Wim

If you are coming to the Wheels on the Vaal event, you are welcome to bring stuff, tools, materials, forged objects to sell or swop with the other guys attending. We come from all corners of the country, and what may be available in abundance on the countryside could be a rarety to us suburban fellows, and vice versa. You may pick upo a few nice tools, or make a few bucks. Let me know, if you are coming. Wim

Great times await us at Wheels at the Vaal this year. We are now less than 3 weeks away and I can't wait. The date is 31 Aug to 2 Sept 2007. For all the new comers, I will quickly run through the basics. The show takes place at the Pukke campus in Vanderbijlpark. We will be camping on the banks of the Vaal river next to our working area. Make sure that you are prepared for the cold. Temperatures can go down to freezing during the night. Saturday and Sunday will be spent working on our throne fit for a blacksmith. The design will be finalized in the next week. Don't worry if you do not have any blacksmithing experience. There is more than enough work for everyone and it will be your garuanteed ticket to fall in love with the art of working with hot metal. Food arrangements still has to be finalized with the organizers, but it will be up to us to prepare our own food (braai). We will need a volunteer or 2 to help in this regard. Now for the Mittal plant visit. I have been twisting Dave Bischoff's arm to help me arrange the visit. At the moment everything seems to be on track. Mittal needs a list of Names an ID no. of those interested to take part in the site visit. Can I get this info ASAP. I want to forward this info to Dave on Friday morning (17 Aug 2007 before 9:30 am). If you name is not on the list you may well miss out. If you are still not sure if you can make it, I would suggest that you put your name on the list in any case. If there are specific things in the plant that you would like to see, please let me know. We still have time to let Mittal know what we want to see. Let the sparks keep the passion alight! Blacksmith Greetings Coenraad

Guys, thanks so much. I'll be honest, Im gonna archweld this one and give it another bash on the other rein. Mills, yes, I think I allowed it to cool down on the anvil, cause that is the side that didn't take. BT, I never checked the heel of the scarf temp, I will keep in mind when I try again. Evfreek, thanks for your elaborate explanation about arch cheating. Now I don't feel so bad. Wim

Thanks Candidquality, I really feel welcome, The Highveld is an elevated plain about 5000 feet above Sealevel and it covers a large part of the South African Inland. Veld is a dutch word for field. It includes Johannesburg Pretoria, and a large area of about 250 mile radius around it. Look it up in a Map of the world, showing geographical features. The blacksmiths in our group all stay more or less in this region. I drive about 4 hours to get to the most remote one. Hope this answers your burning question, Keep the fire burning, Wim

I did my first forge weld this week, trying to weld on the reins of a pair of tongs using 1/2" sq bar. I used my new forge, made a very deep fir about 7". and used borax as a flux. It went great, I managed to get half the section to stick, a good solid joint but the other half is a big gap. And I have allready forged the pre-upset section down to the required size. what do I do now, or should I just arcweld the gap closed and try again on the other half of the pair? What could have caused this and how can I improve? Wim

If you judge every tree you pass, by how well it would serve as a stump for an anvil. posted

Rick, is that you in the picture? You look OK man. Wim

Quench, Hope you settle in quite fast. Start ringing your anvil, and new friends will present themselves. All the best. Wim.

Strine, Thanks for challenging us, I will get my mind in gear, and try a bit on my next session. My knot is allready guaranteed to be unique, hahaha. I hope to have some result by end of August. Wim.

Stevenard, bienvenue dans le familie, ( I'm trying, see) I often pick up tongs at second hand shops, what they call here Pawnshops (South Africa), where you find a lot of used tools, punches, chissels. I'm sure they must have something like that in Canana. I bought 2 pairs of tongs, a rodded chissel, and a double blacksmiths calipers like that. Paid about ZAR 50 each, that is about Euro 5,00 each. It is quiet easy to modify an old tool to whatever new use you want to put it to.

Hi all you Blacksmiths Great news is that Wheels at the Vaal is coming up soon. Last year we had so much fun and it was great to work together on one project. From beginner to pro we worked liked a well oiled machine. I believe we were all surprise and very happy with the finished product. So, what's up for this year? Date: 31 Aug to 2 Sept 2007 . Venue: Pukke Campus on the Vaal River, Vanderbijlpark I have a few suggestions for the weekend. The organizers are very keen to have us back and promised us the same spot as last year. The University is playing a greater roll in the organiza tion of the event and promised that it will be bigger and better. They don't have any suggestions of what we can or should make. It's all up to us. I think whatever we decide on, should be first traditionally made and assembled. Not have hundreds of the same components. Be simple enough to make and complete in 2 days but with enough place to ad decoration / texture. With this in mind I was thinking of a chair fit for a king. Like a throne. When you sit in this chair it should feel like the world belongs to you. Let me know what you all think. Feel free to make other suggestions. The next question is what to do with the final product? I was thinking that everyone involved (all the blacksmiths and helpers, sponsors and organizers) names goes into a hat and the lucky person takes its home. With the understanding that the lucky person name won't go into the hat for the next couple of years! Also what do you think? Last thing. In the last year I have been doing a lot of industrial work for Mital Steel. I have asked the guys if it will be possible for us to do a tour of one of their plants on Friday 31 August. We can take leave for the day and meet around 10 or 11 am and see how they make steel

When I started the adventure of becoming an Artist Blacksmith, around July last year, I thought I was the only one on the continent of Africa. I did not know where to start. A year later I now have made friends with 10 Blacksmiths and their families, from Gauteng, Mpumalanga, the Freestate and the North West province. We are a great bunch, have had 3 big events with over 15 people, as well as a few weekends, where one smith invites another for a weekend of bashing and sleeping over. It is at these events that not only a lot is learned of the Blacksmith trade, also frienships are forged, and you build a network of contacts, that helps getting a hold of books, ideas, tools and materials. Most important, you have so much fun together, and your life ends up being richer for it. Therefore I urge every South African smith, male or female, young or old, wherever you are, whether you are a professional, a novice, or a wannabee, to contact me via this route. We can help each other, we can do something, to bring this beautiful trade of Blacksmithing back to life in this outpost of the Global Village. We can make a contribution to the international community of Blacksmiths. (Did I hear an amen?) Looking forward to hearing from you, Wim

Glen, Thanks for opening the Forum for us. This is a real breakthru' for us. The Forge In at Coenraad Vegter, aka "The real Ystervegter Forge In" occurred on 31st of March 2007, I have a number of photo's from that event to post. Regards, Wim.

My setup (Anvil, forge and vise in my backyard) is still too small to even think about a swage block. I have made a tool for the hardy, a piece of 3" pipe welded on a 16mm plate with a hardy shank for dishing plates and other stuff, if I have a job where my tool doesn't work, I'll make something else. Primetech do you put your wooden block on the anvil or on a seperate table? Thomas, do you have any pics of your hardy swage tools? Thanks guys, I am picking up so much from reading this stuff.

Thanks Steve for sharing your past and present with us. I saw some pictures of you and Jens on the gallery. Picked up a few idea's for my own setup. I am new to blacksmithing, from July last year, and have set up the basics in my backyard now. Finally my forging sessions become a bit more productive, now that I have the basic tooling made. It's amazing how each of us has a story of how we started with blacksmithing. Have a good one!

Ten, are you or is the anvil standing on the plank. Is your anvil on knuckle or wrist height? I have a tree stump on which the anvil sits, fixed with chain. Top of the anvil is 1.5" above my knuckle height. Works for me.