Florida Artist Blacksmith Association is a 501(c)3 Educational non-profit dedicated to preserving the art and craft of the blacksmith. This event, an introduction to knifemaking, is our annual fundraiser. We hope you will also join us for our open house events hosted throughout the rest of the year.
This is an introduction to knifemaking and the class covers most, but not all, blacksmithing skills as knifemaking is a specialized subset of blacksmithing. In this class, following a healthy dose of safety we will get right into forging skills. You will learn about drawing out in two and four directions, punching (also called a hot cut), Bending (or folding), and twisting. We will also cover heat treating, filing and sharpening using traditional methods. By the end of class you will have forged your own utility knife while learning a bit of history in the process.
For any blacksmith class you must wear natural fabric (cotton) long trousers and closed toe shoes (leather is best). Long sleeve natural fabric shirt is recommended as bare arms can get stung by scale on occasion. Other required safety gear is provided however if you have a leather apron you may want to bring it.
Age 12 and up, but if under 18 your parent or guardian must be present to sign a waiver (and maybe stay around to help as a striker). This is a labor-intensive project! Please give consideration to your strength and stamina. Usually, we find most boys have not “beefed up” enough for this class until age 14, most girls usually need to be age 16. You know yourself, or your child, best but call 850-974-1548 if you have any questions.
After an introduction class you can branch out to other classes enabling you to tackle various intermediate and advanced projects.
A Sonny’s BBQ lunch is included in the cost of this class.
