WORKSHOPS
2026 SUMMER SESSION
Session 1
Blacksmithing Fundamentals with Tony Stewart
One- week workshop, June 1 through June 5
This class is designed for people with little or no experience in blacksmithing. We’ll cover the basic theory and practice in the craft, introductory metallurgy, and basic tool design and use. Each day will involve demonstrations of basic techniques and projects, with most of the time spent with students working on projects that involve practice of the foundational techniques. We’ll learn how to draw out material, square and round it effectively, upset it, make basic joints, punch and drift holes, and elementary forge welding. Students can do personal work based on the demonstrations, and are also encouraged to come with ideas of things they would like to make. This class will prepare students with less experience for the intermediate classes to follow.
Skill level: Basic
Session 2
Hammers and Tongs with Jeffrey Funk
One- week workshop, June 8 through June 12
This one-week workshop will be focused on these two absolutely essential tools for blacksmithing. Pared down from the more expansive two-week Blacksmith’s Tools class held in previous years, we’ll focus on the design and forging of hammers and tongs that are better than you can buy, using fundamental blacksmithing skills. We’ll use both power hammers and hand hammers, along with sledge hammer striking work to do the hole punching and drifting. Jeffrey’s approach to the form, forging, and heat treating of hammers has been widely appreciated in the blacksmithing community, and here is your chance to dig deep into it. Students can expect to take home several hammers and a selection of tongs, along with the skills to make more.
Less experienced folks will be admitted with the consent of the instructor.
Skill level: Intermediate to Advanced
Session 3
Wild Iron: The Alchemy and Art of Bloomery Smelting with Eric Dennis
Two- week workshop, June 15 through June 26
In this two week course, we will go deep into our past to explore a foundational relationship between humans and the earth. 3,000 years ago, at the end of the Bronze Age, the discovery of a new metal swept across the world. Iron changed everything. We will follow the footsteps of our ancestors and make iron from earth.
Transformation will be our focus: wood into charcoal, clay into cob, rocks into metal. We will collect ore from the mountains (prepare for a night of camping in the remote forest and a difficult hike), build our furnace from scratch, and smelt our ore into bloom iron- a unique material which we will learn to work with and forge into objects of meaning.
Along the way, we will discuss the history and science of these techniques, convert our iron into steel, and experience first hand the human labor and teamwork required to bring a simple piece of metal into being. We will reflect on questions that have no answers, and grapple with the double-edged role that iron has played in our own path over the millennia. In the end, we may find ourselves transformed, for our story is not separate from that of iron.
This workshop will involve complete immersion in the exploration of design, construction, and operation of the traditional shaft type Bloomery Furnace. Workshop participants will produce all of the charcoal onsite needed to fire the furnace. We will have a two-day field trip to collect the ore from an abandoned 19th century iron mine high on the side of Elkhorn mountain, just east of the continental divide. Using this and other ores we will smelt our iron, delve into refining our bloom using 18th century hearth techniques, and we will practice forging this unique material.
This class will also explore the history of pre-industrial iron production, and involve conversations on the role of iron in civilization, aiming at cultivating a deeply respectful relationship for this essential material that we too often take for granted.
Previous experience is not necessary, but please be aware that this is a very labor-intensive process. As well, the hike to the ore location near Elkhorn is a fairly strenuous three-mile hike with a 1500 foot elevation gain. Folks who don’t feel up to the actual ore gathering hike will be able to join us for the field trip and simply stay at our base camp. The field trip will also involve stops at other locations connected to mining and smelting in Montana.
Skill level: Basic to Advanced
Session 4
Oh Sheet! Repousse and Uchidashi with Heather McLarty
One- week workshop, July 6 through July 10
This workshop will explore sheet metal and how we can move it around. Taking something flat and give it form. We will concentrate mainly on repoussé & chasing and uchidashi or high relief chasing using pitch, small tools and hammers. Although I will bring some design possibilities, students are encouraged to bring or work on a design of their own.
Skill level: Basic through Advanced
Session 5
Sketching from Nature with Jeffrey Funk
One-week workshop, July 13 through July 17
Virtually all art and craft has its origin in the natural world around us. Inspiration from nature is fundamental to the human experience, and the craft of blacksmithing is uniquely poised to translate impressions from nature into objects of both function and whimsy. In this class we will begin at the source, studying details and forms around us, and using the forge to bring these ideas into the world in iron. All of the basic techniques of blacksmithing will be used, including drawing, upsetting, punching, fire welding, etc. First using paper and pencil, and then at the forge we will bring life and form to produce “sketches from nature”.
Skill level: All Welcome
Session 6
Level II with Tangents: Forging with Precision and Purpose with Jake Trogdon
One-week workshop, July 20 through July 24
This course focuses on intentional forging, guiding students to approach projects with clear purpose and thoughtful execution. Key skills include hand forging, bending, punching, drifting, riveting, and appropriate use of power equipment. Students will refine techniques for forging to dimension and maintaining high-quality finishes, that result in professional, predictable work. The curriculum will cover toolmaking and decorative forging, including scrolls, corners, and artistic elements. This class supports personal growth at the forge, building technical confidence, and equipping students with both practical and creative skills.
Beginning students admitted with permission of instructor
Skill level: Intermediate
Session 7
Forged Iron Sculpture with Elizabeth Belz
One-week workshop, Augusut 3 through August 7
Explore the creative side of blacksmithing and metal work in this hands-on workshop focused on forged sculpture. We’ll cover the essentials of turning ideas into three-dimensional steel forms: sketching, shaping, texturing, and assembling sculptural elements. Students will start with small studies in paper and oil clay before moving on to a personal project in steel.
The class will highlight finishing techniques—including surface prep, patinas, and color work—to help your sculpture come alive. Students will leave with a stronger sense of design, technique, and artistic direction, and depending on experience level a completed piece. Some forging experience is helpful, but all motivated learners are welcome.
Skill level: All Levels Welcomed
Session 8
Timber Framing Hand Tools with Jeffrey Funk
One-week workshop, August 10 through August 14
An essential part of the American building traditions, timber framing has been undergoing a great revival in recent years. While modern tooling has become common for professionals, there is still a deep interest in the very basic tooling that has been part of this craft for literally thousands of years. This workshop will focus on three of the essential tools; The mortising chisel, the slick, and the hewing axe. Students will forge and heat treat all of these tools, and get a chance to test them out on green wood from the school campus. Previous experience with blacksmithing will be a definite asset here in order to complete the projects, however beginners with experience using these tools will be welcome as well.
Skill level: Intermediate to advanced, or with permission of instructor
Session 9
Everything is Important with Peter Braspenninx
Two- week workshop, August 17 through August 28
In this workshop Pete Braspanninx will bring his unique skills and perspectives to lead a workshop where participants will work together on a sculpture of his design. “The class will focus on being very intentional in our design decisions and how we address the materials. Aiming to foster a really deep understanding of what is important in how we forge and what we design. In this two-week class we will forge, construct, and assemble a large scale piece. The focus will be on clean and accurate forgings, creative methods of joinery, and a final form that will draw from the details to become the whole.”