Making nails has been one the oldest forms of Blacksmithing for centuries. It is usually the first task of any apprentice to learn the basics skills necessary toward becoming a blacksmith.
This course does not require a lot of strength nor skill-set prior to the class. For these reasons it is the perfect starting lesson for those wanting to try their hand at some old fashioned Blacksmithing. This course will teach students the proper terms, techniques, and protocols required to successfully create usable nails. For anyone looking to get a basic understanding of Blacksmithing, this is the course for you.
About the Instructor: This class is taught by Kenneth of Fire & Brimstone Forge.
Age: there are no age restrictions to the class, however minors must be accompanied by an adult.
What to wear: At RMM, you must dress safely and appropriately. Arrive for class in all-natural fiber clothing (100% cotton), long pants, and closed-toe, closed-heel shoes with socks that protect up to the ankle. Long hair must be tied back. Nylon, polyester, spandex, or other synthetics are not allowed around machines, equipment, or processes that can produce hot fragments, sparks, or flames. Additional protective gear will be provided as needed.
Please review our Refund and Cancellation Policy.
In this class students will forge a small knife out of a piece of solid stock metal. This lesson will cover material foresight, design vs functionality, and will briefly hit upon types of metal and tempering techniques. The task used to create this knife will involve drawing- stretching out metal in a linear direction, forging out a bevel using hammer control, cutting, and sharpening. This class will involve the challenge of utilizing tongs and will introduce the methods necessary to handle the metal quickly and efficiently. Though this is an intermediate class, no previous knowledge is necessary to take this class. Work level is light to moderate.
Learn how to forge a knife out of a railroad spike
This is the perfect class to learn one of the basics of knives-making: balancing durability and hardness of the metal to make the perfect blade!
Students will utilize a high carbon railroad spike and learn methods that induce carbon into the metal while also learning how to temper in a process called normalization. The metal will then posses both features of a durable and hard metal that is ideal for knives.
As far as knives are concerned, the harder the steel, the better the edge, however, the harder edge makes for a brittle knife. A balance is needed between the soft flexible metal and the hard brittle metal to achieve a knife that will hold an edge without breaking. In this class more techniques for blade smithing will be covered, including various heat treatments, tapering, and tempering methods used to maximize strength with durability.
Age: there are no age restrictions to the class. Minors must be accompanied by an adult.
In this class students will craft a letter opener by flattening and shaping a piece of steel rod into a edged blade. Hammer skills and tolerances will be covered, as well as going over buffing/polishing and the various types of finishes for the blade. This class will involve grinding/sanding and using the buffing wheel. No prior classes or knowledge is required for this class.
This class demonstrates the effects heating and quenching metal can alter the molecular structure of the steel. One such effect is the ability to create harder steel that more effectively creates sparks when struck and that is less susceptible to dulling. In our case, students will transform a high carbon steel file into a flint striker, the harder steel and its properties are ideal for this project but it comes with the downside of becoming brittle and susceptible to cracking as it cools. This is an ideal project introducing the unique properties of harder specialty steels requiring special heat treatment and proper quenching in oil, a pre-cursor to the various steps repeated in making blades.
Task involved: (hammering, drawing/stretching, bending steel, quenching metal, temperature control, using tongs)
Prerequisites: We recommend you complete a beginner blacksmithing class such as Forging Nails prior to taking this class, or having previous experience.
About the Instructor: This class is taught by Kenneth of Fire & Brimstone Forge over the past year.
In this class students will learn how to take one metal object and transform it into another in a case of extreme transformation. Students will take old hammers consisting of tool steel and transform the striking surface into an axe. Students will also be introduced to drifting dies designed to widen the eye for proper fitting to an axe handle. From here students will learn how to shape and refine the blade using the grinder and finally finishing it off with a fair amount of sanding before polishing. The final task is the heat treatment to temper the blade to withstand heavy blows. This will involve normalization, oil quenching, and heat tempering.
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