Description
This course is held when there are enough interested participants. If you would like to learn tong forging, please get in touch with us to register your interest! This course is designed for participants that have done some blacksmithing in the recent past. This course is beginner accessible, but it is highly recommended that you have taken a beginner's class in blacksmithing previously. In this one-day course, we will cover how to forge your own blacksmithing tongs. The day will begin with a safety discussion before jumping in to our techniques. We will begin by learning how to forge controlled set-down shoulders in steel before forging out the reigns. We will then cover how to align the tong reigns, how to punch hols in hot steel, how to cut, set and peen a rivet, then how to align the nibs of the tongs to function properly. This also covers how to adjust a pair of tongs to fit different stock sizes. If you have never made tongs before, we will make flat-bit tongs. These are the basic pair, and are the best type to begin learning by. If you would rather have a challenge and attempt hollow bit tongs, scrolling tongs or another type, we can do so. The type of tongs you're wanting to forge will affect your timescale for the day, and may mean that our smiths need to jump in a lot more to help you make them depending on your skill level. We try to strike a balance where the work is your own, we just help keep you on track. If you're wanting to make something very specialist, please get in touch before booking to discuss the logistics. We keep standard cross sections of steel in stock, but specialist items may need us to acquire specialist material. The minimum age for participation for this class is 16, participants younger than 18 must be accompanied by an adult. You will want a fair bit of brawn for this course, it's certainly a good workout! You must wear sensible workshop clothing and footwear (please see the FAQ for a guide). You will need to bring a packed lunch, or plan to nip out to a nearby eatery. The day starts at 10am, so arrival at 9.50am is excellent. We sometimes run over our finish time of 5pm, so if you're booking something after the forge, allow for run over time (not to mention changing your clothes and grabbing a shower!) Please be aware that we may cancel this course if we do not have sufficient numbers of attendees. If we do cancel the course, you will be provided with a full refund. This course is also available as a private booking, please contact us directly to enquire about this.
What's included in the price?
You will forge your own pair of tongs. New smiths will cover flat bit tongs, whilst more confident smiths are welcome to tackle hollow bit tongs, dandy tongs, scrolling tongs, bolt tongs, etc. The types just get more extravagant and complex. PPE provided: forging aprons, gauntlets, safety glasses, and ear defenders. There will also be biscuits, tea, coffee and squash provided, but you will want to bring something for lunch. You must wear sensible workshop clothing and footwear (please see our FAQ for guidance). You are most welcome to bring your own PPE, provided we can check it over beforehand. We want to make sure everyone goes home with the same number of fingers they came in with, if not a few extra ones.
Duration
1 day
Cancellation policy
Medium - Cancellation and a full refund can be obtained up to 4 weeks before the course starts
Maker
Hammer and Hound Forge is a traditional blacksmith's workshop in Blyth, Northumberland, Uk owned by award winning blacksmith Alex Sowden, who you might have seen before on Sky Arts' "The Prince's Master Crafters", or BBC1's "Make It At Market". We offer a variety of experiences in metalwork for all skill levels, including tuition in welding and fabrication, forging damascus steel, jewellery techniques and much more! We produce kits of hand forged woodworking supplies, as well as tools for other crafts, though our stock is often forged on commission. We also take on larger work, such as forging gates and railings, overthrows, staircases and all variety of ironwork. If you have any questions for us, please get in touch!
Suitable for
- Adults
- Seniors
- Teenagers
- Easter
- School holiday workshops & activities
- UK Holiday
- Engagement, birthdays & anniversaries
- Spooky
- Suitable for beginners
- Overseas Holiday
- Stag dos
- Father's Day
- Intermediate level
- Fairs, festivals & exhibitions
- Romantic
- Hen dos
- Mother's Day
- Advanced/pro level
- Christmas
- Corporate days out & team building
- Pet lovers
FAQs
The policies of the forge:
1 All participants agree to comply with clothing and footware requirements.
2 All participants agree to make reasonable adjustments to their outfit to ensure they and those around them are safe.
3 Participants must be well enough to participate. Participants that are under the influence of alcohol, narcotics or are deemed too unwell to take part in the course will be escorted from the premises. No refund will be provided for participants unfit to participate.
