Blacksmithing I Class

Recently Andy, Spike and I took the opportunity to sign up for and participate in a Blacksmithing class held at Old World Wisconsin. We found out they held classes last year and quickly decided we wanted to attend. We also found out they fill up almost instantly! It turns out they only have a class size of 4 students at a session. This makes for a challenge to get a spot but it also makes for a fantastic experience. Add to this the fact that we all wanted to go to the same class and it was a minor miracle we pulled it off.

There are three levels of class-Blacksmithing I, Blacksmithing II, Blacksmithing III each being a prerequisite for the next level. We signed up for the beginner’s course held on October 22nd. We all met in Big Bend and car-pooled out to Eagle where Old World Wisconsin is located for our 10am start time. We pulled into the lot, parked, and got directions to the building where the class was being held which was an actual 19th century blacksmith shop moved there from its original location.




Walking in to the blacksmith shop was walking back in time. It is an experience I encourage you to experience for yourself by visiting Old World Wisconsin when you get a chance! We met our instructor for the day, a gentleman named Darold Rinedollar. The three of us were joined by a fellow future blacksmith named (for the sake of distinction) Drew who I teamed up with.





After a preliminary discussion about basic blacksmithing knowledge we went to work. Drew and I were working on the forge nearest to the front of the shop while Spike and Andy worked at the rear of the shop. Outside the front door there was a guide who spoke with the visitors of the day, talking about the buildings history and describing what was happening inside. Learning a craft can sometimes be a challenge. Learning a craft as people stare at you tends to boost that challenge but Drew and I did our best to stay focused. At one point a visitor began scolding us for not being in “period clothing.” I explained we were students not really a part of the community. She explained that Drew’s motorcycle t-shirt didn’t look good in the middle of her photo. We decided she was joking and went back to work.

We worked pretty steady all day. Occasionally, we would visit one and another at our respective forges to see how things were going and compare notes. We moved from skill to skill fairly quickly.














Darold’s style of instruction was to point you in the direction he wanted you to go and watch. If you got off kilter he would stop you, explain the problem, and get you going again very rarely taking the work out of our hands. Occasionally, for times sake, he would jump in and show us how it should be done, but more often then not we did the work ourselves. Often he would stop us to say something wasn’t right and then ask how we were going to fix it. I am used to this form of teaching from my Dad so it worked well for me and the others seemed to respond well to it also. Darold is an extreemly talented man with the ability and patience to teach a skill that would otherwise be lost. All of us at Fox River Forge are truly grateful to have had the opportunity wo learn from him.

By the end of the day we had several pieces completed for us to take with us. We were all very happy with the experience we gained attending this class and will certainly be furthering our knowledge in the future by attending the other levels.

I actually edited the footage for the opening ceremony post after we attended this class and it’s amusing to see the difference one Saturday can make when given good instruction. I’m not sure we did anything right while forging that first hoop aside from having fun with each other. I have always intended for this blog to document our journey into the world of blacksmithing and as we travel we can look back to see how far we’ve come. Looking at the video and comparing it to what we produced at this class gives me a large sense of pride.




I can’t wait to see what we do next!

Ferrous Frolics

Back in July, Andy and I took the opportunity to go to a festival held at a mining museum in Iron River Michigan. Located at the Caspian Iron Mine Site, the museum holds the yearly “Ferrous Frolics”


“Tuesday, July 26, 2011 10:07 AM
CASPIAN—The Ferrous Frolics festival at Iron County Museum on Saturday, July 30, is offering reduced admission of only $3 per person from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on that day only, courtesy of the Caspian DDA.
A pancake breakfast, sponsored by the Golden K Club, will be held in the museum Cultural Center from 8:30 a.m. to noon.
Tickets are $5 per adult and $3 per children and are being sold in advance through Golden K members, at the Chamber of Commerce and at the museum.
Tickets will also be sold at the door on Saturday morning. Everyone in the community is invited.

