Issue - Artist Blacksmiths Association South Australia

In this issue :-
• Editorial.
• Presidents Note.
• Blowing your Forge..Foolproof tuyere design
• June Workshop Report
• Rhinoceros Scrolls
• Around Oz Latest News
• A.B.A.S.A at Burra
• Moonta Mines Blacksmith Shop
Issue 4 - Winter 2010

The Bellows
WINTER EDITION #4
JULY 2010
EDITOR
Rob Kenning
(08) 83702137
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Rob Kenning
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
PRESIDENT
Chris Carter
(08) 82625415
VICE PRESIDENT
Sonja Hurst
(08) 83860910
SECRETARY
Rob Kenning
TREASURER
Kirstie Stewart
(08) 83779360
GENERAL COMMITTEE
Terry Johnson
(08) 83825559
Cat Lambert
(08) 81650918
Keren Sutcliffe
(08) 82401363
Stan Briggs
(08) 83568868
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Contents
....Cover.. Malcolm Paine.. Demonstrating forge welding.
....Contents
....Editorial.....by Rob Kenning
....Presidents Note.....Sonja Hurst
....Blow your Forge...Foolproof tuyere design by Geo� Barnes
....June Workshop...A weekend with Malcolm Paine
....Rhinoceros Scrolls... by Rob Kenning
....Around Oz....Latest interstate news.
....A.B.A.S.A at Burra....by Rob Kenning
....Moonta Mines -Blacksmith Shop...by Rob Kenning
....Useful sites and Contacts
Purposes & Objectives of ABASA Inc
The objectives of the Association shall be to promote, preserve, and develop the Craftsmanship, and
techniques of all the various disciplines associated with Artistic Blacksmithing to the highest standards
possible.
Supporting these aims include:
a) To Provide means of communication between mature people with an interest in the craft of
Blacksmithing, for the exchange of ideas, experience, techniques and information for their
mutual bene�t, by the publication of a regular Newsletter.
b) To Encourage a greater awareness of, and interest in the appreciation of the skills of
Blacksmithing among Architects, Interior Designers, Art and Craft groups, and the general
public, and to provide links between Blacksmiths and potential customers by means of
Exhibitions, Demonstrations, and Publications.
c) To Promote and actively provide the opportunity for training in all the various aspects of
Blacksmithing means of demonstrations, lectures, and special tuition sessions.
d) To Act as a representative body, in the interests of Australian Blacksmiths, locally, nationally
and internationally.
e) To Undertake community service, providing these services are within the comfortable limits
of time, talents and costs that the association and individual members can a�ord, in the
context of the associations, purpose, objectives, rules and legal obligations
f) To encourage communication and goodwill among Blacksmiths of all Nations.
g) To co-operate with similar associations in every practical way at the local, national and
international level with the interests of the association’s members and community
h) To ensure the association achieves the purpose and objectives by all
possible legal means.
'The Bellows' is compiled using Belights 'Swi� Publisher'
Graphics created in RHINOCEROS VER 4 & Pixelmator
Made on an iMac
Page 2

