Upcoming classes

Date:  June 23rd, 2018  (Saturday / 11am - 4pm)

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.

Dates:  July 7th and 8th, 2018  (Saturday and Sunday / 10am - 6pm)

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

Level:  Beginning

Maximum Class Size:  6

This class will run if at least 3 students are enrolled by the Sunday preceding the class

Class Description:   In this class we start with the basic blacksmithing skills which will set you on a path to forging the hardware, decorative articles and tools which were common throughout the Iron Age.  These items were essential to our ancestors and were often forged with exceptional quality and striking beauty.  All of this will inform our work.

Class space is very limited!  Students will be registered in the order that their payments are received.

See you at the Forge!  James Austin

*****************************

Class Set-Up and Safety Considerations:

All necessary tools and materials will be provided for the students.

Students must bring their own safety glasses and wear them at all times in work areas (a few used pairs are usually available at the shop).

Students must wear snugly fitted, long-sleeved work shirts and long pants of cotton or wool (no nylon or polyester allowed) and firm, leather work-shoes.

Hearing protection is required and is provided in the shop in the form of foam ear-plugs. Students who need over-ear protection must provide their own.

Dates:  July 20th, 21st and 22nd, 2018  (Friday, Saturday and Sunday / 10am - 6pm)

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

Level:  Beginning

Maximum Class Size:  6

(This class will run if at least 3 students are enrolled by the Sunday preceding the class)

Class Description:   This 2-day class covers the basic skills for forging smaller ("belt") axes with fully welded eyes and bits of high-carbon steel.  These skills go back in time beyond the Viking age, but they were in use as late as the 1960's in some of the last, truly traditional axe factories.  

Students will work in pairs on the heavier forging of the axe bodies (1 per student) and I will take each student individually through the welding processes (eye and bit).  This class provides an excellent foundation for the more complex Viking axe class which I will offer in early 2018.

Class space is very limited!  Students will be registered in the order that their payments are received.

See you at the Forge!  James Austin

*****************************

Class Set-Up and Safety Considerations:

All necessary tools and materials will be provided for the students.

Students must bring their own safety glasses and wear them at all times in work areas (a few used pairs are usually available at the shop).

Students must wear snugly fitted, long-sleeved work shirts and long pants of cotton or wool (no nylon or polyester allowed) and firm, leather work-shoes.

Hearing protection is required and is provided in the shop in the form of foam ear-plugs. Students who need over-ear protection must provide their own.

Dates:  July 28th and 29th, 2018  (Saturday and Sunday / 10am - 6pm)

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

Level:  Beginning + Intermediate

Maximum Class Size:  6

(This class will run if at least 3 students are enrolled by the Sunday preceding the class)

Hone your basic forging skills by making the simple yet essential articles of hardware (such as hooks, rings, chains, and hinges) that would have been common in any early European town or settlement.

Class Description:  In this class we will continue with more core blacksmithing techniques such as punching, hot-cutting and heat treating which are not covered in Basic 1.  These techniques will introduce the students to new forging concepts and tools which lend themselves to both tool-making and decorative blacksmithing.

Class space is very limited!  Students will be registered in the order that their payments are received.

See you at the Forge!  James Austin

*****************************

Class Set-Up and Safety Considerations:

All necessary tools and materials will be provided for the students.

Students must bring their own safety glasses and wear them at all times in work areas (a few used pairs are usually available at the shop).

Students must wear snugly fitted, long-sleeved work shirts and long pants of cotton or wool (no nylon or polyester allowed) and firm, leather work-shoes.

Hearing protection is required and is provided in the shop in the form of foam ear-plugs. Students who need over-ear protection must provide their own.

Dates:  August 18th and 19th, 2017  (Saturday and Sunday / 10am - 6pm)

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

Level:  Beginning / Intermediate

Maximum Class Size:  6

(This class will run if at least 3 students are enrolled by the Sunday preceding the class)

Class Description:   This class will focus on the forging skills essential for producing medium-sized, utility knife blades.  As students gain experience they will each start working in high-carbon steel and forge a knife blade which they can grind and heat treat.  Emphasis will be placed on proper working temperatures at all stages of production as well as efficient and accurate hammer work.  The skills learned will be directly applicable to the more advanced classes we offer in pattern-welded and laminated knife forging.

