von Emil Otto Geiß

Recording Treff with Kees Klaassen

Where blueing is a technique to bring your ironwork to life with steelcolors there is another way to give your images a soul.

That's what Kees taught us. His technique brings the steel and images to life. Just as lively and enthusiastic as he is. An authentic speaker with authentic work.

Kees started his story with, as it is said in the Netherlands: 'Big steps, home quickly'. His method distinguishes between working 'step by step' along to more free forging with a lot of flow. A very creative process with interesting tips.
Kees uses modeling wax and small, simple wooden tools to create the accents of his samples. So he can test the Tools for the later work. Tooling is a big part of the work. You can model beautifully with simple tools that are thoughtfully designed.
While preparing, the hint is to make good use of reference materials such as images, art objects, etc.
For example, if you forge a hand by starting from the way like you forge a leaf and applying thickness and relief in that basic shape.
For a good start, the material around 20 mm is very practical because it is maneuverable on your anvil and in the vice. Square 20 mm has only a few basic positions, at the support on the anvil or in the vice.
If there is a lot of material to move, Kees likes to use different types of air hammers with of course different types of chisels.
It takes a lot of experience to learn when to stop. This is important to keep the expression of a face intact, for example.

Kees Klaassen had 11 active listeners from 7 countries, with whom he shared his experience in practicing this technique as a profession. The Listeners were from Finland, Denmark, Luxemburg, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands and the United States of America.


The lecture concluded with a lively discussion and many questions. Watch the record for yourself, and you can find many useful information.

One-liners from Kees:
“Do not let the material show that you are afraid of it because then it will follow its own path”
“You can't make mistakes. Every special operation has been thought of in advance. Bluff !”
“There is always a new way to get the same result”

 
 

Enjoy the view of Kees’ presentation on YouTube!


The team will take a short summerbreak in June, so there will be no Treff in June. The next Treff will be in July.


The organizing team is also happy to draw the reader to the online event Blacksmith - Connect which will take place on the weekend 20/21 August.
The event kicks off at 10:00 UTC+2 TIME on August 20.

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