Two bracelets, two schools, and two styles of forging in one day! Prospect Hill Forge is teaming up with its neighbor/jewelry school, Metalwerx, for a new workshop intended for students who are curious about blacksmithing and/or silversmithing and jewelers seeking a broader understanding of what hammering does to both silver and steel.
The class will be broken up into two groups, with a maximum of 8 students apiece. The first group will spend the morning at Prospect Hill forge, while the second group works at Metalwerx. Everyone will get together in Metalwerx's garden for a group lunch, before switching facilities in the afternoon for the full forging experience!
At Prospect Hill Forge:
Students will be working mild steel, hot, with hammer and tongs, forge and anvil, in traditional blacksmith fashion. Techniques covered include forging (drawing to a taper), bending, and if there is time and interest, twisting. Learn about heat and hammer control while creating a ready-to-wear bracelet with a tapered sinuous motif (pictured above – note: students are welcome to sketch ideas beforehand, what's in the picture is not prescribed, just an option.)
At Metalwerx (right next door to Prospect Hill Forge):
Forging is one of the oldest and most useful traditional metalsmithing techniques. Through forging, metal is stretched or compressed, changing its form. Participants will learn how to hammer comfortably and with control while transforming a straight piece of metal rod into elegant and fluid jewelry. Students may create their own versions of the bracelet(s) demonstrated, or develop their own designs.
Materials & Tools Materials for individual projects will be available at the workshop. Both bronze and sterling silver can be purchased at the current market rate from the instructor at Metalwerx. Steel needed at Prospect Hill Forge is included in the cost of tuition. Protective gear will be supplied.
Gift Certificates for are available.
2 three-hour meetings separated (or joined) by a one-hour lunch dates×
Instructor: Carl West, Cynthia Eid
Tuition: $150, with 5% off for registration one month or more in advance per student
Maximum 8 students, two per forge
There is actually a max of 16 students total, 8 at a time in the forge.
Please wear proper clothing for visiting or working in the forge:
closed toe shoes (preferably leather, preferably high-topped. Sneakers are sufficient, sandals, crocs, pumps, mules... are not), natural fiber clothing, long pants that cover the tops of the shoes.
Click here for more safety information.
This class is either: If you're interested in taking ForgingHotand and it's not on the calendar, please tell us using our Notification-List Page.
Dates and Times:
If none of the dates below work for you (or are already full), we suggest you
Add yourself to the Notification List for this class.
(The notification list gets emailed soon after classes are put on the schedule.)
- not upcoming on our schedule,
- or we've fallen behind in our clerical duties and not entered it in the database.
If you found it on our calendar page, we are planning to offer it on that date.