Blacksmithing Class

Recent reviews of Blacksmithing Class

• 5/5 from Rachel Moreau, attended Sep 2026: This was a unique experience! I highly recommend taking this workshop. Douge gave very clear broken-down directions and was helpful without hovering. I felt comfortable during the class and really proud of the results. I would totally do it again!
• 5/5 from Rosemary Welensky, attended Sep 2026: Great class and instructor. Clear instructions and encouragement. Help available whenever needed too. Good professional set up with plenty of tools for all. Would happily recommend to complete beginners and to those with basic knowledge who wish to know more!
• 5/5 from Emily Pullar, attended Sep 2026: A unique and highly enjoyable experience which was both interesting and rewarding. Sandy is a knowledgeable, patient and thorough teacher. He even crafted a heart shape stamp to imprint on my treasured bottle opener.
• 5/5 from Rachel Scott, attended Aug 2026: Great fun! The day was carefully structured to give us the opportunity to create something useful right from the start - very satisfying - and we were able to work at our own pace to get a feel for tools and techniques with plenty of tips and hints and checks from our friendly and patient instructor that we were happy with our work before progressing to the next stage. I would definitely recommend this experience.
• 5/5 from Taylor Bloomfield, attended Jul 2026: Absolutely fantastic course! Douglas is a very knowledgable teacher that you can tell loves his craft. I’m so grateful for my wee insight into the art form and will hopefully be back for more!
• 5/5 from Roy Crichton, attended May 2026: This was a very interesting experience, well led by our young instructor. His expand demonstrations were clearly explained and is calm and upbeat manner made the day most enjoyable.
• 5/5 from Michael Joyce, attended May 2026: Great fun - highly recommended.
• 5/5 from Geraldine Ratcliffe, attended Apr 2026: A birthday present for my 70th birthday and it was wonderful. Sandy made the day great with his easy manner and excellent skills and knowledge. He kept each of his 3 students fully engaged, knowing just when to offer each of us his support and advice. The Forge is a facinating venue and we learnt skills and fact about lots of different metal work activities, each completing a 'bottle opener' and a hook. I would recommend this workshop as a fully engaging and fun day, thanks Sandy.
• 5/5 from Rachel McBryde, attended Apr 2026: Douglas was super chill and very knowledgeable and we even got to try different types of twists it was very cool :)
• 5/5 from Jim Ross, attended Mar 2026: Great day and excellent instructor!
• 5/5 from Ian Cameron, attended Mar 2026: Great day out with a great instructor
• 5/5 from Paul Lenihan, attended Mar 2026: Really really good day. Sandy was excellent. Patient and engaging we have had a great time making a bottle opener and fire poker. Can highly recommend
• 5/5 from William Innes, attended Dec 2025: Great day with smith Douglas learning an old traditional craft. Would certainly recommend it to anyone who enjoys making things by hand and learning a new skill. Douglas was a very good and patient teacher and made the day enjoyable with his chat and instruction
• 5/5 from Liz Cooper, attended Dec 2025: Had an absolutely fab time with Douglas - a very good teacher who kept the class fun and engaging and made sure we all went away with the pieces we were there to make (bottle openers and fire pokers). Putting the twists in the pokers was really good fun!
• 5/5 from Colin Stewart, attended Nov 2025: A really good experience! Douglas was an excellent teacher and really informative about the craft…came away having successfully made a crackin bottle opener and fire poker! A real fun day!
• 4/5 from Ken Grigor, attended Nov 2025: I attended the Blacksmith's course yesterday and it was an exciting and uplifting experience. It started badly when I tried to find the venue because no clear directions wre given on how to find the place, and the satnav took me around small streets and barricated roads for 20 minutes so that I was late for the start. When I arrived, Sandy was very helpful and we embarked on forging metal using a variety of implements many of which Sandy had made himself. Much of the time was taken up looking round the workshop admiring his wide variety of fascinating tools and discussing their capabilities. We ended up having a good insight into how metal is worked to produce the final product.
• 5/5 from Jeremy Jones, attended Oct 2025: What an awesome couple of hours learning from these guys and coming home with a bottle opener and fire poker. Would thoroughly recommend!