Editorial
Welcome to our Fourth edition of The Bellows Newsletter.
Greetings everyone and especially our newest members:- Malcolm Paine, Horrie Mills, and Phil Dent.
It has been a fairly busy quarter with the organisation and running of the Malcolm Paine workshop and
conducting forging days at the Burra Bon Accord and Moonta Forges. We will be contacting Riverton
Forge shortly, and of course, Angaston is still holding their own with fairly good patronage through the
winter season.
The President is away over seas until the end of July and Sonja has taken the helm until Chris returns.
We have the Royal Show coming up before we know it, and now is the time to get that artwork forged
and submitted for the Home Exhibit. Kirstie Stewart is taking the lead on gathering the women smiths
for the Womans Forg ing event at the show. We need a strong following of women blacksmiths to make
this a success. I trust Kirstie and Sonja will be rallying the troops and contacting you all in the coming
days. IMPORTANTLY... Closing dates for Entries to the Class 13 Womens "Free for All" event is July
23rd. This will be a �rst for the show, and our association, so lets make it count.
In light of the above, there are plans to hold a Blacksmith Doris Day here in Adelaide. This will be a good
chance to hone your skills in preparation for the show in September.
Our attempts to secure a location for our home forge have not been as fruitful as we had hoped.
We have two locations in our sights at the moment and one of them is at the property of Terry and
Margaret Johnson. They have kindly opened their doors to havi ng the association set up a base at their
property at Morphettvale. Should this venue be agreeable to the members, it will allow us to hold
teaching and forging activities for our members, in the company of experienced smiths. This will be a
fantastic advantage to have a well �tted out site for our younger members to practise their skills. So
stay tuned for further developments. The other site tha t may be available, is an old stone building
beside the Woodcroft shopping centre. It is a fairly roomy structure. At this stage there are not any
details about the site. We should have more information in time for the next general meeting.
On the administrative side of things, we have the Public Liability Insurance in place and the next thing
to do is to get a web site up and running and develop a n equipment register before we set up an
association home base. I'm hopeful that we can secure some equipment to stock the workshop. I have a
6 inch post vice and centri�gal blower that I'll be loaning. If anyone has any spare anvils, small forges or
post vices they can loan, they would be very welcome.
Of course, the equipment will remain your property and will be entered into the registry for fu ture
reference.
I can foresee there will be some working bees to build some forges and it's timely of Geo� Barnes to
come to our aid with a brilliant article on tuyere design.
It is planned to hold workshops on a regular basis with planned themes to follow. There is also the
advantage of getting help and advice on any projects you may be working on.
Aside from the forging days, I am hoping we can de velop a social club as well. This will give us a chance
to all get together and get to know each other. There hardly seems time at the meetings. Lastly..don't
forget to keep practising that forge welding.
I hope you enjoy this edition, even though it's a tad late, and I sincerely hope that some of you can
contribute an article for the next edition.
Rob Kenning
Editor
Page 3

Presidents Note...
Hello all, Chris Carter, our president is o� gallivanting around
overseas, so I have been deemed to act responsible and write
something. I was thinking what to write about working away at my
forge, accumulating an audience, when I realised that they are not an
audience but simply seeking the warmth of the forge; much like bugs
to the porch light… Yes winter is here and the �re is the best place to
be in my opinion. It seems that the blacksmiths friendship is a
seasonal one…no-one stays long in high summer?
Malcolm Paine’s workshop was a memorable event for all those that attended. A
big thankyou to Malcolm and Audrey Paine for travelling over from Western
Australia and sharing their bountiful knowledge!
Terry and Margaret Johnson have generously o�ered their property for the
A.B.A.S.A. home base; we are awaiting the ‘shopping list’ from them, any
members that can assist in establishing the facilities and or equipment please
contact any of the committee members. Many hands make light work.
Thankyou Terry and Margaret. I think everyone is looking forward to regular
workshops.
Some of the members have been actively out and about in the states various
historical blacksmith shops thankyou to those dedicated members who
volunteer their time and e�orts! This brings me to mention the aims and
objectives of the ABASA constitution. Very brie�y they are about providing, a
network for blacksmiths; to encourage an awareness beyond our members
which involves the act of community service; to promote by the means of
training and demonstrations and to act as a representative body. I see these
members who dedicate their time as a wonderful example of the valuable
resources that our association has to o�er. Thankyou! Anyone that would like
some of the action put your hand up.
Well it seems there is a lot rolling, many new challenges ahead and it is great to
see active members creating such a valuable association. The next committee
meeting is on the22nd July all are welcome and our �rst A.G.M. will be held on
the 26 th August. Hope to see you all there.
Cheers
Sonja Hurst
Vice President
Page 4

