Index		Contact: Dawn Chambers

Onehunga Ironworks, Auckland NZ
Involvement of John Chambers, Ironmonger, Auckland

AJHR = Appendices to the Journal of the House of Representatives

Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 1917 
Volume 1 page 223-230 New Zealand Ironsands: an Historical Account of 
an attempt to smelt Ironsands at Onehunga in 1883 by John Mogenie 
Chambers.

Late in 1876 John Chambers "took a parcel of ironsand to England and 
the United States. He interviewed many ironmasters, but could get none 
sufficiently interested to experiment seriously with the samples, 
excepting in laboratories, where a few pounds of iron and steel were 
produced in crucibles."

John went to the Philadelphia Exhibition "and there tried to induce 
men in the iron and steel trade to test the ironsand; but nothing 
could be arranged." Before leaving New York he heard that a Mr Joel 
Wilson, of Dover, New Jersey, "had in 1873 patented a furnace which he 
claimed would treat ironsand and convert it directly into wrought 
iron. Mr Guy H. Gardner, of New York, obtained an option on the New 
Zealand patents, purchasing them jointly with Mr Chambers; and so 
sanguine was the inventor that he agreed to send out his best man, Mr 
W. H. Jones, to demonstrate the working of his patent in New Zealand."


DSIR: Making Science work for New Zealand p174
The American direct reduction process used a special furnace in which 
the hot flue gases were used to heat a 'deoxidiser' loaded with a 
mixture of ironsand and coal. When the mixture was maintained at a 
sufficiently high level the iron oxide in the ironsand would be 
deoxidised (reduced) by reaction with the carbon in the coal... the 
reaction proceeded below the melting point of iron, converting the 
ironsand to grains of 'sponge' iron... and worked into a solid mass 
ready for hammering or rolling into the desired form.


AJHR 1883 Section H1 page 4 Letters Patent and Letters of Registration
Patent Nos. 678 and 679: 14 Aug 1882 Guy Huggins Gardner, 
Christchurch, merchant "lately of New York" for "improvements in 
furnaces for reducing iron ores."


Archives NZ Wellington Ref: IA 3/1/35 Letter 1882/3160 (August)
Inwards Correspondence Register Colonial Secretary's Office

Letter written by G. Gardner of Wellington regarding a bonus for 
production of pig iron.


Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 1917 
Volume 1 page 223-230. New Zealand Ironsands: an Historical Account of 
an attempt to smelt Ironsands at Onehunga in 1883 by John Mogenie 
Chambers.

A full-size furnace was erected in 1882 to manufacture 3 tons of iron 
per day. The furnace was built from a drawing accompanying patent 
specifications.


Archives NZ Wellington Ref: IA 3/1/35 Letter 1882/5074 22 Nov 1882
Colonial Secretary's Office Inwards Correspondence Register

John Chambers wrote recommending "extension of Bonus for Iron to other 
productions other than that of 'Pig' Iron." He also applied "for a 
lease of Pilot Station Reserve at North Head of Manukau."


Archives NZ Wellington Ref: IA 3/1/35 Letter 1882/5075 22 Nov 1882
Colonial Secretary's Office Inwards Correspondence Register

John Chambers wrote giving "notice of intention to claim Bonus of 
£1,000 offered for production of Iron".


AJHR 1884 Section H1 p1 Letters Patent & Letters of Registration

Patent No 762: 8 Jan 1883 G. H. Gardner, merchant of Bourke
Street, Melbourne for "improvements in furnaces for reducing iron 
ores. (Joel Wilson's)."


Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 1917 
Volume 1 page 223-230. New Zealand Ironsands: an Historical Account of 
an attempt to smelt Ironsands at Onehunga in 1883 by John Mogenie 
Chambers.

Construction of the furnace was completed in February 1883 at a cost 
of £500. The first iron was made into billets on 27 February "and it 
was shown that the quality exceeded all expectations." George Fraser  
and Sons  made "three bars, 8ft long, 2in. square, of perfect quality" 
on 5 March.


AJHR 1884 Section H1 p1 Letters Patent & Letters of Registration

Patent No 818: 23 Apr 1883 G. H. Gardner, merchant of Bourke 
Street, Melbourne for "improvements in furnaces for the manufacture of 
bar iron and blooms."