Class space is very limited!  Students will be registered in the order that their payments are received.

See you at the Forge!  James Austin

*****************************

Class Set-Up and Safety Considerations:

All necessary tools and materials will be provided for the students.

Students must bring their own safety glasses and wear them at all times in work areas (a few used pairs are usually available at the shop).

Students must wear snugly fitted, long-sleeved work shirts and long pants of cotton or wool (no nylon or polyester allowed) and firm, leather work-shoes.

Hearing protection is required and is provided in the shop in the form of foam ear-plugs. Students who need over-ear protection must provide their own.

Dates:  August 25th and 26th 2018  (Saturday & Sunday / 10am - 6pm) 

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

Level:  Intermediate                     Maximum Class Size:  6

This class will run if at least 3 students are enrolled by the Sunday preceding the class)

Class descriptions:  

Students will learn how to forge their own single-faced (“dog-head”)  blacksmithing hammers by punching and drifting them from high-quality tool steel.  The hammers will then be finish-forged, ground, hardened and polished so that they are ready for hafting and use.  Time permitting we will fit them with handles of hickory or white oak.

The hammer form that we will forge in class is based on several blacksmith’s hammers that were excavated from Viking blacksmiths' graves in Norway, and which coincidentally also strongly resemble hammers used even now in traditional Japanese bladesmithing.

 Class space is very limited.  Students will be registered in the order that their payments are received.

See you at the Forge! - James Austin

 *****************************

 Traditionally Welded Hammers:  When steel was an expensive resource, hammers and other tools would be shaped from soft iron and faced or edged with high carbon steel to give them toughness against damage and wear.  The cost of the tools was reduced and the complex forging of the tool forms was executed in soft iron, which was much easier to work than the tougher steel.

 Class Set-Up and Safety Considerations:

All necessary tools and materials will be provided for the students.

Students must bring their own safety glasses and wear them at all times in work areas (a few used pairs are usually available at the shop).

Students should bring leather gloves that are supple and a little loose to help protect their hands from burns, cuts and abrasions.  Some used gloves are usually available at the shop.

Students must wear snugly fitted, long-sleeved work shirts and long pants of cotton or wool (no nylon or polyester allowed) and firm, leather work-shoes.

Hearing protection is required to be worn and is provided in the shop in the form of foam ear-plugs.  Students who need over-ear protection must provide their own.

Dates:  September 8th and 9th, 2018 (Saturday and Sunday / 10am - 6pm)

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

Level:  Beginning                  Maximum Class Size:  6

This class will run if at least 3 students are enrolled by the Sunday preceding the class

Class Description:   Students will learn to prepare steel surfaces with simple tools so that intricate patterns in pure silver can  be overlaid on the surface.  This is the same technique that has been used since well before the Viking era to decorate weapons and tools of high status.  It is not difficult to learn and can be done at home to create jewelry and small metal articles (which, by the way, make unique and handsome gifts!)

See you at the Forge! - James Austin

Class space is very limited.  Students will be registered in the order that their payments are received.

**************************

Class Set-Up and Safety Considerations:

All necessary tools and materials will be provided for the students.

Students must bring their own safety glasses and wear them at all times in work areas (a few used pairs are usually available at the shop).

Students should bring leather gloves that are supple and a little loose to help protect their hands from burns, cuts and abrasions.  Some used gloves are usually available at the shop.

Students must wear snugly fitted, long-sleeved work shirts and long pants of cotton or wool (no nylon or polyester allowed) and firm, leather work-shoes.

Hearing protection is required to be worn and is provided in the shop in the form of foam ear-plugs.  Students who need over-ear protection must provide their own.

Private Instruction with James Austin is available at the rate of $100 / hour (minimum of 2 hours per day).  Discounts are available for larger blocks of time starting at 4 hours when paid for in advance.  Please arrange dates, times and pricing with James  at hotsteel@sbcglobal.net