YOUR FORGE
Article by Geo� Barnes Illustrated by Rob Kenning
based on drawings by Geo� Barnes
There are two basic methods of shifting air from
one place to another with the object of ceating a
blast of air.
An air compressor, depending on it's size, will
deliver a relatively low volume of air at high
pressure.
The average small workshop compressor will deliver
6 to 8 cubic feet per minute. Not enough to �re up a
forge. The advantage of the compressor, is that the
air can be moved over fairly long distances, through
small diameter pipe, around fairly sharp bends,
without much loss of pressure.
A centrifugal blower, on the other hand, can shift
large volumes if air at low pressure. This type of
blower is used in vacuum cleaners, ducted air
conditioning and dust extraction. This is the type of
blower usually chosen to run a forge.
The most e�ective, seem to be the type that have a
�nned or bladed impeller, usually turning at 3,000
RPM. But even smaller squirrel cage impellers
rotating at half that speed will deliver enough air for
small jobs.
Unlike the air�ow from a compressor, however, the
�ow of air from a centrifugal blower is easily
impeded by friction, turbulence and sharp bends in
the delivery system. The cross sectional area of the
pipes or ducts leading from the blower should be at
least as large as the exit dimensions of the blower.
Changes of direction should be avoided as much as
possible and if necessary, use slow curves rather
than right angle bends.
FAN
FORGE
GOOD
FAN
FORGE
BAD
If using ready made pipe pipe �ttings, such as
sewer pipe, choose two 45 degree elbows instead
of one 90 degree bend. A common point of
turbulance and back-pressure, is where the pipe
enters the ash box just below the tuyere. Try to
sweep the pipe upwards at this point, if possible.
If you get the chance, have a look at the dust
extraction ducting in an old joinery. It is usually a
work of art in sheet metal. Large diameter pipes are
used and come together at a very acute angle.
Expensive 'Lobster back' bends are used to make
slow curves at changes in direction.
We come now to the point of greatest resistance to
getting air into the �re - the tuyere ('tue-iron')
itself. This is the area of the forge likely to be
subjected to the most intense heat. We know that
steel subjected to intense heat will, at the very
least, oxidise away in time, and at the worst,
overheat and burn. Most of the old books on the
subject, suggest putting the thickest available
piece of steel on the top of the ash box to counter
the heat of the �re. One author advocated drilling
a hole through a cannon ball to make the most �re
resistant tuyere. Most people opt for a thick piece
of plate (12mm or more) through which a number
of holes (10 to 12mm) are drilled. If you add up the
cross sectional area of the total number of holes
and compare that to the cross sectional area of
your delivery pipe you will understand the degree
of restriction you have introduced into the air �ow.
Page 5

continued
The situation can be improved by grinding a
groove between the drilled holes to form slots. But,
quite by accident, I found a much better design.
Many years ago I was impatient to put a newly built
forge into service, but had no steel heavy enough
to make the tuyere. I had already brought the ash
box pipe ( 100mm round ) in about 50mm above
the �oor of the forge. My intention was to cover the
�oor of the forge with sand to protect the steel tray.
About 30mm down inside the pipe I welded a
neatly �tted ring of 6mm square. I then cut a series
of short lengths of 32mm x 5mm �at mild steel and
welded them each on edge to a single piece of �at,
just long enough to drop down inside onto the
6mm bar ledge.
Approx 80 mm
YOUR FORGE
Grate drops in to tuyere pipe.
6mm Ring
WELDS
The little grill was dropped down into the top of the
100mm pipe where it rested loosely on the 6mm
ledge. Each bar was welded at only one point so that
they could all expand and contract independantly
and no distortion was likely to occur. The bars were
welded with approximately 12mm between them.
I hoped that this simple tuyere would last me
perhaps a few weeks until I could replace it with a
"solid" plate. Fifteen years later, I spent 20 minutes
making a replacement one.
Page 6

June
Workshop Report
Our association was very fortunate to have Malcolm
Paine conduct a two day workshop for us this month.
Malcolm began the workshop by having almost
everyone forge welding within the �rst two hours,
and when you consider that some of the members
hadn't ever picked up a hammer before, it was simply
amazing to experience. Dave Gava had his �rst
serious session on Saturday and by lunchtime, had a
pair of tongs forged with welded reins and a hand
forged rivet.
Dave welding on the �rst day
Our youngest member, Tina Herd, had a very
successful day forging a scroll and making a set of
tongs.
As well, Keith Clarke , with very little prior
experience, completed forging a set of tongs after
lunch then assisted Geo� Barnes clean up a hot set
to remove the dags of hard use. Malcolm held a few
short demonstration sessions throughout the day,
primarily to kick o� the next task or to demonstrate
a skill requested by a member.
Tina Herd forging out a small set of tongs.
Geo� Barnes (Le�) and Keith Clark clean up a worn hot
set strike face.
Sunday's workshop began with an explanation of
forging and forge welding seperate elements to
create one piece of artwork. In this case, it was to be
a branch with limbs and leaves. Everyone set to in
forging individual leaves and forge welding them,
then, using round bar, forge a section of stem
before welding the leaf clusters on. A couple of
members �nished o� work from the previous day
and at the end of the session Malcolm gave us a
demo of a sheeps head poker.
Page 7

