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A single-session introduction for only four students at a time

The discovery of iron and how to work it changed human history. Tools, weapons, and daily life haven't been the same since. Here's your chance to learn to control one of the basic elements of modern human life. 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 heat a piece of iron to brilliant incandescence and with anvil, hammer, and tongs create a decorative and useful 'S'-hook.

If you have a Gift Certificate for this class but none of these dates work for you, have a look at our Forged Bottle Opener class.
The skills taught are near-identical to those in this class, and we will happily apply a Taste Gift Certificate to the Bottle Opener class.

If you really enjoy "A Taste...", there is more you can do afterward.

Gift Certificates for are available.

3 hours   one meeting      dates&times

Instructor: Carl West
Fee: $75 per student
Maximum 4 students, one per forge

Prerequisite:

Required: A rapid Covid test that day.
Yes, really, we're still asking for it in 2025.
It's still out there, and no fun at all.

No prior experience necessary or expected. 13 and older.
Younger students (11 to 13) will likely do better in A Tween's First Taste of Blacksmithing.

Please wear proper clothing for visiting or working in the forge:
- closed top shoes
(preferably leather, preferably high-topped. Sneakers are sufficient... but sandals, crocs, pumps, mules... are not. If you can see the skin of your foot, or the foot of your socks, it's not good enough)
- natural fiber clothing
(Synthetics are a risk because: IF a hot thing touches them it's likely that the material will melt and stick to your flesh, making the burn even worse than it would be through a natural fiber.)
- long pants that cover the tops of the shoes.
Click here for more safety information.


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.)

This class is either:
- 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.

If you're interested in taking SplitTaste and it's not on the calendar, please tell us using our Notification-List Page.

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