Cumming Nature Center > Programs & Events
Blacksmithing
Learn blacksmithing skills in small-group, hands-on sessions with expert instructor Jonathan Bernard.
Our ever-popular blacksmithing workshops are back! Join instructor Jonathan Bernard to learn the heritage craft of blacksmithing in small-group, hands-on training sessions at Cumming Nature Center.
Classes for all skill levels will be offered in September and October, ranging from the Fundamentals of Blacksmithing to Advanced Knife-Making courses. Each participant will go home with an object they created during the class.
See the full schedule below!
Fundamentals | Beginner | Intermediate | Advanced | the Instructor
Fundamentals of Blacksmithing | $60
Sunday, September 10 | 8:30am, 10:30am
Saturday, September 16 | 8:30am, 10:30am
Sunday, October 22 | 8:30am
Learn the fundamentals of blacksmithing in our small-group, hands-on training session. Topics will include learning how to heat with a coal-fired forge and techniques for safe hammer usage. The student will have the choice of creating either a wall hook or bottle opener. This is a 2-hour class. All tools and materials are included with registration.
Students are recommended to bring their own safety glasses and wear a long sleeve shirt and jeans for protection. Other safety gear will be available if needed.
Register FOR FUNDAMENTALS OF BLACKSMITHING
Sunday, September 10
Saturday, September 16
Sunday, October 22
BEGINNER BlacKSmithing: FIRE POKER | $70
Sunday, September 10 | 1pm
Sunday, October 22 | 10:30am
Beginner blacksmithing is a 2-hour class that builds on the fundamentals course, and introduces students to the challenge of working with thicker metals. Students create a fireplace poker with decorative twists and tapered handle. Students are required to have either taken the introduction class or have prior experience blacksmithing. All tools and materials are included with registration.
Students are recommended to bring their own safety glasses and wear a long sleeve shirt and jeans for protection. Other safety gear will be available if needed.
Register FOR BEGINNER BLACKSMITHING: FIRE POKER
Sunday, September 10
Sunday, October 22
BEGINNER BlacKSmithing: WINE BOTTLE HOLDER | $70
Saturday, September 16 | 1pm
Beginner blacksmithing is a 2-hour class that builds on the fundamentals course, and introduces students to the challenge of working with thicker metals. Students create a wine bottle holder with a decorative head. Students are required to have either taken the introduction class or have prior experience blacksmithing. All tools and materials are included with registration.
Students are recommended to bring their own safety glasses and wear a long sleeve shirt and jeans for protection. Other safety gear will be available if needed.
Register FOR BEGINNER BLACKSMITHING: WINE BOTTLE HOLDER
Saturday, September 16
INTERMEDIATE BlacKSmithing | $70
Sunday, September 10 | 3pm
Sunday, October 22 | 1pm
Intermediate blacksmithing is a 2-hour class that explores the use of chisels and punches, introduces working with dissimilar thicknesses of metal, and gives students the opportunity to impart their own artistic flare through decorative hammering. Students create a plant hanger with decorative leaf work or a hay penny scroll for ends. Students are required to have either taken the introduction or basic class or have prior experience blacksmithing. All tools and materials are included with registration.
Students are recommended to bring their own safety glasses and wear a long sleeve shirt and jeans for protection. Other safety gear will be available if needed.
Register FOR INTERMEDIATE BLACKSMITHING
Sunday, September 10
Sunday, October 22
ADVANCED BlacKSmithing | $80
Saturday, September 16 | 3pm
Sunday, October 22 | 3pm
Advanced blacksmithing introduces the student to the art of knife making using a railroad spike to create the wider form of a skinning blade. Topics will include the use of the cross peen fuller to draw out the width of the blade as well as quench or case hardening to form a simple working edge. This 2.5 hour class will test the endurance of a student who has either taken the intermediate class or has prior experience in bladesmithing. All tools and materials are included with registration.
Students are recommended to bring their own safety glasses and wear a long sleeve shirt and jeans for protection. Other safety gear will be available if needed.
Register FOR ADVANCED BLACKSMITHING
Saturday, September 16
Sunday, October 22
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
Jonathan Bernard began blacksmithing at the Eastern States Exposition in Springfield, MA where he volunteered from 2000-2013 in their Colonial-era smithing shop. In 2012 Jonathan purchased a portable forge and farrier’s anvil, and began demonstrating at school programs as part of the 9th Mass Light Artillery, a Civil War reenactment unit. In 2014 he moved to the Rochester, New York, area and currently works with school groups as part of the 1st NY Light Artillery Civil War reenactment unit. For the past three years he’s been invited by the Gettysburg National Parks service to the Spangler Farm site for presentation of his craft with the unit’s traveling forge wagon. Jonathan takes great joy in teaching blacksmithing to people of all ages and skill levels to ensure that the craft lives on.