Jessica getting some tips on work
placement in the �re.
Keith taking a heat.
June
Workshop Report
Jessica and Geo� hot cutting.
Malcolm demonstrating a 'T'
section weld and scar�ng.
It was a revelation to see Malcolm
demonstrate the diversity of forge
welding options and processes in
welding a range of di�erent
elements together. It forces you to
broaden your design thinking and
limitations. Suddenly, larger work
designs become more feasable in
the standard size forge when your
work can be broken down into
smaller sections in the assembly
stage.
Another subject that became
apparent was the designs of our
forges. Some of our forges are
based on a �at hearth built up with
a few bricks. This may be adequate
for normal forging but when it
comes to forge welding it is very
bene�cial to have a good sized
neutral zone in the �re. This of
course requires a �re with a bit of
height, and that is di�cult to
achieve with some of the �at bed
forges. It will become a focus of our
association at future workshops
and working bees to construct
forges easily capable of forming a
higher �re mass with deeper
neutral zones.
In summary, I wish to thank the following people for their help and assistance for making this a
successful workshop. Firstly, Malcolm and Audrey Paine, for their presence, time and teaching. Terry
and Margaret Johnson for hosting our guests and co ordinating the itinerary and setting up and
packing away( always a fun job eh? ) Kirstie Stewart and Dave Gava for providing us with a fantastic
venue for the two days. Jeanette Kenning for the gourmet catering and organisation. Geo� Barnes for
loaning of equipment, participating and assisting at the workshop. Chris Fuller (Crispy) for helping out
with the logistics of returning equipment. James Amorsen, for providing the fuel, and also a large
thankyou to all the members who took part and made it happen. I am sure we are all looking forward to
the next visit from Malcolm and Audrey.
Page 8

RHINOCEROS
Scrolls
In "�e Bellows" Issue 3, I demonstrated the method of making a simple basket twist. In this lesson, we will
complete a simple ribbon scroll and I'll show you the steps involved.
�e �rst thing to complete in most CAD programs, is to set your units and grid for the size of the work you will
be drawing. In this case we will draw a 20cm diameter �at ribbon scroll, so we will use centimeters as the unit
base. �e grid can be set at 1 cm squares.
So let's begin by opening Rhino and setting the Units to Centimeters. �e small yellow gear wheel icon controls
all the settings for the program. Click on the Grid on the le� side of the Rhino Options box and you will see
that the Grid is set by default to 1 unit spacing.
Now that you have that done, I'll run through the process that we will be taking. First we are going to draw a
circle 20cm in diameter. We then split the circle into four quarters and remove one quarter. From this stage on
we will shrink a selected quarter by one third. Mirror copy it, then shrink by one third and so on until we have
the desired turns of the scroll, and what we end up with is a �bonacci scroll.
During the course of the tutorial, you will be using the SNAP function, along the bottom of the screen and also
the ORTHO function, again, at the bottom of the screen. �e reason we use these functions is to keep all the
lines tangent to each other and touching. It is pretty important later on when we o�set and extrude the lines to
make our solid scroll.
Page 9

RHINOCEROS Scrolls
QUAD snap
The �rst thing to do is to draw a CIRCLE using
the CIRCLE tool.
Once you have selected the circle type '0' and
hit ENTER. Type 'D' - hit enter and type 20. With
the Centimeter units set, this scroll will be 20
centimeters at it's widest point.
Once the circle is formed you turn on the EDIT
POINTS on the side bar. This gives you a set of
points to snap to. Conversly, you can click on
the QUADRANT snap and snap a point at each
quarter of the circle.
Select POINT from the top left hand toolbar.
Click on the points of the circle at the North,
South, East and West quadrants. When you are
�nished, hit the ESC key to turn o� the EDIT
points. You should be left with your four points
around the circle.
Page 10

RHINOCEROS Scrolls
Next we need to split the circle into 4 parts.
Select he SPLIT tool and click on the circle,
then hit ENTER, and then select the four points
and again hit ENTER. Delete the lower right
hand quarter.
Select the top right hand section and select
SCALE 3D as shown. Place your cursor at the
Northern point and drag your mouse, holding
the left side button, to scale down the arc by
about 1/3rd.
It is worth mentioning to turn on the ORTHO
function at this time to ensure all further
operations are performed in only two planes.
e.g Up and down and left and right.
Page 11

RHINOCEROS Scrolls
Now we need to MIRROR the scaled arc from
top to bottom. Select TRANSFORM-MIRROR
from the top menu and select the arc, place
your cursor at the end of the arc and mirror the
arc over. Don't forget to turn on your END
SNAP for this operation. This enables the arc to
mirror over and remain tangent to the arc
above.
Continue to select the MIRROR and SCALE 3D
commands and set each piece in place.
Once you have all the pieces in place you will
need to join them up into one continuous line.
Page 12