4 Participants agree to follow instructions as given, and to treat the equipment with due care.
5 Participants must not use equipment without being inducted on safe workshop operations.
6 Participants booked onto public courses through craftcourses are subject to the cancellation policies advertised on the listing. Postponements are made at Hammer and Hound Forge’s Discretion. As standard, we require 4 weeks notice, though in some circumstances alternate arrangements may be made. Please contact us to discuss what arrangements are possible in a given timeframe.
7 Hammer and Hound Forge reserves the rights to : remove attendees from the course if they are not acting in accordance with any of the policies above. no refunds will be provided to participants removed during a course.
8 Hammer and Hound Forge will hold participants liable for damages caused to equipment due to negligence or recklessness.
9 hammer and Hound Forge reserves the right to postpone courses as necessary.
All of our courses are beginner accessible.
However, if you are looking for an experience in forging, or are looking to dip your toes into blacksmithing, then we recommend you take our Beginner's Blacksmithing day, or Beginners Bladesmithing. These days are set to take you through the basic steps of forging at an easily digestible pace.
Axe, hammer and tool forging days are a little bit more 'product focussed', there is more metal to forge so we will make use of power tools more. For people with less forging experience we have some recipe projects you can follow that make good tools and aren't massively complex.
Damascus steel is our most complex class- plenty of beginners have joined and had an excellent time, but it is a little faster paced. We focus mostly on the folding of the steel to create the pattern, then the polishing and etching of the steel, as this is the essence of the class. it is recommended to have taken a beginners class or two beforehand as this will help you get more out of this course.
At Hammer and Hound Forge we try to cater to all needs.
Please send us an email to hammerandhoundforge@gmail.com before booking in to discuss what needs you have and how we can best accommodate them.
Currently, our blacksmithing classes are not wheelchair friendly. this is something we are working on changing.
However, our Repoussé classes, silversmithing and modern knifemaking classes are wheelchair friendly. Please get in touch to discuss the availability of these courses, as they are listed in the summer usually.
Our minimum age for Beginners blacksmithing is 11, though participants under 18 must have a parent or guardian with them.
Due to Uk Knifelaw, Attendants wishing to make knives or axes must be 18. Folks lucky enough to look under 25 will be asked to show an id at the start of the course.
Parents and guardians don't have to take part but must wear workshop-sensible clothing and footwear just the same. You can learn more about this in out FAQ: "What Should I Wear?"
All of our courses are open to beginners to join.
We do recommend that beginners start forging with our beginners day classes.
This covers the basics of working at an anvil, and the essential techniques in forging.
We have found that people with a bit of history with a forge will get more out of more product oriented courses like axe forging or Damascus steel making.
Having forging experience isn't a hard requirement for our courses, but you will get more out of the more advanced classes if you have a bit of prior experience to build on.
Forging is immense fun, and very satisfying, but does involve lots of sparks and fire.
To this end, you will want to wear "workshop chic". You will need sturdy footwear. steel toe cap boots are ideal, decent boots such as walking boots are also acceptable.
Trainers, sandals, high heels and flip flops are not acceptable. Participants that insist on wearing footwear deemed unacceptable will not be allowed to participate.
Clothing wants to be natural fibres, jeans and cotton T shirts/jumpers are brilliant. Frayed cloth/tassels are not to be worn, they can get caught in machinery. The biggest thing to avoid are fully plastic clothing EG: tracksuit wear, or Superdry coats. Plastic melts and will cause nasty burns.
-Low cut tops are to be avoided as they don't provide good protection from sparks.
Long hair or long beards will need to be tied back or tucked out the way.
Long sleeves are strongly recommended.
During winter, please bring lots of layers! Better to get warm and take a jumper off! Thermal underlayers are excellent, as is bringing a spare jumper. You will warm up while you are forging, but if we have to do any grinding or handle carving you may find things get a bit chilly.
Hammer and Hound Forge reserves the right to withdraw service to participants that are not dressed in safe, sensible attire. Please ensure you are wearing sensible clothing!
You will need to bring a packed lunch, and sensible footwear.
There is a McDonalds and Greggs 2 minutes walk away, an Asda, Aldi, Lidl and KFC within 5 minutes drive should you wish to nip out or order food in.
We have lots of tea, Coffee, Squash and biscuits for all participants to enjoy.
You are welcome to bring your own PPE, such as gloves, eye protection, ear protection and overalls if you prefer using your own.
Likewise, you are welcome to bring your own tools such as hammers, tongs etc, but we will need to check them over to make sure they are safe to use.
