The Blacksmith Experience, Alabama, United States

5Scott H 5:00 PM Jul 29, 2022

Good times
Jerry is a great instructor and you can really feel his passion. He takes safety very seriously but is still able to keep the subject light. My son was able to make his very own knife while I watched like a proud father. Do yourself a favor and schedule a class!

5Brent R 5:00 PM Aug 12, 2022

GREAT! Light Version of Forged In Fire
7 of us did the Beach Vacation Knife Making Experience at The Blacksmith Experience in Robertsdale, AL (25 min from Gulf Shores). First, Jerry the owner is great. He is kind and funny and patient and just wonderful to spend time with. We had a 9-year old and up to almost a 70 year old, grandmother and grandfather and all enjoyed Jerry and the class. We thought we were getting the true Forged in Fire (History channel show) experience. We did not. For the 7 of us it went from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm and we even went over 20 min. You don’t start with Damascus 1095 steel where you form into a billet and then beat into a knife - there just isn’t time for that even in a 4 hour class. Instead Jerry gave us a “blank” cut out piece of 8670 steel that was in the shape of knife - 4 1/2” blade (pearing knife). Here were the steps: - Pick handle base (scales) Zebra wood or Brazilian Cherry - Drill holes in the scales - Cut out scales on little bandsaw to go on knife - Heat knife blank In Forge - quench knife in oil - Grind knife - Temper knife - Grind - Epoxy scale and put on knife - Cut off pins in handle - Sand scales There was no time to sharpen the knife. Jerry did that after the class and mailed us all but 1 of the knives which he sharpened there to show us how its done. Jerry said this process is called a “stock removal.” He recommended we wear jeans if we had them, but he knew people going to the beach bring shorts and he was good with that. He recommends you wear close toed shoes if you have them but he was good with sandals and flip flops. We wore tennis shoes. He has more than 1 shop. We were in a small shop but it was fine. It had a bathroom so that was great. Jerry provided bottled water in a fridge and the shop had a/c (and heat) so it was comfortable. This was NOT a very physical experience at all. There was zero pounding on an anvil. The most physical part was standing for 4 hours but he had chairs if we wanted them. Mainly it is using a band saw, forge, and industrial belt sanders. The 9 year old had no problem working with his grandfather. He only charged us for 1 person on that. Likewise our older people - even disabled were able to do this. Because we had a group he cut the price to $99 each from $125. We have never done anything like this on vacation before and it was different and a hoot. Jerry is personable and made us laugh the whole time. He is also very safety minded. Forges are obviously dangerous but he showed us what we were going to do before every step and then helped us execute with no problem. It is helpful to have some general experience with tools but not required. You also come out of it with a beautiful knife you made. I wish we could have sharpened more on the knife instead of him doing it but we just ran out of time. Not quite Forged in Fire, more the light version, but we all have a lot more knowledge about what they do on the show and in blacksmithing. Highly recommended if you love the show and want to do something different on vacation.