Today, I attended a one-day “Taste of Blacksmithing” class conducted by Morrell Metalsmiths in Colrain, Massachusetts. This was a Christmas gift from my wife that had to be rescheduled several times, and today was finally the day!

We started off at 10am with some history of the shop, blacksmithing equipment, and safety. Then we jumped right into making something.. a fireplace poker. It was a ton of fun, even if it was hard work. There were six of us in the class, all complete beginners, and we all came away with very passable tools!

My beginner blacksmithing station, photo taken May 25, 2024, by David Leitko

Here was my workstation for the day, with a nice anvil preset exactly for my height, and a propane forge more than adequate for today’s job. Some of the students used the larger coal forges which looked like fun. We were able to experiment with different hammers and tools to find what we were most comfortable using. We wrapped up at around 3:30pm

My finished fireplace poker, photo taken May 25, 2024, by David Leitko

And here is my finished fireplace poker! We will use it on our camping trips as it’s a perfect companion to go with our Solo Stove.

It was a great day, and I look forward to exploring blacksmithing in future classes! If this is something you’ve had in the back of your mind to try, I would highly recommend finding a local blacksmith class and going for it!

🔥🗿