2012 Classes
OnDemand classes are now listed in the “By Media” section of our online catalog. Before registering, please be sure to read our General Class Information or, if signing up for an OnDemand class, the OnDemand Class Information.
When registering online, be sure to select your tuition option (General Public, Jax Member, or Deposit) from the drop menu and give the page a moment to reset itself. It will then reflect your tuition payment above the “Add to Cart” button.
Blacksmithing
Beginning Blacksmithing (BLK052612)
Greg Shaffer
May 26-27
Sat-Sun, 9am-5pm each day
Jax Member $162 / General Public $200
$50 Deposit
This beginning blacksmithing class will introduce students to the equipment, tools and safety precautions involved in the use of the blacksmith’s forge. Once familiar with the tools of the trade, the class will practice fundamental blacksmithing techniques while learning to make basic hooks, tools and decorative flares.
Students are asked to bring their own safety glasses and to wear long pants and close-toed shoes. Aprons and gloves are optional.
More Details
Minimum enrollment: 3, Maximum enrollment: 12
Beginner ● Materials Fee: $20 ● Minimum Age: 15
Students under the age of 18 MUST have a waiver signed by a parent or legal guardian before class commences.
This class is also available OnDemand.
Greg Shaffer spends his days surrounded by flying sparks and 2,500-degree heat. Owner of Three Springs Forge & Iron Works in Bristol, Virginia, Greg is part craftsman, part artist and 100 percent devoted to his time-honored trade.
Forging Home: Blacksmithing Kitchenware (BLK060412)
June 4-8
Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm
Jax Member $405/ General Public $500
Deposit $125
Materials Fee: $80
Minimum Enrollment, 3: Maximum Enrollment, 6
Minimum Age: 18
In this class, participants will explore the forging of colonial kitchenware for use in their modern kitchen. We’ll spend the week forging items of the kitchen such as: forks, trivets, ladles and more. This class is appropriate for beginners as wll as those with experience who wish to expand their skills. If you’ve not yet learned to forge weld, this is you chance to learn.
More Details
Gerald Boggs lives in the village of Afton, Virginia. He opened his own shop, Wayfarer Forge, in 2004, where he does demonstrations and commissions. Working as a classical blacksmith, Gerald is not stuck in the past doing designs from the 18th century over and over. Rather, he tries to work within the framework of classical blacksmithing, while embracing design development of the last century. A member of the Old Dominion Blacksmith Association (OBDSA), Gerald is spearheading a partnership between The Jacksonville Center and OBDSA that is making blacksmithing more accessible to the public and experienced blacksmiths alike.
http://wayfarerforge.com/
The Steel Menagerie: Dragons, Tigers and Bears, oh My! (BLK062212)
June 22-24
Fri-Sun, 9am-5pm
Jax Member $243/ General Public $300
Deposit $75
Materials Fee: $30 per person
Minimum Enrollment, 3: Maximum Enrollment, 6
Minimum Age: 16
This three day intensive class will focus on the creation of tools and techniques used in making animals out of steel. The first two days will be used in the making of tools, such as eye punches, and other chisels used to make expressive facial features and forms. The third day will be dedicated to applying the tools in creating and animal of their choosing and to their ability. Students will walk away with a set of tools they have made to complete an animal head. Prepare for a fast paced and fun time in the fire! Students need to have taken a prior blacksmithing class and have the ability to manage a coal fire to get the most out of this class.
More Details
Steven Kalb has been blacksmithing for over 15 years and teaching at the Jax since 2009. He has studied blacksmithing under some of the best American blacksmiths, and taken classes at nationally recognized schools. Sharing the craft is important to Steven. He has completed terms as Program Chairman, Regional Coordinator, and Trustee for the Florida Artist Blacksmith Association. He also does demonstrations at his coal forge periodically at Koreshan State Park in Estero, Florida. Steven’s interest in blacksmithing began with traditional forging. Period cooking gear and traditional joinery were his passion for several years. Then his art took a more organic direction, where he continues to explore it to this day.
www.kalbironworks.com
Fundamentals at the Forge (BLK070412)
July 4-6
Weds-Fri, 9am-5pm
Jax Member $243/ General Public $300
Deposit $75
Materials Fee: $30
Minimum Enrollment, 3: Maximum Enrollment, 12
Minimum Age: 14
Stoke your creative fires with Master Blacksmith and instructor, Charles Orlando. Beginning and intermediate students will learn or improve the basic forging skills required in blacksmithing. Participants will practice fire management, drawing out, shaping, punching, cutting, welding, and heat treating. These skills will be applied on small projects for the beginner, and larger projects for those with some experience. Efficiency in the use of time and tools while working around the anvil will be stressed.
More Details
Charles Orlando has been blacksmithing since 1978 and teaching and demonstrating efficient forging skills in all parts of the country for more than twenty years to blacksmiths and farriers. In addition to small sale items, his custom work has been the mainstay of his business and his work can be seen in many private and public facilities in the east and mid-west.