RHINOCEROS Scrolls
Select all the pieces with CTRL-A on the
keyboard or pick each one while holding your
�nger on the SHIFT button or drag an antline
square over the entire drawing, then click
JOIN.
Now we need to o�set the line by .8 cm.
Select the line then choose CURVE-OFFSET
CURVE and type in .8 at the command line.
Click on the outside of your existing line to
place the o�set.
The two lines need a short cap line each end to
create a complete boundary, so turn on the
ENDSNAP and select the LINE command.
Place a line using snap end to the end of each
pair of lines.
Once you have completed that, use the JOIN
command again and join all the lines.
Page 13

RHINOCEROS Scrolls
Spline
To make a taper ribbon scroll, we a re going to
add the taper line(shown in red)
Turn all the snaps o� except NEAR and select
the SPLINE �yout (just below the point)
Select CURVE:INTERPOLATE POINTS then zoom
in on the iside of the scroll and place the red
line as shown.
After the initial snap, you may need to turn of
the NEAR snap o� to place the rest of the line
until the last point.
Near snap on
Near snap on
Near snap on to start
the line, then turn it off
untill the end.
The next operation is to TRIM o� the part we
don't require, then join the lines again, labelled
'outside line'
Select TRIM and click on the RED line, hit
ENTER then click on the black line.
If all has gone to plan, you will have a 2d pro�le
of a ribbon scroll. Now all that is left is to do is
EXTRUDE the line 1.6 cm to create a solid part.
Page 14

RHINOCEROS Scrolls
We get into the SOLIDS part of the process
now by changing your view to the
PERSPECTIVE view. Double click on the VIEW
tab or click on the 4 view window on the top
bar, then double click on the view bar
PERSPECTIVE.
Rhinoceros Version 4 is available from 'Simply Rhino' in Australia. It is the best value for money if you need powerful
software to get your designs into 2d plans or customer concept drawings. It is a heap of help around the forge for working out
weights, lengths and tolerances as well.
Download a copy from the US site and have a play. You do get 25 saves with the trial download. There are hundreds of tutorials
on the web, from simple to complex. As a Blacksmiths tool, you don't have to plunge into the complex stu� to get the job
done.
I hope you have been able to follow this tutorial and get the results as shown. If you have any problems or questions, feel free
to email me and I'll help you out. If you don't wish to download the trial, you are free to pick a time to attend a lesson at my
residence.
In the next issue, I'll show you how to convert your ribbon scroll into other scroll forms.
When we get our web site up and running I hope to put these tutorials and blueprints on line.
Happy drawing.
Tutorial and Drawings by Rob Kenning.
Page 15

Victoria -A.B.A.Vic
The folks over in Victoria have been quite busy since
the 20th Anniversary, putting on demonstrations,
hosting another successful 'Blacksmith Doris Day'
and working through the arduous task of
photographing the leaves for the 'Tree of Life' from
around Australia and the world. The various tasks
associated with building the main trunk and
branches is ongoing, with workshops held at the
barn, to forge the intermediate branches from
Stainless Steel. If you have ever tried forging high
tensile and spring steel you will know what a job it is
to get the material to move. Well, stainless steel is
double the e�ort.
Sadly, they have recently lost one of their oldest
members and friend, Bill Bunting.
Bill passed away on the 27th March. He will be sadly
missed by all of the members of the association.
The latest A.B.A.Vic newsletter 'The Drift' has been
produced by Keith Towe, with assisatnce from his
editorial sta�. Keith was the previous editor many
moons ago, and he has done a stirling job in getting
the latest edition to print, with a good selection of
articles and updates.
In other news, the association has purchased
another power hammer. This hammer will replace
their 'Massey' hammer and I'm hoping an article on
it will feature in a future edition of 'The Drift' (hint,
hint).
In other news, talks are underway to increase the
working area at Bundoora Park. Space is at a
premium at 'The Barn' and has been for quite some
time. No doubt there will be more news on the
expansion down the track.
Finally, the 'Blacksmith Doris day' is gathering
interest amongst the woman blacksmiths. After a
group discussion at the last event, there are plans to
hold a regular schedule of workshops. There is a
blog site for information at:-
!""#$%%&'()*+,-"!./0-+1&'/2+#/"1)/,13
Western Australia -
B.A.W.A
Brian Keenan, the President of B.A.W.A reports that
it is steady as she goes in the west. The next event
in the west will be the Royal Show in September
25th.
I would also like to thank B.A.W.A. for their friendly
welcome for our association on their website at
http://bawa.webkroll.com/
Queensland - A.B.A.QLD
Mike Dowdall is holding bi-monthly forge days and
has a regular group of 4 to 5 attending. Mike has
three forges setup for the workdays and has one of
the newest members keen to hold a knife making
session. Lots of photos Mike.
New South Wales -
A.B.A.N.S.W.
With the Port Macquarie-Hastings council sale of
Timbertown, the A.B.A.N.S.W. members have lost
their tenure. I would like to say, on behalf of all the
members of ABASA, that we wish the NSW
association the best of luck in locating a suitable
site to call home.
EDITORS NOTE:- I know there's a lot more going on around
the country than mentioned on this page.
If you have a Blacksmiths group, Ironfest or 'Hammer in'
event in your neck of the woods, let us know.
�anks,
Rob (Editor)
Page 16

