Join us at Stoneleigh Park for an advanced two-day Masterclass dedicated to the design and manufacture of specialist blacksmithing tools.
As techniques become more refined, the need for precise, reliable, and purpose-built tools becomes essential. This advanced course is designed for experienced blacksmiths looking to expand their technical capability by developing a deeper understanding of tool geometry, material behaviour, and performance-specific tooling.
Across two days, you’ll explore the principles behind high-performance toolmaking, including steel selection for specialist applications, advanced forging strategies, and the critical relationship between form, mass, and efficiency. You’ll produce a series of complex tools such as hardy tools, spring swages, tong making, working through each stage from controlled forging and profiling to precision heat treatment and finishing.
Through in-depth demonstrations and focused practical work, you’ll examine how tool design dictates energy transfer, how to minimise fatigue through ergonomic shaping, and how to achieve consistency across sets of tools. This Masterclass gives you the skills and insight to create robust, professional-quality tooling tailored to demanding forge work.
Join us at Stoneleigh Park for an intensive two-day Masterclass designed for blacksmiths looking to refine and elevate their scrollwork techniques.
Scrollwork is a cornerstone of traditional blacksmithing, a testament to control, proportion, and the maker’s eye for detail. Mastering scrolls not only strengthens your technical foundation but also expands your design vocabulary, allowing you to create work that is both structurally sound and visually exciting.
Through in-depth demonstrations and guided practice, you’ll explore methods in Drawing, Jig Development, and Controlled Forging and Forming to achieve flawless results. Techniques covered include the ribbon, fish tail, penny-end, snub end, bevel, blow-over-leaf scrolls with emphasis on accuracy, proportion, and execution.
Perfect for blacksmiths seeking to enhance their skill set.
Join us at Stoneleigh Park for an intensive two-day Masterclass focused on forging decorative ironwork inspired by the rich traditions of Francis Skidmore, the Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts, Robert Bakewell, and Jean Tijou.
These influential makers and workshops helped define some of the finest decorative ironwork in Britain characterised by elegant scrolls, expressive leafwork, repoussé detailing, and complex, flowing compositions. Their work remains a cornerstone for both restoration specialists and contemporary blacksmiths seeking to elevate their craft.
Across two days, you’ll explore the motifs, forging methods, and design principles found throughout this tradition. From refined scroll development and structured leaf forms to, layered assemblies, each technique will be demonstrated and then practised under guided instruction. Alongside the making, you’ll develop an understanding of the theory and visual language behind these historic styles, giving you the skills and confidence to apply them in both heritage projects and your own creative work.
Join us at Stoneleigh Park for an intensive two-day Masterclass designed for blacksmiths looking to refine and elevate their Fire welding techniques.
Fire welding sits at the heart of traditional forge work, representing both the skill and sensitivity required of a blacksmith. A well-executed weld demonstrates mastery overheat, timing, and material, enabling the creation of stronger, cleaner, and more refined joins than modern substitutes can offer. Confident fire welding expands what is possible at the anvil and strengthens every aspect of your craft.
Through in-depth demonstrations and guided practice, you’ll explore methods to gain a deep understanding of Fire Welding through fire control, understanding metallurgy behind welding, fluxes and their use, scarf preparation and set-up, using a coke forge and gas forges.
Perfect for blacksmiths seeking to enhance their skill set.
Join us at Stoneleigh Park for an intensive two-day Masterclass introducing the principles and practical application of heat treatment for blacksmiths.
Heat treatment is essential for producing functional, durable tools and components, and understanding the science behind it can transform the quality of your work. This introductory course is designed for those looking to gain a solid grounding in hardening, tempering, normalising, and annealing, while also learning to forge and prepare simple tools suitable for heat treatment.
Across two days, you’ll explore the behaviour of carbon steels, the importance of temperature control, and how different heat-treatment processes influence strength, toughness, and performance. You’ll forge a selection of small tools such as punches, chisels, and drifts to take through each stage of the heat-treatment cycle, allowing you to observe and understand the results directly.
