We have temporarily stopped selling new Experience Days as want to make sure that those already bought still have available days to book.
We will be add more dates for later the year as soon as our autumn & winter events are confirmed.
Experience Days
If you have bought a blacksmith experience day with me & are waiting to book, please get in touch via Facebook.com/Firehoundforge or Firehoundforge@outlook.com & we will book you in as soon as we can.
As the old Finn saying goes, “No one is born a blacksmith” and we all start somewhere. Whether you are interested in taking up a new hobby, testing the waters for a new career or just fancy an interesting day out, where better to start than the three-thousand year old father of all crafts?
What to expect
All experience days include a warm welcome with the kettle on, a summary of the necessary health and safety, a detailed crash course in forging theory (focusing on areas appropriate to what you'll be making) and a overview of the day's plan, before delving right in and swinging a hammer.
I can teach up to four people at a time, including children from ages 12 and up, so long as a responsible adult or guardian is present.
How to book
Experience days are booked on a case-by-case basis, rather than held on specific days, so let me know when abouts you'd like to have yours and I can give you a list of dates I'm available to teach around then. Aternatively, you can buy a gift certificate as a gift and the person recieving it can get in touch at a later date to book.
Please note:
*Weekends are reserved for full days & any other group bookings.
* Groups need to make similar items to get the most out of their time.
If you would like more information or to buy an Experience Day (for yourself or as a gift) send us an email at FirehoundForge@outlook.com & we'll get back to you as soon as we can!
What you'll need
We provide tea, coffee & PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), as well as being well-stocked with first aid and fire extinguishers.
Comfortable clothes you don’t mind getting sooty. Natural fibres are safer than man-made. Polymers melt!
Sturdy, comfortable shoes or boots. No open footware, like ‘rigger’ boots (they catch hot things) and no trainers or wellies (as they can melt).
Any soft drink you prefer, or snacks that don’t require a fridge.
Lunch for any all day course. There is also a good local Fish & Chip shop (closed Sundays).
Full day course (8 hours)
£220 or £210 per person for up to 3 people*
Designed to provide a longer experience with traditional forge work & to allow you to produce a larger project or several small ones. I recommend these for people with some experience working with their hands, those considering enrolling into a blacksmith college / apprenticeship, taking it up as a hobby, or simply those who want to forge all day!
Some of the items you can make are below - let me know if you have something specific in mind and I'll let you know if it's doable.
· Bespoke fully heat-treated knife (not ‘Damascus’ / pattern welded) - over 18’s only by law
· Tools for blacksmithing / gardening / cooking, etc.
· Fire iron set (poker, brush & coal shovel)
· Multiple items from the half-day course (see above)
· Artistic pieces or other larger custom projects
Half day course (4 hours)
£120 or £110 per person for up to 3 people*
Designed to give you a taste of blacksmithing whilst producing a piece of ironwork for you to take home. I run these from 1000-1400, although the
times are flexible to some extent.
Below are some of the items you can make, though let me know if you have something specific in mind & I'll let you know if it's doable in the time.
· Letter / bottle opener, fire poker, shepherd’s crook
· Coat rack, iron rose, Celtic or Viking cloak pin
· Horseshoe heart (feel free to bring your own)
· Combination of small items (pendants, rings & keyrings)
Four-person group day course (6 hours)
£110 per person*
This course has been designed following requests for bigger numbers & is the same price as the Half Day. but has extra time to ensure that each person has the amount of forge time that they would have as 2 people on a Half Day course. To aid this, there is now a second forge, powered extraction an additional anvil and a power hammer!
You will get a taste of blacksmithing & produce a piece of ironwork for you to take home. I run these from 1000-1400, although the
times are flexible to some extent.
Below are some of the items you can make*, though let me know if you have something specific in mind & I'll let you know if it's doable in the avaialble time.
· Letter / bottle opener, fire poker, shepherd’s crook
· Coat rack, iron rose, Celtic or Viking cloak pin
· Horseshoe heart (feel free to bring your own)
· Combination of small items (pendants, rings & keyrings)
*The group will get more forging done if you all make a similar item.
Viking-themed day course (8 hours)
£220 or £210 per person for up to 3 people*
This day is designed to give you a fun day of forging, creating three small items based on the Scandinavian cultures from the 7th-10th centuries AD.
As this is a themed day, the three items you'll forge are;
· Trolls Cross pendant (a modern pagan design, based on the Othala rune &used to keep away trolls... I've never seen a troll so must be working)!
· Mjolnir (Thor's hammer) pendant
· Migration-period knife (based on candinavian archaeological grave finds).
Got a specific project or item in mind you want to make? That's fine! Just get in touch and we can plan a day bespoke to you and what you want to produce!