My name is Seth Lancaster, I am 21 and live in Mozambique. I am an American living as a missionary here and I do blacksmithing on the side. I have been a member of BAM (Blacksmiths association of Missouri) for several years, though I am not anymore due to having moved here to Mozambique. I have a 37.5 KG old English anvil (A birthday gift from a friend) and I made my own forge from scrap iron. I have been mainly making knives recently, which I then send back to the US with friends and family and then I put them on Etsy to sell to support the ministry here. 

I hope you all have a GREAT day and happy smithing!

Welcome!   Please add your general location to your profile so it shows up each time you post under your name; saves a lot of "where are you at" posts if you have a question  or post a resource.

Have you read the 3 part series on Blacksmithing for Africa published by the UN?

11 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Welcome!   Please add your general location to your profile so it shows up each time you post under your name; saves a lot of "where are you at" posts if you have a question  or post a resource.

Have you read the 3 part series on Blacksmithing for Africa published by the UN?

Thank you! I have now added my location! I have not read that article! Sounds interesting!

I read it in the Library at NMSU in Las Cruces New Mexico, USA.  The UN food organization published it and I believe it is available for free on the net now.  It was written as a teaching document for smithing under local conditions.   It was the first place I ever read about using cast iron to hardface mild steel by heating both up and "crayoning" on the cast iron leaving a higher C layer where it bonded with the mild.

Has anybody had success with this technique?  "Crayoning"  I tried it once but just made a mess.

Welcome, Seth, to the group.  Make sure to keep us informed about what is going on there.

Getting the temps of both pieces just right makes a big difference.  It sure worked better than my attempt to weld up a billet with a layer of thin cast iron (bathtub wall) in it.  The cast melted at steel welding temp and when I hit the billet with the hammer big blobs of liquid cast iron flew through the air until they burst into sparks.  I figured that they decarbed until they got to a "steel" that then burned.  Would have probably worked better in a can and let carbon diffusion take place without impact...like some of the early theories about doing damascus by immersing a billet in liquid cast iron...

"Basic blacksmithing", inermidiate blacksmithing" and "advanced blacksmithing" J.B Stokes, UN food and agriculture.

broken cast has been used to hard face horse shoe calks for long time. 

Thanks guys for the welcome! That is interesting about the "crayoning" technique! I just hope I get to get some forging in soon with the weather... It is summer time now, which is the rainy season, as well as being very hot. 

I got a bag of charcoal the other day, and should be firing up one of these days. That is one thing nice, I can get high quality natural charcoal for about $10 for a 100lb bag! It works GREAT!

 

Hi there, new guy here too! I used to work on a water/sustainable ag project up in Bilibiza outside Pemba to north of you. Where I was there were a lot of smiths turning out tools. Have you had a chance to work with any local guys? Stay safe out there!

15 hours ago, Gold Country Forger said:

Hi there, new guy here too! I used to work on a water/sustainable ag project up in Bilibiza outside Pemba to north of you. Where I was there were a lot of smiths turning out tools. Have you had a chance to work with any local guys? Stay safe out there!

Oh, someone else who has been in Moz! It is interesting that there were smiths up there, there are none here, I mean there are the guys who have their welders and gas torches who make railings and things like that, but I have not seen any other blacksmiths here in our area!

THey might be a little bit out in the country. they produce tools like this:

With the blade (usually an axe or hoe around there) on a shank sunk through a branch. This is not an indiginous example but it will give you the idea. If you see someone with one maybe they know the smith who made it! 

On 25/11/2015, 18:50:50, Gold Country Forger said:

THey might be a little bit out in the country. they produce tools like this:

With the blade (usually an axe or hoe around there) on a shank sunk through a branch. This is not an indiginous example but it will give you the idea. If you see someone with one maybe they know the smith who made it! 

Okay, the hoes they use here are not like that, maybe because the cheap Chinese hoe heads are available here for a cheap price... I have not seen that type here. All the axes and hoes I have seen are Chinese or South African axe heads with either a branch handle, or a piece of metal pipe welded to the end. 

 

Ianinsa is a forum member down in South Africa, he may be able to help you out with some regional info.

Welcome Seth!  hi biggun,  well I suppose "local" is relative about 500 miles apart!, Different country, different language, currency etc. Almost like Mexico city (and more hassle at the border)is "local" to you 

Ian, shoot you can have all of those differences just in the States :-) 

 

5 hours ago, ianinsa said:

Welcome Seth!  hi biggun,  well I suppose "local" is relative about 500 miles apart!, Different country, different language, currency etc. Almost like Mexico city (and more hassle at the border)is "local" to you 

Thanks! Yeah, I have been in JHB, and we do go to South Africa every few months. Is oom Afrikaans? 

I did get may anvil in South Africa, from Durban. A friend in Pretoria brought it for us. For me though, I would much rather be here in Mozambique than in South Africa. I feel safe here, and I have no problem walking alone even in the neighbourhoods, where as in South Africa... If I have a death wish I would, but not for any other reason. 

 

But, we just found out that our residence permits were denied and so we will be going back to the USA for at least the time being. It was a shock to us for sure, but it is like that when you are are a foreigner in another country. 

Save the anvil! 

 

Is oom Afrikaans? With a name like Ian?

BG , I'm fully aware of the difference you can get from town to town, never mind state to state, I've possibility seen more of the USA than most Americans but then I can say the same about China .

What kind of boast is seeing more of China than most Americans?

Frosty The Lucky.

Just now, Frosty said:

What kind of boast is seeing more of China than most Americans?

Frosty The Lucky.

 ........ two backpackers meet in the YMCA one says "I'm applying for a Chinese visa" the other says "I'm quite happy with my American Express"!

14 hours ago, BIGGUNDOCTOR said:

Save the anvil! 

 

Well I cannot bring it back to the US with me, I do have my anvil over state-side too, so I will continue in my smithing. Of course I do not know, if I am able to come back to Moz, I will still have it here, as it will stay with friends, but if I am not able, I will have them sell it for me. 

12 hours ago, ianinsa said:

Is oom Afrikaans? With a name like Ian?

BG , I'm fully aware of the difference you can get from town to town, never mind state to state, I've possibility seen more of the USA than most Americans but then I can say the same about China .

So, is your answer no regarding the Afrikaans? I know guys who are Afrikaans with that name, as well as English. I ask as I am with an Afrikaans family here in Mozambique. 

 

Ek is in England gobore(daarby 'n rooinek/soutie you gasheer sal verduidelik ) maar ek is heltemaal gemaklik in beide tale in gesprek en skrif (ek lei net weens 'n gebrek aan oeffening) (en spellcheck xxk my rond) . Ian is a very unlikely Afrikaans name as it sounds like one in Afrikaans. I attended an Afrikaans school and did tertiary studies in Pretoria, and found that Afrikaans people resisted calling me Een. I suppose its much like Englishmen and Anglicized Americans will resist calling someone Jesus, preferring to use a pronounceable 'hey sus' instead.