Through clear demonstrations and structured hands-on practice, you’ll develop a practical understanding of colour, heat, quenching media, and testing methods, underpinned by the essential theory of metallurgical change. By the end of the Masterclass, you’ll have the skills and confidence to heat treat your own tools effectively and safely in your workshop.
Join us at Stoneleigh Park for an intensive two-day Masterclass designed for blacksmiths who want to refine and elevate their traditional joining techniques.
Traditional joinery is fundamental to high-quality forged work, reflecting the precision, structural understanding, and craftsmanship that define accomplished blacksmiths. Mastering these methods not only strengthens the integrity and longevity of your ironwork
Through detailed demonstrations and focused hands-on practice, you’ll explore a range of core techniques used to join decorative and structural elements, including collars, wraps, riveting, and mortice-and-tenon joints. With emphasises on accuracy, craftsmanship, and the underpinning theory to help you develop confidence and precision in your work.
Perfect for blacksmiths seeking to enhance their skill set.
Join us at Stoneleigh Park for an intensive two-day Masterclass focused on forging non-ferrous metals.
Working with materials such as copper, brass, and bronze opens up a rich palette of colour, texture, and form that can greatly expand your creative and technical possibilities as a blacksmith. Non-ferrous metals behave differently under the hammer, requiring an understanding of their unique forging temperatures, working characteristics, and finishing approaches.
Across the two days, you’ll explore essential techniques for hot and cold working non-ferrous metals, including forging, forming, texturing, and construction methods. Through clear demonstrations and structured practice, you’ll gain the knowledge and confidence to incorporate these materials into both decorative and functional work, supported throughout by the underlying theory of how these metals move, respond, and finish.
Perfect for blacksmiths seeking to enhance their skill set.
Join us at Stoneleigh Park for an intensive two-day Masterclass dedicated to learning the art of decorative leadwork.
Commonly found on elegant Georgian ironwork, traditional lead working skills play a vital role in creating cast motifs and details for balconettes, railings, and other architectural features. These techniques remain an important part of the blacksmith’s skill set today.
Across two days, we will deep-dive into health and safety, mould making, casting processes, and methods of fixing lead elements to historic ironwork along with site preparation and installation. Through detailed demonstrations and guided practice, you’ll develop a strong understanding of the theory and techniques needed to work confidently and safely with lead in your own practice.
Join us at Stoneleigh Park for an intensive two-day Masterclass introducing the fundamentals of repoussé and chased decorative metalwork.
Repoussé is a traditional technique used to create rich, sculptural surfaces by working sheet metal from both sides to raise, refine, and define form. This introductory course is designed for blacksmiths and metalworkers looking to expand their skill set with a process that brings depth, texture, and expressive detail to both decorative and architectural work.
Across two days, you’ll explore the foundational principles of repoussé, including material selection, pitch preparation, tool use, and the sequence of raising and chasing. Through a combination of demonstrations and structured practice, you’ll learn how to control line, volume, and texture while working with copper.
This course develops your understanding of form-building and the underlying theory that guides successful repoussé work. By the end of the course, you’ll have gained the confidence, technique, and insight needed to begin incorporating repoussé into your own creative projects.
Join us at Stoneleigh Park for an intensive two-day Masterclass introducing the fundamentals of pattern welding for beginners.
Pattern welding is one of the most distinctive and talked about processes in blacksmithing, combining disciplined technique with creative expression. This course is designed for those looking to build a solid foundation in fire welding and to understand how different welding methods influence the final pattern.
Over two days, you’ll explore the core principles behind successful fire welding, including billet preparation, heat control, forge atmosphere, and hammer technique. We will work through a range of practical welding approaches and pattern development examining how each method contributes to the structure and visual character of the finished billet.
Through clear demonstrations and guided hands-on practice, you’ll learn how to construct, weld, and manipulate simple pattern-welded billets, gradually developing pattern forms while understanding the theory behind them. By the end of the course, you’ll have the confidence and technical grounding to continue exploring pattern welding in your own workshop.