PLEASE NOTE: Oregon governor’s office has allowed a partial opening of businesses, so Bridgetown Forge is pleased to announce the re-starting of smithing classes. However, to insure student’s and staff safety, we have introduced a series of measures to minimize the risk of transmission.
- All classes are limited to 4 students, to allow proper distancing.
- Students and staff will be wearing a face shield (supplied by Bridgetown Forge for the duration of the class) during active forging; face masks to be worn at all other times, if preferred. Please remember to bring your mask of choice; home-made masks are acceptable.
- Hand sanitizer will be supplied and its use encouraged; shared tools, if any, will be disinfected periodically.
- Door knobs, chairs and other frequently touched spots will be periodically sanitized.
- Open bay doors and windows and industrial fans will assure efficient and steady ventilation at all times.
- Students will be verbally screened via email for potential COVID-19 exposure 24 hours before class date, and again verbally before start of class, to minimize everyone’s chance or exposure.
We appreciate your understanding of the necessity to take these extra precautions during the ongoing pandemic
CLASS: Forging a Cable Damascus Knife
Saturday, June TBD, 2020
9 am – 4 pm
AND
Sunday, June TBD, 2020
9 am – 4 pm
AND
Sunday, June TBD, 2020
10 am – 1 pm (for finishing touches)
In this class, we will forge a practical, beautiful Damascus knife using a 3/4″ diameter steel cable. Students will fuse the cable into a billet, and will proceed to forge it into a knife. The top quality steel cables consist of allows us to make a high-performance blade, and the layering of the wires fused together create a beautiful, unique pattern in the steel. Mechanical Damascus has a very long history, as it was used to create, through forge-welding and various manipulations, some very striking and unusual patterns. A modern take-on is the cable Damascus, which is one of my favorites due to its availability, predictability, practicality, performance, and pleasing appearance. Skills learned in this class include forge-welding, drawing out, shaping, hardening, and tempering. We will forge and heat-treat our blades in 2 days, and will meet the following week to collect them and hand-hone the edge. No previous experience required.
The class fee is $460.
The class is limited to 8 students. If attending the wrap-up class is a problem, please let me know, as there is an easy workaround for it.