Beginner-Friendly Blacksmithing Classes: What to Expect Your First Time at the Forge

If you've never stood next to a forge before, you're not the exception at Axcadmy—you're most of the room. The majority of people who walk in for their first workshop have never touched an anvil, never held a blacksmith's hammer, and have no idea what 1,600°F steel actually looks like until it's glowing in front of them.

What "beginner-friendly" actually means

Every session starts with a full safety walkthrough and includes all the gear: face shield, gloves, ear protection etc. and the one rule that matters most: if it's metal, it's hot. From there, our instructors guide you through the entire process step by step, whether that's drifting the eye on a custom axe or drawing out the blade on a knife. On the Custom Axe Workshop, the trickier precision steps like grinding the bevel, or the final sharpening are instructor-supported, so you get the shaping and hammer work without needing years of grinding experience under your belt. On smaller projects like the Railroad Spike Knife and Fire Poker, you'll do more of that grinding work yourself, with your instructor right there guiding your hand speed and angle the whole way.

Different pieces offer different amounts of hands-on work either way, we're guiding you through the entire process.

Different projects, same beginner-friendly process

One thing people assume going in is that some workshops are "for beginners" and others are "for people with experience." That's not really how it works here. The fundamentals — hammer control, reading the steel's heat color, working with a partner as director and striker — are the same no matter which piece you choose. What changes is the project, not the skill ceiling you need to walk in with.

The Fire Poker is our most accessible entry point. It's a straightforward forging project that's a great first introduction to hammer and anvil work.

The Railroad Spike Knife is one of our most popular builds. We salvage railroad spikes and reshape a solid piece of steel into a functional blade, with more hands-on grinding and shaping. We've also had folks turn the railroad spike into a garden trowel, or letter opener all within 4 hours.

The Custom Axe Workshop is a full build from raw steel to a hung, finished ax. It has more steps, with a 5-6 hour run time, and fully guided from start to finish.

You can start with any of these workshops because each one teaches you a part of an extensive craft. There are so many facetes to working with metal, and where you start is up to you.

What the first hour actually feels like

You'll meet your instructor, get geared up, and walk through the safety briefing before anything gets hot. Most people underestimate how loud, hot and how bright the forge actually is until they're standing next to it. Your first hammer strike is rarely your best one, and that's expected. You're not being judged on your first swing; you're being taught how to read and strike the metal and move it to the shape you want using a hammer.

Grinding: the other half of the skill

Hammer work gets all the attention because it's the core of the shaping process. But grinding is just as much a skill, and depending on your project, you'll spend real time on it. It's slower, more deliberate, and teaches you a completely different kind of control than swinging a hammer does.

What you leave with

By the end of the workshop, you're not walking out with a souvenir. You're walking out with something you made yourself, start to (mostly) finish, with your own hands and a few hours of focused work behind it. Whether it's a poker for your fireplace, a knife, or an ax you'll be a little too proud of, it's yours.

Ready to pick your first project?

Browse all our workshops to find the piece that's calling to you and come find out what it's like to stand next to a forge for the first time.