Vendors will be on site, selling a variety of craft items.
The blacksmith shop will be open and antique farm machinery will be on display both days.
On Saturday, Northwoods Animal Shelter “residents” will be on the grounds, looking to be adopted, or at least be petted.
Smoky Bear will make an appearance about 2 p.m.
On Sunday, July 31, the regular admission price of $8 per adult will prevail.
Vendors, food and refreshments will be available from noon to 4 p.m.
After browsing the grounds and shopping, attendees can relax or dance to the country music of Paul and Roy in the Cultural Center from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
The blacksmith will post hours each day.
Antique farm machinery will be on display both days, in addition to access to all the numerous buildings throughout the museum grounds.
Ferrous Frolics provides a unique opportunity for both tourists and locals to have a “peek into the past” at a bargain price.
For more information, call the museum at 265-2617.”

Andy told me about this event he used to go to as a kid and it sounded great; add to this the fact that Andy’s parents have a cabin on Camp Lake and we had the ingredients for an outstanding weekend!

We drove up on Friday the 29th. Once we got to the cabin, which turned out to be a beautiful 2 story house right on the lake, we unloaded out gear and headed over to meet up with his grandmother who works at the museum. We had a nice dinner at a local restaurant then headed back to the lake. We checked out the lake, the pier and discovered I’m a giant sissy when it comes to being in a canoe. For more on that click HERE.

After the failed canoe attempt, we headed over to a local bar where I repaired my damaged pride by winning a game of pool, drinking beer and watching extreme sports on a big TV:) We eventually decided that morning was soon to come so we headed back and crashed for the night.

In the morning we headed over to the museum for the pancake breakfast. We paid our admission, got out plates and went into the main hall to sit down with Andy’s Grandmother and some of her friends. While eating our pancakes and sausage, I enjoyed listening to several people at our table chat and tell stories of older times. Events like this are rich with history and knowledge if you know how to listen respectfully and encourage the conversation. After a while people started to move around so Andy and I set out to explore the grounds. We checked out several of the buildings and saw some really neat old machinery.














Best of all, they had a working Blacksmith. His name was George Potvin and he runs “Ten Mile Creek Forge” in Bark River Michigan. We sidled up to the open doors of the smithy and stood grinning as George was explaining to someone else what he was doing. After a while they left and George turned his attention to us, welcoming us further into his shop even offering us the opportunity to crank the blower which delivers air to the forge and helps make the fire burn hotter. Being first to crank, George guided me to an appropriate speed to gain heat but not waste fuel which turns out to be a pretty delicate balance. We asked questions when they occurred to us and listened as George and his friend chatted with people who wandered in and out of the shop. After a couple of hours or so, George turns to us and says “Well, it’s about lunch time so I’m going to grab a bit to eat. Did you guys want to hammer on some metal?” Wide eyed and barely able to contain ourselves we nodded in unison so he dug around and came up with some bar stock. “Here you go, have fun” He said, and headed for the museum.


“Whattaya wanna make?” Andy asked me. I said I didn’t know, let’s just see what happens. We put the bar in the fire and got it hot. Andy pulled it out and started pounding on one end to start a taper giving Andy the status of being the first one at Fox River Forge for strike metal as a blacksmith apprentice!



He did a couple more heats and got a decent taper going and turned it over to me. I heated the other end and made a loop. As I was working on the loop some other festival goers walked in. We hastened to explain that we were NOT actual Blacksmiths and were in fact just learning. The people asked questions anyway and there were some we were able to answer. We have both been reading and researching this craft for almost a year prior to this event. I was surprised at what I was able to explain. I’ve said for many years “Sometimes the best way to learn is to teach.” I then heated the middle and attempted a twist. This took a couple of tries before I got the tongs on it properly to get the twist. I turned it back over to Andy who was working on the taper when the actual Blacksmith walked back in and asked us what we were making. We admitted we didn’t really know, we were just working on some basic techniques. He suggested a couple of bends at the tapered end to create a fire tender. Andy followed his guidance and before long, our aimless experiment became a functioning tool we have utilized with actual campfires!




It was an exhilarating and encouraging experience.

George did a great deal to help us gain knowledge and confidence and we can’t thank him enough. Please check out this link to his website and if you get a chance visit the store. I know we plan to.

After such a great afternoon, we stopped in town for a pizza and beer at a local pub, picked up some supplies and headed back to the lake to watch a couple of movies and then hit the sack. In the morning we handled a couple of chores at the cabin and at Andy’s Grandmothers house then headed home. It was a great weekend and we look forward to checking out next year when we can encourage some friends to come up and take part in a great event.