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Bob was really friendly and a good teacher. He showed me how to do all the basics, and was really skilled himself. It was a great day and I want to book another session to improve my skills. Bob helped me make a toasting fork, with a curled handle, and a twist - and also he helped me add detail of a leaf. It was a really great thing to do.
Thanks Bob!
Had a great day with Bob learning basic hammer skills. Bob tailor's the course to suit individual needs and teaches in a thorough manner that has given me confidence to pursue further interests in blacksmithing. I can't recommend Bob and this course highly enough. Thank you 😊
Couldn’t recommend the course more. Bought as a present for an iron sixth wedding anniversary experience and we had a great time. Bob was a great, patient and funny teacher who managed to keep a watchful eye without being too overbearing. The instructions to find it were spot on and chippy lunch was just what we needed. Plenty of brews throughout the day to keep us hydrated. We were both so pleased with what we came home with and are so thankful to Bob for this!
Cannot recommend this course more highly. Bob immediately makes you feel welcome at the forge and puts any nerves at ease. His teaching style is amazing, allowing you to make mistakes and then helping you fix them and learn from it, which I found lets you really understand the point of the lesson.
I made two items to take home with me, a poker and a toasting fork which are so good that people are now accusing me of stealing Bob’s work and passing it off as my own. That is a great endorsement of his teaching.
I would absolutely go back for a follow up course. Thanks Bob!
Cannot recommend this course more highly. Bob immediately makes you feel welcome at the forge and puts any nerves at ease. His teaching style is amazing, allowing you to make mistakes and then helping you fix them and learn from it, which I found lets you really understand the point of the lesson.
I made two items to take home with me, a poker and a toasting fork which are so good that people are now accusing me of stealing Bob’s work and passing it off as my own. That is a great endorsement of his teaching.
I would absolutely go back for a follow up course. Thanks Bob!
I had never worked with metal before and Colin White was an excellent instructor and very patient .He explained everything very clearly and made sure the day was a very safe and enjoyable experience .I manufactured a coat rack which required a number of separate skills ,all of which Colin took me through and demonstrated before letting me try my hand .Even when the course was completed he was more than willing to explain many of the other techniques that a modern blacksmith uses .
A great course and highly recommended .
Robert had a fantastic day, he had never been in a forge before but considering this under Bobs excellent supervision he did a lot of hands on. Robert came away with a garden rake and trowel and a big grin on his face.
Thanks very much Bob it was a pleasure to watch a true tradesman at work.
I did the course with my son and had a great time. We have never done anything like this before but the instruction from Bob were excellent and covered the basics of hammering in the morning, which I now know you have to listen to the hammer sound to get the blows right!
The afternoon was to make your own thing. I made a fork, though it ended up a little shorted than it should have been (I didn’t realise you could burn metal) and my son made a trivet of his own design, all with a little help from Bob.
Thanks Bob.
What a brilliant day, perfect for anyone with an interest or curiousity in smithing or forging. Excellent tutor and informative from start to end
My ma-in-law got me a blacksmithing voucher for my birthday so yesterday I went and spent the day with Bob. He is a great teacher and showed me how to use a hammer properly. He could see when I picked up a pushing hammer blow from out of nowhere, even though I hadn't done it all day! I made a herb cleaver and some coat hangers and went home tired but very happy. I recommend this course if you fancy being out of your comfort zone and want to learn interesting metalworking techniques :)
I have had one of the best days ever. I have used a hammer most of my life, but I have never realised how hard it was to use a hammer to manipulate hot metal in a way that I was shown.
Bob, the tutor, was very informative and helpful and knowledgeable beyond belief. I have had a great day and would definitely recommend this course to anyone.
My son, Andrew and myself did this course together today and thoroughly enjoyed it. Bob is a first class craftsman and tutor. I would highly recommend this day for anyone who wants to have a go at the art of the blacksmith. Brought home a poker and toasting fork, matching pair. Well pleased.
Got a voucher some time ago from my daughters but only got to go to work with Bob last week because of you-know-what.
It was a great day and watching Bob turn a hoop from a single heating was simply mind-boggling. He has a fantastic depth of knowledge & experience and you learn fast from his show-then-do instruction method.
It's a full-on day and your mind will be spinning trying to apply all the great tips and hints that you learn during the session.
All in all, a thoroughly fascinating and rewarding day. Highly recommended.
Thanks, Bob!
I found this course after becoming an avid ‘Forged in Fire’ fan, and soon began grinding my own knives from flat stock. But all I really wanted to do was actually forge them.
This course was brilliant. Bob is a fantastic teacher and has so much valuable knowledge to share of his craft. The information he gives to you will stick and enable you to pick things up much quicker.
There is a lovely relaxed atmosphere there, but with safety also always being key.
If you’re thinking about doing the course, just get it booked! You won’t regret it!
Thanks for a top class day Bob, I’ll be back again!
My wife sent me on the full day course with Bob. Being the Forged in Fire fan that I am and knife collector I arrived with all the excitement you could imagine.
This was the first time I had even seen a forge in person so a complete novice in all things blacksmithing. After a safety talk and taking a genuine interest in my background Bob went on to explain, demonstrate and then had me repeat some basic skills, which gradually moved on to slightly harder skills. The depth of knowledge of the craft fascinated me, Bob sure knows his stuff!
After a chippy lunch and relaxed interesting conversation we moved onto the second part of the day. Bob asked me what I would like to make - somewhat unsurprisingly to Bob I wanted to make a knife. Bob let me design my own knife to make which I thought was a nice touch. We actually made two knives, the first a Viking knife which combined all the skills from the morning to come together to make an awesome finished piece. We then made my own design. I am very proud of the end results for both knifes that have pride of place in my collection.
Bob is a great guy and effortlessly made me feel at ease. I will be going back again soon for sure now that I have the bug!
Thanks for a great day Bob.
Can’t recommend this course highly enough. Bob was fantastic and incredibly patient and made the day really enjoyable. I wasn’t entirely sure the course would be for me - I’m fairly sedentary and work in an office type environment. However I was wrong - it is truly something anyone can have a try at.
Bob also went above and beyond in the afternoon session (where we make something specific) when I’d asked about making a gecko! Not something they’d ever done but with a bit of research, thought and trial and error we made a fantastic gecko!
Thank you and I’m hoping someone will buy me another lesson for my birthday later in the year!
Had an absolutely fantastic day with Colin and I learned so much, can't wait to set up my own forge to practice what I learned. I was able to make a coat hook, blacksmith tongs and a bottle opener. Would recommend this course to everyone.
I will definitely be back to try the hammer skills.
Had a great day. Bob's an excellent teacher, a good brew maker (I had black coffee) and I will definitely be going back to improve my skills.
Wow! What a fantastic day I've just had with Bob. Such a great guy who by end of the day felt like an old friend. I went along for a day expecting to hit a bit of iron and ended up learning so much about the craft. I now know so many interesting facts about horses feet and horseshoes.
Bob is such an interesting character and a master of his craft. He's great at pointing out what you need to do, but also knows when to leave you to it so you can find your own feet. He even makes a half decent brew!
Thanks again Bob, I've had a brilliant day.
Colin's a really nice guy who taught me loads of techniques. I'd never done any blacksmithing before but came away with 3 wonderful items - a fire poker, a bottle opener and an ornamental viking knife. Highly recommend this course.