Examples of his work can be seen in the gallery on his website: www.orlandoforge.com
.JPG "17th Century Axe Head (BLK081312)")
17th Century Axe Head (BLK081312)
August 13-17
Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm
Jax Member $405/ General Public $500
Deposit $125
Materials Fee: $50
Minimum Enrollment, 4: Maximum Enrollment, 12
Intermediate to Advanced
Minimum Age: 18
Get in touch with your inner Viking! In this week-long course with master blacksmith Thomas Latane, students will forge either a battle axe or hewing hatchet with a tapered rectangular eye socket. This shapely early form is made up of three to five pieces rather than the two used to produce an axe with a simple wrapped eye. Working in pairs, parts will be forged to shape, forge welded together and further forged to refine. A high carbon steel bit will be welded between layers of low carbon steel, shaped, pickled in vinegar, filed and decorated before hardening and tempering. Students wishing to create a hewing hatchet may have time to create a second axe, leaving the blade thicker and less broad and welding the high carbon steel to one side rather than in the center of the edge. The low carbon body of the axe will remain soft enough so it can be decorated cold with punches as time allows to give it the look of the original models.
More Details
Students must have some blacksmithing experience—though forge welding experience is not necessary it will be helpful. Students are encouraged to bring their own, familiar, tools from the materials list, though the center has student grade tools available.
Thomas Latane has been interested in historic ironwork since setting up a forge in a Baltimore backyard in the early 1970s. He and his wife, Catherine, have had a shop in Pepin, WI since 1983. Over the years Tom has demonstrated with the Patient Order of Meticulous Metalsmiths at a number of ABANA conferences. Last year he studied forging edged tools with Håvard Bergland in Norway for two weeks. The 17th century axe is modeled after examples seen at the Maihaugen Museum in Lillehammer, Norway and an axe Håvard Bergland forged as a copy of one that has been passed down in his family. For some time every farm was required to keep such an axe in case the farmer were called upon by the king to defend the country.
http://www.spaco.org/latane/TCLatane.htm
Forging Spoons (BLK100612)
Brian Anderson
October 6-7 Saturday & Sunday, 9am-5pm
Jax Members $162 / General Public $200
Deposit $50
Materials Fees: $20
Minimum enrollment: 3, Maximum enrollment: 6
Minimum Age: 18
Beginning to Intermediate
Forge your own unique heirloom utensils! In this intermediate blacksmithing class, students will learn to forge spoons, ladles, and possibly forks, using various traditional blacksmithing techniques. Each student will complete several spoons over the weekend which will be theirs to keep and use!
More Details
Brian Anderson is a working blacksmith with 40 plus years' experience. He has a solid base in traditional smithing doing both historically based and contemporary forge work. Brian has taught and demonstrated widely and his work appears regularly in both blacksmithing and fine arts shows around the country. He demonstrates frequently at historic sites, trade fairs, and hammer-ins and teaches on a small scale.
Fall Colors: Enameled Steel Leaves (BLK102712)
October 27-28
Sat-Sun, 9am-5pm
Jax Member $162/ General Public $200
Deposit $50
Materials Fee: $20-$30
Minimum Enrollment, 3: Maximum Enrollment, 12
Minimum Age: Responsible Young Adult
This weekend blacksmithing class will show students how to create beautiful decorative leaves and to add color by the application of enamel on the steel. Using an enamel powder, students will be able to color leaves of their own making or use some pre-made pieces made by the instructor. Class topics include proper safety material to use, safe working and trouble shooting of this very unique and little known method. The leaves can be used to make a bigger project or turn them into jewelry to wear. No blacksmithing experience necessary, though fire management will be helpful to the student. Prepare to have fun and take home some color!
More Details
Steven Kalb has been blacksmithing for over 15 years. He has studied blacksmithing under some of the best American blacksmiths, and taken classes at nationally recognized schools. Sharing the craft is important to Steven. He has completed terms as Program Chairman, Regional Coordinator, and Trustee for the Florida Artist Blacksmith Association. He also does demonstrations at his coal forge periodically at Koreshan State Park in Estero, Florida. Steven’s interest in blacksmithing began with traditional forging. Period cooking gear and traditional joinery were his passion for several years. Then his art took a more organic direction, where he continues to explore it to this day.
www.kalbironworks.com
Updating...
For a printable registration form, click here.
Not a Jacksonville Center member? Enjoy all the benefits of membership, including 20% off class tuition, by adding new membership or membership renewal to your order here.
Need to renew your Jax membership? Not sure if your membership has expired? Call the center at 540-745-2784 or email info@jacksonvillecenter.org to find out!
If you would like to support the center by adding a financial donation to your registration order, please click Donate Now.
Missing our hardcopy catalogs or know someone who doesn’t get online very often? You can get information about upcoming classes and events at the Jax in Floyd’s own Museletter, a nonprofit, homespun cut-and-paste print publication of poetry, musings, community events and more. The Museletter is mailed monthly and subscriptions are only $15 for a year ($16 if subscribing online through their Facebook Shop). Subscription fees and content submissions should be mailed to CERC Museletter, P.O. Box 81, Floyd, VA 24091. Content submissions and questions can be emailed to museletterfloyd@gmail.com.
.JPG){kind=link}
.jpeg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.JPG){kind=link}
