see an old metallurgical furnace in operation!

Yikes!! I know how bad slag burns can be. Were you there before during or after this reline?

@@GrayHare That would have been an unscheduled "emergency call", way prior to the reline. If you're a Boilermaker, working out of the union hall, it means - I get the call at 10:00pm, show up at 11:00pm, and we sign the tax paperwork and are out the trailer door by 11:30pm. The next hour is dragging leads, torch hoses and setting everything up. I think we spent about 16 hrs. working. These furnaces were producing about 420 tons of pig iron every 45 minutes. So at a minimum that meant 16+ times 420 tons was lost. A reline is a scheduled shut-down where all heat is shut off the furnace and gas supply lines are blanked off. As the furnace cools the internal firebrick liner starts to loosen from the shell. All of it then is knocked out. A total relief means the 10's of feet thick carbon block bottom is also removed. If dictated the copper coolers that are inserted In the shell and help to control the heat in the firebrick are usually removed and replaced. This doesn't include all the miscellaneous piping, electrical, mechanical... work that must be done. A full reline will take a couple mos. Once completed the heat is slowly applied to the furnace so the brick work doesn't collapse.

That was in there! To turn it off, you just have to shut down the air and stop feeding in the coke and iron. It’s like a car running out of gas. Then, to start it back up, you preheat the furnace with natural gas then start feeding coke into the furnace, then start adding iron ore and scrap. It takes a few loads to get a quality product out of it.

Sorry to hear about your Dad. I’ve seen many good men put their whole life into the industry only to never enjoy NOT working. I didn’t know your dad but I do know what each of his work days was like. He was special if he made it 30 years!

No, Cleveland Cliffs purchased it from AK Steel. AK purchased it from Severstahl, who purchased it when Rouge Steel went bankrupt. It was originally Ford Steel Division.

@@GrayHare so the Russians sold it to AK

@@GrayHare do they still have the JV with John Correnti

Sorry, I'm retired now and don't know much about that. @@Nicklan1961

@@GrayHare I was involved doing reorganization plans and agreements to purchase many of those bankrupt steel companies but I got broadsided by the president of the united states who invited me in writing to come to the USA to do this and then they arrested me when I showed up, to sign the purchase and sale agreements ,thank you George Bush and you got international steel group instead. The deal I made was for the Assumption of all secured debts and 10% equity a board seat to the unions with them agreeing to operate exactly the same as nucor operates. As there was no way we could pay the billions of dollars owed to the union pension funds.

Well, hot is a relative term. When you see cherry red, that’s about 1,500°F. No one’s going there! But it can get as warm as 150F as we’re tearing out the refractory.

That’s probably a true statement.

Thanks, Luca! Unfortunately, it seems that most heavy manufacturing like this has moved overseas.

I'm thankful for the few remaining steel producers here in Hamilton, Ontario. Moving heavy industry and the production of goods overseas not only hurts the local economies and product quality, but its bad for the environment too. @@GrayHare

Is that still Dofasco up there? They were such a great company and leader in the steel industry. I visited their facility many times.

@@GrayHare mittel bought it

So sorry to hear this. While I was working there, seems like we had at least a couple deaths every year, usually contractors. 😢

You’re welcome! I’m happy to share my experiences with the world. Thanks for watching and commenting.

I’m retired now, but thanks for the offer! 8^)

Within how tolerance it will cut

@@ahmedshaikh7866 we work with +\- 0,2mm but +\-0,1mm is possible

What is the cost of the machine

@@ahmedshaikh7866 I think a new rattunde cost about 1 million euro

Thanks for watching! 8^)

Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. I really was lucky 🍀 to have spent 13 years working there.

worked out of the snake pit from 86 to 89 . then a year in waste water with a lot of overtime on the furnaces. then I went to J9. worked a b furnace reline in 87. ended up being in the power house when it blew up. i still dream about that place .@@GrayHare

We probably crossed paths several times during our time there. I visited J9 lots of times to talk about schedules and projects. I spent most of my time in the old HSM and Cold Mills. I was working the day of the explosion, too, but I was over in the Rouge Office Building that day. I stayed the first night too helping to shutdown the rest of the plant.@@frphxkaboom3008

Thanks for watching and commenting on the video, Mike! I bet your night shots of the plant were awesome.

Thanks for watching and commenting. My son is a Pipefitter who went thru the 5 year apprenticeship in Dearborn. He works over on Zug Island.

@@GrayHare i worked there 1/8/68 - 1/8/98 - what where is Zug Island

Zug Island is where the US Steel plant was located. It’s very near to the Rouge Complex. I believe all they’re running now is the Coke Plant.

@@GrayHare Coke plant runs now - wow