Coal Forge Blacksmithing Basics 1

Join us for a 8-week dive into the basics of blacksmithing at Dodge Nature Center's new smithy at Shepard Farm! CAFAC is thrilled to announce a new partnership that will extend opportunities to learn blacksmithing in the metro area.

Register here through Dodge Nature Center. (Please note: classes at Dodge are not eligible for CAFAC scholarship awards.)

Questions? Get in touch with us at info@cafac.org.

This course is designed to ignite your passion for blacksmithing and introduce you to the seemingly endless ways of expressing yourself by shaping iron with fire and hammer. You'll gain basic knowledge of iron and its characteristics, an understanding of the dynamics of a coal forge, and the ability to safely shape iron with heat and a hammer.

By the end of class, you'll have covered the basic forging processes, including drawing and tapering, drifting, punching, twisting, and setting shoulders. You'll develop those skills through projects such as: quick tongs, scribe/center punch, round punch/drift, basic heat treating, hooks, multi hook rack, trivet… and you'll know what a clinker is!

$400 (includes all materials and supplies)  |  8 sessions 
Open to ages 16 and up.

Instructor: Dan Osadchuk's earliest memory is of stumbling into his grandfather’s blacksmith shop when he was two years old and becoming so mesmerized that his father had to drag him out kicking and screaming. His fascination with metalworking continued through high school, where he became the shop teacher’s assistant, and into his first job out of technical college in the largest machine shop in St. Paul. He started building his blacksmithing practice 25 years ago and is a member of the Guild of Metalsmiths through which he’s taught various blacksmithing classes.