PROSPECT HILL FORGE: The Blacksmithing Classroom

PROSPECT HILL FORGE offers several types of classes:

  • Intro : This is the INTRO category of classes. This is a stub description.

  • Techniques : This is the TECHNIQUES category of classes. This is a stub description.

  • Projects : This is the PROJECTS category of classes. This is a stub description.

  • Other : This is the OTHER category of classes. This is a stub description.

  • Shoptime : This is the INTRO category of classes. This is a stub description.

    • Intro:
      • A Taste of Blacksmithing

        In this three hour class you will be introduced to the basic smithing techniques of hammering, drawing-out, cutting, bending, and twisting. Using these techniques and a coal-fired forge you will bring a piece of iron to an incandescent heat and with anvil, hammer, and tongs create one or more cooking skewers or a decorative and useful 'S'-hook.

        No prior experience necessary or expected.

        Instructor: Carl West

        3 hours   one meeting    Fee: $60   8 students (2 per forge) maximum
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    • Techniques:
      • The Basics of Blacksmithing

        In the twelve meetings of this course, you will be exposed to the basics of the language of blacksmithing. From "smash-it-flat" to forge welding. There will be practice pieces, exercises, samplers, problems, and actual projects all aimed at building your smithing vocabulary and fluency. By the end of the course you should be well on your way to thinking like a blacksmith.

        This class is 12 sessions long. Each session is 3 hours.
        Class size is limited to 4 students (one per forge).

        No prior experience necessary.

        The classes:
        Rudiments I, Rudiments II, and Rudiments III are the equivalent of taking the Basic Blacksmithing class... just broken up, less commitment at one time, and a little more expensive.

        Instructor: Carl West

        Fee: $890
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      • Butterfly Hinges

        In two 3-hour sessions, you will learn how to form the eye around the pin, how to adjust the eye so that the hinge turns, how to make the second leaf fit the first, and how to put them together.

        This class is 2 sessions long. Each session is 3 hours.
        Class size is limited to 4 students (one per forge).

        Students should have taken  A Taste of Blacksmithing I.

        Instructor: Carl West

        Fee: $210
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      • Elements of Household Racks

        In this class we will address the techniques necessary to produce a towel rack, be it wide or narrow, intended to hold an elegant cloth towel or a roll of utilitarian paper. With the techniques learned in this class the student will be able to go on and make an entire kitchen or bathroom suite of racks and holders.

        This class is a single session of 3 hours.
        Class size is limited to 4 students (one per forge).

        Students should have taken  A taste of Blacksmithing .

        Instructor: Carl West

        Fee: $105
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      • Rudiments of Blacksmithing III

        This class continues where Rudiments of Blacksmithing II left off. The student will continue to learn about forge-fire management. The student will inprove existing skills and be guided thorough projects that will expand on their repertoire of basic blacksmithing techniques to include Scrolling, Collaring, Threading (taps and dies), forging pipe, and a little bit of sheet metal work. As always there will be time after the hammers are down for questions and further discussion.

        12 hours total in four or six meetings
        Class size is limited to 4 students (one per forge).

        Students should have taken  Rudiments of Blacksmithing II.  

        The classes:
        Rudiments I, Rudiments II, and Rudiments III are the equivalent of taking the Basic Blacksmithing class... just broken up, less commitment at one time, and a little more expensive.

        Instructor: Carl West

        Fee: $320
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      • A Taste of Blacksmithing

        In this three hour class you will be introduced to the basic smithing techniques of hammering, drawing-out, cutting, bending, and twisting. Using these techniques and a coal-fired forge you will bring a piece of iron to an incandescent heat and with anvil, hammer, and tongs create one or more cooking skewers or a decorative and useful 'S'-hook.

        No prior experience necessary or expected.

        Instructor: Carl West

        3 hours   one meeting    Fee: $60   8 students (2 per forge) maximum
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    • Projects:
      • Butterfly Hinges

        In two 3-hour sessions, you will learn how to form the eye around the pin, how to adjust the eye so that the hinge turns, how to make the second leaf fit the first, and how to put them together.

        This class is 2 sessions long. Each session is 3 hours.
        Class size is limited to 4 students (one per forge).

        Students should have taken  A Taste of Blacksmithing I.

        Instructor: Carl West

        Fee: $210
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      • Wrought Iron CandleStick

        This class is specifically geared to the production of a simple, elegant and functional candlestick. In the process of making it, you’ll cut threads with tap & die, form a tenon, forge pipe, and work with sheet steel.

        When finished with this class, the student should be able to use Open Smithy Time to make as large a set of candlesticks as they desire.

        This class is 9 hours long. Either in three sessions of 3 hours or two sessions of 4 1/2 hours.
        Class size is limited to 4 students (one per forge).

        Students should have taken A Taste of Blacksmithing.

        Instructor: Carl West

        Fee: $315
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      • Heart-Shaped Trivet:
        An Historical Iron Valentine


        In two 3-hour sessions, this class covers the production of a traditional and useful heart-shaped trivet, based on several in the Sorber collection of colonial wrought Iron.

        This class is 2 sessions long. Each session is 3 hours.
        Class size is limited to 4 students (one per forge).

        Students should have taken  Rudiments of Blacksmithing I (or be prepared to spend several more hours in Open Smithy time on the following weekend evenings).

        Instructor: Carl West

        Fee: $210
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      • Small (Jeweler's) Hammers

        Learn to make your own jeweler's hammers.
        The sizes you want, the shapes you want, when you want.

        The focus will be on learning the skills necessary to make small (less than three ounce) hammers for riveting, raising (anti- and syn- clastic), shaping, texturing... whatever.

        Students should bring if possible:
        - A handle (or handles) suited to the hammer(s) they plan to make
        This class is 4 sessions long. Each session is 3 hours.
        Class size is limited to 4 students (one per forge).

        No prior experience necessary.

        Instructor: Carl West

        Fee: $420
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    • Other:
      • Striker Team

        We'll be learning to strike and to master, with single strikers and with teams of strikers. Striking directly and with set-tools. This is not so much a class in the usual sense as it is an ongoing practice session. There will be training for new people as they arrive, and practice for the more experienced. The projects we work on will be for the smithy or for sale by the smithy. Accordingly, the hourly rate (not finalized) for Striker team practice will be lower than the usual Open Smithy rate.
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    • Shoptime: