Hello from Somerset West

[Lobethal 2014]

Good day everyone

My name is Peter and just this week, my wife and I moved to Somerset West in the Western Cape, from Adelaide in South Australia.

I was privileged to have been provided with the basic skills of blacksmithing by John F, Rob K, Chris C and Geoff B of the Artist Blacksmiths Association of South Australia (ABASA) some five years back. Whilst I was a member there for a short while, business and other matters distracted me and I just messed around with my small Soderfors anvil and 9kg gas bottle forge that I made on a one day course at Fergie's springworks in Gawler.

I spoke with Fergs a short while ago and expressed to him my hope to start up again when I got to the Cape. As such, I would love to hear from anybody in SA and in particular, the Western Cape region.

Looking forward to learning here at iforgeiron.

Pete H

 

[pnut]

There's a directory for blacksmithing groups that have members here. It's located at the bottom of the home page. There may be a thread for S. African smiths in particular. If not start a S. African roll call thread. I'm positive there's blokes from your country that are members here just not sure about their location in S. Africa. 

Welcome aboard and glad to hear you're getting involved in blacksmithing again. Do you still have your Soderfors anvil? There's a few fans of those particular tools here.I'm surprised they haven't responded yet.

Pnut

[Lobethal 2014]

Hi pnut

Cheers for the welcome. I'm looking forward to setting up a forge here in this delightful town, where we are staying with my wife's sister. I'm out on the back porch with a cold Castle lager and a pack of rolling bakky, looking at the Helderberg Mountains glowing as the sun sets. What a huge change.

Sadly, I had to part with my Soderfors as it was just too much weight to ship halfway around the world. In the meantime, I've got my eyes on a DLC 40kg anvil in pretty good shape, some 1800 kilometers up the way. Trying to contact the bloke, but haven't had any luck so far. 

Hope to be able to put a gas forge together in the next few months and once my tools are shipped over, I look forward to shaping some metal.

Pete

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard Pete, glad to have you. 

How heavy was your Soderfors? It's hard to believe shipping it would be less expensive than finding a decent anvil in SA let alone something even close to Soderfors quality. My Soderfors will be the last smithing tool I'll part with and it's going to COST whoever gets it and that'll be my estate sale. 

What do you like to make?

Frosty The Lucky.

[Lobethal 2014]

Hello Frosty

Thanks for the welcome. Real glad to be here.

Yeah, hindsight is 20/20 vision. Sheesh, am I regretting that decision now, but it's a long story best suited for another time. It was an 80lb anvil, with a bit of damage.

I make small, lightweight things. Mainly as birthday, Christmas and "Thank You"  gifts. Bottle openers, key ring tags, BBQ irons, campfire tripods. 

And back scratchers. I love combining steel and wood. Here's some (and a rough shoe horn) that I made to support my mate with his fundraising efforts on the Shltbox Rally 2017.

Pete

 

[Jacques]

Hello

Apologies for the late reply, the IFI forum software do not work well with my old computer.

Most of the blacksmiths that I know are up here Gauteng. We get together at least once a year. 

I do not know of many blacksmiths in the Western Cape, you can google Conrad Hicks and ask him. 

There is an active group of knifemakers in Cape Town that includes bladesmiths.

If you drop me a pm and the forum does not crash on me again I can have you added on the mailing list. 

 

 

[theimi]

Moving from Australia to South Africa?

Most folks would be happy if they could go the other way around...

Hello from another Someerset/W blacksmith...

[Lobethal 2014]

Hello, theimi.

Apologies for the late reply. Life got in the way. I hope we might touch base down at the Old Bridge Tavern one afternoon soon.

Apparently, Universe has a sense of humour. 

Just on four and a half years back in South Africa now and two weeks ago I was provided with the use of two fully kitted forges, one being a late 19th/early 20th century historical forge and the other a more industrial production facility. TYU !

So I'm forging five days a week. Mainly small touristy things like bottle openers, key rings, bracelets, pot lid lifters, steak flippers, BBQ pokers, etc. Enjoying the variation. I did one production run of 10 pokers and lost interest real fast. There are two other young fellas who can do those.

So very happy to be back shaping steel. The missus commented on the attitude improvement. 

Greetings to you all from the pointy bit at the bottom.

 

 

 

Edited January 3 by Mod34
Removed @ tag

[Plaasjapie94]

Hello everyone. I hope you are well. I am new to this. For a long time, I have wanted to get started, but life gets in the way. I live in Capetown. Is there anyone who might want to take on an apprentice? I'm going to get started on my own for now. I've been doing my research. I want to get started on building a forge and getting the basic tools I need to get started, but the best way to learn is from the masters themselves. 

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard Plaasjapie, glad to have you. If you put your general location in the header you'll have a MUCH better chance of meeting up with Iforge members living within visiting distance. I believe we have members in S. Africa but I don't remember where.

I can make a few suggestions even though I live on the far side of the planet, literally. Do NOT wait until you collect what you think are the necessary tools, all you need is a hot fire, something to beat against and something to beat with. Something to hold onto HOT steel is a good thing but until you find or make tongs use a piece of steel long enough the end you hold onto doesn't get hot. This is actually referable to using tongs when possible. A wide bladed masonry chisel works well enough to cut HOT steel but keep it cool. 

What do you have in mind for a forge? Iforge has sections about all kinds of forges, solid fuel, propane and methane fired. 

Being able to get together with an experienced smith is the best way to learn but we like helping folks along so give us a shout too.

Frosty The Lucky.

[George N. M.]

Welcome aboard from 7500 feet (2285 m) in SE Wyoming.  Glad to have you.

My first suggestion is to see if there is a blacksmithing association or organization in South Africa.  I suspect there probably is.  Once you have found them join and attend their meetings and events.  You will learn a lot.

If you can find a smith to mentor you, great, that is the best way to learn.  But if you can't find someone to teach you it is possible to learn by yourself.  In fact, it is easier now than it was years ago because of videos and the internet.  Many of us, myself included, are self taught.  When I started in 1978 all I had were some books from the library and my own mistakes as guides.  Today, there are some very good videos available on You Tube.  I like Black Bear Forge, JPL Services (our own Jennifer), Torbjorn Ahman from Sweden, and Christ Centered Ironworks.  Some folk like Alec Steele's videos but I find his presentation style to be kind of annoying.

Be aware that there are some BAD videos out there, bad to the point of being dangerous.

Also, I don't know how rural or urban you are but if it were me and I could get out into the countryside I would consider trying to find a more "primitive" smith in a rural area and paying him for instruction.  I'm sure the Rand you would pay him for teaching you would probably equal or exceed what he would earn in a day of regular smithing.  Even, if there was a language barrier much of teaching blacksmithing is non-verbal and is watch and follow the visual example.

Good luck and let us know how we can help and how it is going.  As Frosty says, you can start with very basic tools and then upgrade later.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."