A.B.A.S.A at Burra
The Queens Birthday long weekend became our
maiden day for blacksmithing at the Bon Accord
forge in Burra. Terry Johnson and myself made our
way to Burra on the Saturday morning. We had
visited Burra some weeks before to establish
contact with the National Trust folks, and to see if
they were interested in having our members
working the forge on special occasions.
As it turned out, they were very happy to have us
up there for the two days, and they requested us to
forge a few pokers and other items and educate the
visitors in the workings of the smith.
Terrys daughter, Samantha, was also beginning her
�rst tour of duty as a guide at the museum, and
guided the visitors throught the various exhibits,
including the forge.
We bought up our tools and various items of round
and square stock. Our work was to be o�ered for
sale at the museum shop.
After cleaning out the �re and checking the tuyere,
we started the �re with paper and wood and within
a few minutes managed to get a good �re built. The
coke at hand was quite acceptable, although it did
create a fair amount of clinker. It was easily removed
every half hour as a nice compact cake. I suspect it
was gasworks coke, in hindsight.
The work bench.
Terry drawing
down .
Story and Photos by Rob Kenning
'Bon Accord'
Some of the
work from
Saturday .
Saturday was our busiest day , with both visitors and
forging. I managed to forge three pokers, and Terry
forge a poker, and at the request of one of the locals,
a hob spanner, to replace a broken unit. Terry did a
�ne job on it and the museum scored $10 for the
work.
Page 17

A.B.A.S.A at Burra
The forge is set up with a vacuum cleaner and a
bellows, using separate ports feeding into the
main horizontal tuyere. The vacuum supplies just
enough air to maintain a good �re, but a few
strokes of the bellows are required to get a
welding heat.
The layout of the forge itself is quite good. Nothing
is too far away from the forge although the anvil is
about 6 inches too low for forging over a sustained
period. The forge manager will endeavour to raise
the anvil before our next workshop. There is a
200mm square swage block in excellent condition
as well as a quench bath made from slate. The
three windows in the forge provide plenty of light
Time to light up.
We spent the night at Mt Bryan, and made our way
back into Burra ready for another days work. The
visitor numbers were around 25 on Sunday and
there were plenty of questions �red at Terry, who
handled it like a pro. We had one interested
prospective member from Roseworthy, which was
good to see.
Terry made another poker for the day and I �nished
o� with a candle holder and another �re poker.
We managed to use a third of a bag of coke, which
wasn't bad for 12 hours of forging.
So, on re�ection, anyone wishing to attend the Bon
Accord forge, will have a great day working in a nice
atmosphere amd picturesque surrounds.
There's plenty of artifacts from the past decorating
the walls.
The Bellows.
( Made from Elephant hide no less)
Although no date was set for the next opening, we
should get plenty of notice for anyone interested in
going up.
Burra is 154km from Adelaide on the highway to
Broken Hill.
Accomodation isn't a problem. There are cottages,
hotel and caravan park camping to choose from. If
you are going up for the �rst time, try and squeeze
in the tour of the mine. It's well worth a look.
Page 18

