CLOTHES PEG MAKING
	A simple produce found in virtually every home is the ubitquitous clothes peg. Most countries import clothes pegs. The are made in a very high tech environment usually from the wood of the poplar tree. Making the springs for the pegs does not look like a simple exercise but they can be made from ordinary 1,6mm lightly galvanized wire with a small jig and a pair of pliers. Frequently people have springs left over after the wooden ones rot away or are broken. They can be re-used. Casting new clothes peg halves from scrap aluminum auto parts is one alternative to importing more product. The cost of producing then is about $0.04 each. They last for a very long time. The purpose of the project shown in the photo was to introduce the Draw and Cope which together with a pattern on a board, allows the "fondeur" to make a large number of pins at once. Other products that can use this old, yet frequently unknown, technology is the making the handles of knives, sicles and reaping hooks.	A simple rural foundry in eastern Niger (1989): The essential elements are: - A drive wheel with vertical stand - A small centrifugal fan with 20mm pulley - A connecting rubber belt - A pipe runs under the ground between the fan and the fire - A steel (enamelled) bowl - Scrap aluminum auto parts - A simple sheet metal cover - A mould prepared from termite-hill sand and water. The one in the photo is a Draw and Cope with a pattern board. Each hole feeds 12 clothes peg halves.
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