This 2 day, fast-paced introduction to smithing moves you through the fundamentals: basic hammer skills, heat treating, forge welding, and identification of “found” steels. By the end of the second day students will be turned loose to make interesting forged pieces with the support and collaboration of a blacksmith with 30 years of experience. Safety, tools, techniques, materials, terminology, and shop set-up will all be explored. With an anvil for each student, there is plenty of hands-on learning and superb coaching in this popular class. The Herb Nehring Blacksmith Shop is a beautiful timber-framed structure and consists of six coal forges and twelve anvils, along with a myriad of other tools of the trade. Students will work almost exclusively with coal. This class is an excellent start for a hobby or new occupation.
We routinely use and teach blacksmithing in our work with small-scale farmers in developing countries. Most of tools we make internationally (planters, plows, weeders, etc.) are made with blacksmiths local to those communities.
We are also offering a one-day class that introduces to you blacksmithing. Lunch provided.