Cornish Flag
The historic town of Moonta is 165 kilometres
north-west of Adelaide, in the upper Yorke
Peninsula region known as the 'Copper Triangle'.
I've got to admit, I didn't know what to expect
when we arrived at the Blacksmith shop at Moonta.
The photo's I had seen didn't do really portray what
actually exists. As it turned out, it is a nice little
shop, for a one or two man operation, and takes up
about 10 square metres of �oor space.
Terry Johnson, Chris Fuller, Ben Morton and myself
travelled up to Burra for the one and a half hour
workshop demo. The museum had a booking of
twenty plus visitors and the plan was to have us
demonstrate a bit of forgework for the visitors.
The forge has a relatively small hearth that is
adequate for small hand sized forgings. The
volunteers at Moonta have recently �tted a good
sized blower to the forge. There is a set of bellows
present, but we elected to give the blower a run
and see how it performed. The blower runs at a
continuous speed and the air is controlled by a two
way valve.
The air grate comprises a small circular screen that
could be easily changed out for a square slotted
screen for more air �ow if required. We would be
forging Cornish miners hooks for the session using
20mm x 3 mm stock. The hooks and pokers seem to
be the most popular items for the gift shop.
Moonta National Trust
Moonta Mines Blacksmith Shop
Terry completing the �nal operation of rolling the candle
holder section.
�e �nal forging.
�e forge work bench. Page 19

Our younger companion, Ben Morton, has only just
begun forging. Ben is a uni student working his way
through an Arts and Science degree. He has taken
to Blacksmithing very well and enjoys it immensely.
Under the instruction of Chris Fuller, he began the
drawing down of a poker. Meanwhile, the visitors
assembled on the other side of the safety screen
enjoyed the demonstration. There were a barrage of
questions from the visitors and Terry kept them fully
informed about the work, the heritage of Cornish
miners and the blacksmiths and the workings of our
association.
Terry �elding questions from the visitors.
Time passed very quickly, and after two hours and
thirty odd visitors, the guys had turned out a nice
rat tail poker and two miners hooks. The hooks
were sprayed matt black and taken over to the
Moonta Railway Station o�ce to be put on sale in
the gift shop.
There is still a few things to tidy up in the forge
such as sorting out some of the loose tooling and
repairing most of the heritage tools, but it has the
makings of good working forge. If you go up, be
sure to take up some steel to work with and a half
bag of Coke as well as your own tools.
Volunteers are expected to �ll in a registration form
for insurance reasons and go on to a volunteer
roster. You can nominate when you are available to
�t in with your time.
Moonta is a beautiful town and there is plenty to
see, in and around the area. Why not make a
weekend of it and catch some of the sights of
Moonta, Kadina and Wallaroo.
Moonta Mines Blacksmith Shop continued
Ben forging a poker.
A handle jig for forming the candle holder.
Story and Pictures by Rob Kenning
Page 20

Blacksmiths Associations
Blacksmiths Association Western Australia
http://bawa.webkroll.com/
Australian Blacksmiths Association Victoria
http://www.abavic.org.au/
Artist Blacksmiths Association of Queensland
http://www.abaqld.org.au/
British Artist Blacksmiths Association
http://www.baba.org.uk/
Artist Blacksmiths Association of America Inc
http://www.abana.org/
Blacksmiths Information and Forums
All styles of metalcraft information
http://www.metalartistforum.com/
All styles of Blacksmith information
http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/
Social networking for the metal arts
http://www.artmetal.com/index.php
David Robertson (Ontario Artist Blacksmith)
http://www.artistblacksmith.com/
Useful Sites and Suppliers
Discount Blacksmith books in UK with Free postage
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/search?
searchTerm=blacksmith&search=search
Blacksmiths Supplies
Stirling Fuel Supplies
Mount Barker Rd Cnr Gould Rd, STIRLING, SA 5152
Phone: (08) 83392021
Metalcorp Steel
285 Grand Junction Road OTTOWAY SA 5013
Phone: (08) 8301 3777
Email: Bronwyn.Garrick@bluescopesteel.com
Southern Steel Supplies
69- 71 O'Sullivan Beach Rd LONSDALE SA 5160
Phone: 1300 302 993
Horse Shoes 'R' Us
9 Alabar Crs GLOBE DERBY PARK SA 5110
Phone: (08) 8281 0689
Fantech Pty Ltd
17A Seaforth Avenue SOMERTON PARK SA 5044
Phone:(08) 83770502
EBM Blowers
17/ 2 Portrush Rd PAYNEHAM SA 5070
Phone: (08) 88363544
If you have any contacts and web sites you
would like to have included, contact the
Secretary.
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