The first trial run of the electric smelting furnace did not work quite as I had hoped. After about an hour the heating element gave up. Apparently the connection between the kanthal-wire and the cable couldnt take the extreme heat.

This time I twisted the end of the kanthal resistance wire into sort of a "litz wire", and connected the heat-resistant cable with bolts and spacers. Hopefully this will prevent most of the heat to travel from the kanthal to the cable.