Archive for the ‘Classes’ Category

Date:  September 3rd, 2016  (Saturday / 10am – 6pm)

Location:  Wrought Academy / 2440 Adeline Street / Oakland  CA  94607

Free Event / All are Welcome!

If you’re curious about the shop and the classes offered at Wrought Academy this is your chance to drop by and see what’s going on!  We will be forging throughout the day to give you an idea of some of the skills taught here.  Class projects will be on display as well as pieces from Jim Austin’s collection of forge work and tools.  See you at the forge!

These pictures show the action at a recent blade-smithing class at Wrought Academy:

The day after I landed in Oslo I took a 3-1/2 hour train trip north to the Hjerleid Craft School in the town of Dovre. I spent the next 10 days there teaching a class on forging Viking age axes. There were 12 students in the 1-year class, which is run by Benjamin Kjellman-Chapin – head of the blacksmithing department.  The enthusiasm of Benjamin and the students was awesome and each student finished an axe.  Although I’d had some second thoughts just before I left about my commitment to teach a relatively difficult subject to so many students so far away, the class was  a great success and a huge amount of fun as well!  I miss them all and hope to return.

Making shear steel from wrought iron is something I’ve been experimenting with for the last year.  It’s a unique and fascinating process – and,  it is entirely possible to do yourself!   A few weekends ago, I taught a class that started with making shear steel, then using it to make a fire steel. In one day, we went over all the steps, from starting with wrought iron and the carburizing medium, to the carburizing itself, to forging out the blister steel into shear steel through forge welding.

What the class showed is that it is entirely possible to learn the process in one day. On the Saturday, the focus was on making shear steel and by the end of the afternoon all students had made a great little high-carbon billet of shear steel. Sunday revolved around making a fire steel from the billet of yesterday, and by late afternoon everyone had a finished piece.

I am in the midst of creating a guide on how to make shear steel from wrought iron (which I’ll make available online here at forgedaxes.com), and I’m excited to host a lot more classes revolving around the historical uses of shear steel in the new year. Check back in the coming weeks for news on both, and in the meantime, I hope you will enjoy these photos from the Saturday of the class.