Wim

Lukas, these things are very scarce, I would ask around on farms in your area. The North West province has a lot of large farms, where farmers used to sharpen there own implements, plow shears and stuff. They often had a little blacksmith shop on the farm, with a handcranked blaasbalk, a small anvil and a legvise. That is your best bet. Gaan jy weer Vaal toe kom hierdie jaar? Groete, Wim

Glen, I have a number of pictures for this event, for which a folder is already created in the Gallery. But I cannot post them, because of the format (bitmap image) any idea I how to get around that? Wim

Herman, There will be a Dutch Market again at Oranjehof, in Kempton Park on 1st of May 2008. I give a blacksmithing demo there, and a few extra hands are always welcome. We could even set up an extra anvil; my forge is good enough for 2 smiths. One of theguys in our group, Nic Taylor, also a member here is planning a forge in, maybe in april or may, in Pretoria. I will announce it here when the date is set. Slaan daai ysters!!! Wim

Herman, I received your mail, thanks very much. I see you have made contact with Kevan as well. It would be nice to talk to you and maybe visit your shop some time. I am in Kempton Park, were I believe you work. You can contact me on 083 263 7325. I will keep trying your phone. From 2nd March to 10th March 2008 I will be in the UK, so please wait till I get back. With our next event I will warn you well in advance, so you can be a part of it. Regards, Wim

Kevan, I'm in Kempton Park, you can phone me on 083 263 7325, it ll be nice to talk to you. I saw the pic's on your gallery, very nice shop. Keep well, Wim

Hi Bob. Sorry for the delayed response, I was away and could not log in, where I was. OK, it looks like you have plenty of room to fit this element. What is the wire gauge and what is the space between the coils. If the coils are hard up against each other you can stretch the element to 48 ",(space 4x wire gauge) and then divide them up into 4 legs of 12" length. If there is allready a space in between the coils of say 4 times the wiregauge, you cannot strech them much more. If they have only a litle gap in between you can stretch them to say 24" and only create 2 legs. I wonder whether you will heat that 22" long chamber with only those 2 elements. If your electricity supply voltage is 220 VAC you must connect the elements in series, so that you get only a 110V drop over one element. If your grid is 110V then you connect them in parrallel. Otherwise you may have a risk of burning out you element, or compromising its life. To make the hairpin bend you unwind one coil, and then align the 2 legs to each other. The more of a coil you unwind the further apart the legs will run. The grooves in the insulation board you should cut slightly smaller then the diameter of the element so that they stay in when you have pushed them in. That way you dont need the extra wire to secure the element to the board. These 2 elements should give you about 3000Watts of power. You may need another 2 elements, otherwise it may take too long to reach temperature. Let me know, if you anything more from me. Wim

Hi Bob, Nice joints, I like the way you cut those. Real Pro job. What is the outside diameter of your element coil? What is your supply voltage? and what is the measured resistance? What is the Total length of the coil? I think to run your element it is best to use the 2 sidewalls. Start at the back at the top. You have your double twisted lead-out at the back, through the sidewall, then run your element from back to front, then a hairpin bend down, then to the back again, another hairpin bend down, to the front, one last hairpin bend down and back to the back and out with the double twisted lead out. See layout below. ////////////////______ | ///////////////// ...................| ///////////////// | /////////////////____ Your pitch centre to centre on the elements should be at least 1", providing your element outside diameter is not bigger than 1/2". Care full when you cut grooves not to break the board since it rather brittle. You should ask your element supplier for some loose wire, same gauge as the element wire, say 2' long that you can use to make stapples to secure the element to the board. Your Thermocouple can go thru the roof in ther centre. and your controller in a little control box, where you see the display and play around with the settings. Your controller can switch a little contactor that can take the Amps. Otherwise your Pid unit is likely to overheat. Let me know the other parameters than I can help you more in detail. Succes Bob, we're gonna get this baby to run nicely! Wim

Today I received a commission to make a branding iron for an antique furniture dealer. He does a lot of restoration work, mostly antique wooden furniture, and wants to put his name on his work, which is an honourable thing. I am thinking of making an oval cup with a flat bottom in steel and hard punching the text in the bottom. Then pouring molten copper into the cup, and afterwards mounting the copper blob onto a steel backing plate with a long handle. That way he can heat the copper part with a torch. Anybody got any experience in such a thing? Will the copper maybe stick to the steel mould? I would appriciate any advice, thanks! Wim

Bob, Heat Treatment requires much lower temperatures, so your board will work great. What kind of heating elements are you planning to use. Coiled type Kanthal elements lend themselves quite well to be embedded in the board. Any questions you may have I ll be happy to answer, I have been building furnaces for the last 22 years. you can send me emails as well, but for the benefit of other bladesmiths, we should maybe rather use this thread. Good luck, Wim.

