Courses

Have you ever wondered how our ancestors produced sharpened tools of stone-like axe heads, knife blades, and arrow points? Learn how flintknapping evolved and how to identify appropriate base materials from which you can produce a variety of sharpened stone tools. This class will introduce the basic techniques of pressure…

Outfit your own blacksmithing tool chest while developing and refining your skills on the forge. In this course, you will create the set of tools needed to become a backyard blacksmith, while simultaneously learning the basics of blacksmithing. Initial tool projects will include tongs and fire-tending tools. Heat treatment, forging,…

Always wanted to try your hand at the forge? This is the place to start and to continue developing your blacksmithing skills. You will be introduced to the basic skills of the blacksmith, including safety, fire control, tools, and equipment in both a classroom and "on the forge" setting. Student…

Popularized today by many historical reenactors of the fur trade era, the throwing axe is a weapon that is deeply embedded in North American history. Akin to the hatchet, it offers the ability to split and chop wood but is also designed to be used as a hand-to-hand or throwing…

Combining blacksmithing and jewelry-making, this course offers an opportunity for beginning and advanced students to develop their skills as they forge and craft a Damascus ring with a silver liner. Students will begin by forging a piece of damascus steel, a particularly beautiful and ornamental steel filled with folds and…

Highly prized for centuries for its uncanny strength, ability to hold an edge, and distinctively beautiful swirling and flowing patterns, Damascus steel is art—forge welding at its finest—as you combine different types of steel, forge them through fire, and hammer into one solid billet. Like a baker uses kneading and…

From fireplace tools to shelf brackets and kitchen racks, decorative ironwork can highlight any part of the Northern home. This course will enable beginner and intermediate blacksmiths to work alongside master blacksmith, Michael Jones, to design and build their own unique piece of ironwork. The course will start with a…

Decorative and functional ironwork has a long history throughout the North Country. Hinges, gates, fire place tools, or even the humble candlestick: the most ordinary of objects becomes a striking work of art. In this class, students will work with blacksmith, Michael Jones, to create their own unique candle holder…

The North House Blacksmith Shop excites the curiosity of adults and kids alike, as hammers pound, sparks fly, and red-hot metal becomes a fire poker, hook, or other tool right before their eyes. Try your hand at the forge in this family class, as kids and adults work together to…

Learn to forge the quintessential tool of the North Woods. This tool packs big results in a little package: the size of this axe lends itself to be easily portaged yet has enough weight to handle any camp chore; its edge geometry also can be tailored for carving. Your axe…

Learn blacksmithing through making several small household items from the Viking age. This class will utilize traditional hand-forging techniques to produce everyday iron items typical of those found in the archeological record from 9th century Sweden. Over the course of three days, students will forge a cloak pin, a firesteel,…

Ten centuries may have passed since the Viking Age, but the components of knife-making remain the same:  fire, steel, skilled knowledge and effort, and the usefulness of a small pocket knife. This class will utilize traditional hand-forging techniques to produce small Viking Age knife blades typical of those found in…

Explore one of the mysteries of yore: the Viking Age noisemaker. Originals have been found in Viking burials across northern Europe and several of these are currently on display in the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm. What was the exact original purpose for these artifacts? Some experts suggest that a…

This class is just what the title suggests—making a knife that is meant to be used—in the garden or forest, for cooking, or hunting. We will begin by hand-forging a blade of high-carbon steel, starting from round stock.  With the blade forged to shape, we will do heat treatments of…

This course is designed as an introduction to the methods and language of the blacksmith; whether you’ve experimented with a forge in your backyard or never built a fire before, this course is for you. Students will learn by demonstration, then try out the techniques for themselves. The course will…