As for where the problem lay? The two blacksmiths hadn't figured it out yet.
But the iron smelting furnace that had taken a vast amount of manpower, resources, and time to build couldn't just be wasted, could it?
So, after some deliberation, they decided to abandon their dream, embrace reality, and made do with the mistake by transforming the "blast furnace" for use as a "bottom-blown furnace".
The traditional bloomer furnaces usually had air blown in from the top or the middle, while, as the name implies, bottom-blown furnaces introduce air from the bottom. This is because the larger the furnace body, the worse the effect of top blowing.
The two weren't planning on letting the "iron" flow out on its own, as it was too troublesome. They simply let the smelted iron settle at the bottom of the furnace to be taken out in one go, hence the term "bottom iron".