Hello Bob, This looks like Ceramic Fibre Board. It is the same material as Kaowool, but rigidised and more dense. It normally coes in 2" thickness. Most likely this material can take up to 2300 deg F, unless you have a higher grade, but this temperature is adequate for forging. It is quite soft so you can cut it with a hacksaw blade. You can have 2 layers, which will give you 4" of total insulation. That should give you a cold face temperature on your outer steel casing of about 200 deg F. You must cut it such that the layers support each other and that a labirinth is created on every joint. In other words, no straight through joint from inside to the steel shell. Your roof can also be cut this way that it supported by the sidewalls, yet does not have straight through joint. I suggest you do a bit of puzzling before you start cutting, because it is jolly expensive material. If you don't have enough for 2 layers, you use this on the hot face and surround it by bricks or other inferior and cheaper material. For the floor you should use some hardface firebrick or other wear resistant material. Hope this helps, Succes, Wim.

Wim is my name. It stands for "Winning In Metal". My Dad had a strange foresight at the time of my birth, that I was gonna be a Blacksmith. Actually not, Wim stands for my name, Wim, short for Willem, which is dutch for William. I believe is means protector.

Are you enjoying your anvil BB? Remember not to spend too much time, your wife might get jealous. BTW Are you coming to the Sparks w/ Light Forge In this saturday? Hear from you soon

See attachment with info about the event. It is going to be lovely, sharing your passion with other blacksmiths, teaching and learning from each other. Thank you Paola for the oppertunity. Wim.

Hi all you Blacksmiths It's nearly TIME!!! WHEELS AT THE VAAL!! This will the final Update for Wheels at the Vaal. Volker has put on his creative cap and came up with a nice design for our throne project. It can be described as hammer and fire throne. I am busy putting in the detail of the joints and actual size's before we put on the board to work from. I will bring 5 forges, 4 anvils, leg vice and basically all the other hand tolls that we will need. I will bring coal and Roto Engineering kindly sponsor the steel. If you have, you need to bring your own special tools and hammers. Don't forget safety equipment! We need one or two others to bring a small anvil each. Also bring containers for water, coal and ash. You are welcome to bring any of your creations for display or for sale. This is an opportunity to share your passion with the public. There will be some basics like a kettle and coffee, tea, Oros and the like. We can make some pap and sous. We will also get some wors and rolls, but ultimately you are responsible for your own food. Any super duper breakfast you my require, snacks and something to braai is up to you. Also bring own utensils, cup and plate. Own drinks go without saying. There will be a army tent again (very cold) or bring your own tent. Camping chairs are also very handy for a tired body. The Mittal visit is scheduled for 11:00 am at Vereeniging Mittal plant in Mario Millani Street. Remember to bring ID books. No cameras will be allowed inside, including mobile phones with cameras. You can phone me if you need more info about the weekend. Coenraad Vegter

It's very nice working out in the open, as you work you enjoy the sunshine, the garden, the kids playing around me. I just want to train my dog to handle the sledge, but he keeps running, when I approach him. Wonder why.:cool: Blackbeard, you see the small anvil, that's your to be. Wim.

Glenn, This weekend we are gonna have a whale of a time. We are expecting about 20 smiths, will have 4 forges, 6 or 7 anvils and 4 legvices. We are making a throne, worthy of a blacksmith, the king of all tradesmen, using only traditional forge techniques. Please can you set up a folder for us to post pictures, which will be coming in early next week? Thanks, Wim.

Etienne, What James describes, to reroute the smoke into your air blower is described in "The complete Blacksmith, by Alexander Weygers, a very practical dutch engineer, that used blacksmithing to make tools for his sculpting work. I have no problem, being in Afrika, we have nice wheather always, and I forge outside in the garden. But I agree with Glenn, once the fire is going and managed well, there is no smoke problem anymore. Wim

Jaco, thanks for your input. No, I like it when everybody visits the SA forum, and participates. It brings mutual understanding to the other smith's circumstances and conditions, that he has to work under. Besides, I really like your pic's. It has given me some ideas. You'r welcome to post here, Jaco. Thanks, Gerald for your input, as well. Wim

Tell us about your blacksmith shop, what you use for heating the steel, What you use to pound on, where did you get your tools etc. South Africa is a big place, and most of us work in isolation. Let's use this forum, to give tips on what to use, where to get coal, what material is OK for smithing, for making tools etc. Wim.

When I make a left hand threat, my kids just laugh at me. They respect my Right hand though. haha. Wim