Courses

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…

In order to turn bowls on a foot-powered lathe efficiently one needs a well-made hook tool. These turning tools are not manufactured in North America and are therefore difficult to find. Most pole lathe bowl turners have to learn to make the tools themselves or find a blacksmith to help…

This course is an introduction to working with, and heat-treating, the common high-carbon steels used for edge tools. We will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of different steel types and put this knowledge into practice by creating several tools. We will analyze a number of different tools and compare their…

We’re no stranger to taking materials back to the source: woodworking courses regularly head out to harvest birch; basket makers can be spotted in local ditches cutting willow, sweetgrass and cattail; and we even have the occasional sheep on campus for the fiber folk. But taking metalwork straight to the…

Learn the basic techniques and tools of blacksmithing in this intensive project-based class for women taught by a professional woman blacksmith. Students will explore the aspects of using fire as a tool, and will practice techniques such as tapering, spreading, twisting, punching, upsetting, shouldering, splitting, and dishing. Students will leave…