• 5/5 from Sharon Twyford, attended Oct 2025: We had a great time today. Douglas was an amazing teacher (& was very patient with me!). Came away from the session with a bottle opener and poker. Would definitely recommend.
• 5/5 from Max Salzano, attended Aug 2025: I really enjoyed my class! Our instructor was very knowledgeable and capable, and was able to help get our pieces back on track when something didn't go to plan. It's really satisfying knowing my hard work turned two unassuming lumps of metal into much more useful shapes (a bottle opener and a hook).
• 5/5 from Alan Bennett, attended Aug 2025: An excellent introduction to blacksmithing. The session was well structured and informative. I felt that I learned a lot about the process and enjoyed working with the metal. It was a completely new experience for me. Many thanks, Alan Bennett
• 5/5 from Jennifer McGhee, attended Jul 2025: Awesome! Very patient and knowledgable. Expert tuition and a lot of fun! Very happy with the pieces we got to take home.
• 5/5 from Kate Ward, attended Jul 2025: We had a great time in our intro to blacksmithing class. Douglas did a fantastic job guiding us and giving us the confidence to use the forge and tools. Totally recommend others give it a go!
• 5/5 from Aidan McAleenan, attended Jul 2025: Very fun class, felt like a real blacksmith. Our instructor let us do most everything ourselves and was chatty and helpful. Thoroughly recommend the class
• 5/5 from Mathew Meiklejohn, attended Jul 2025: Class was really fun and interesting. Get a good round experience of blacksmithing and a couple of nice finished pieces to take home and show off.
• 5/5 from Kirsty McLeman, attended May 2025: We had a great time, and learned a lot. Sandy was really engaging and a good teacher.
• 5/5 from Campbell Lawley, attended May 2025: Had a really great day making a bottle opener and a fire poker. Sean is a great and patient instructor and keen to share his knowledge. I'm looking forward to booking another experience with him.
• 5/5 from Kerry Speirs, attended Mar 2025: A great day! Sandy was very patient explaining the processes and helping when required. Delighted with the end results, made a bottle opener and fire poker. Would highly recommend! Will definitely book another workshop next time we are in the area!
• 5/5 from Gordon Baird, attended Mar 2025: A great class, approachable for me who had no experience, and I left feeling that I'd achieved something tangible
• 5/5 from Kate Ainsworth, attended Jan 2025: Loved it! Sandy is a great instructor and I’m really pleased with the bottle opener and hook we made. Would definitely recommend giving it a go
• 5/5 from Robin Baxter, attended Dec 2024: Brilliant….. well worth doing. Sandy was a great teacher.
• 5/5 from Chris Gooding, attended Dec 2024: Amazing fun. Sandy absolutely deserves his 5 stars, clear with his instructions and quick to spot if you were going wrong and show you how to fix it. Made the bottle opener and a hook and never had more fun.
• 5/5 from Chris Schneider, attended Dec 2024: Kind, well instructed, and well rounded class that developed skills. I appreciated the whole experience and would recommend it to anyone - familiar to brand new.
• 5/5 from Sarah Long, attended Dec 2024: Our teacher was so kind and patient, and the items we made were delightful. Highly recommend.
• 5/5 from Joanne Smith, attended Nov 2024: Loved the class. Teacher was very friendly and extremely knowledgeable. I made a hook and bottle opener. Highly recommended.
• 5/5 from Martin Hutchinson, attended Nov 2024: Excellent half day introduction to blacksmithing. Sandy was a great teacher - friendly and encouraging.
• 5/5 from Sheena Ostrowski, attended Oct 2024: Metalwork session moulding hot metal on an anvil - made a bottle opener and a fire poker. Totally outwith anything I’ve ever done before. Great explanations and friendly supervision, with help when needed Can thoroughly recommend.
• 5/5 from Karim Dad, attended Aug 2024: Learnt a lot and very easy way to learn on technique for forging. My skill set will benefit from this course.
• 5/5 from Lauren, attended Jul 2024: We were in Edinburgh for our anniversary and took a private class with Sandy. We came in with no ideas and he and the team came up with a fantastic bespoke idea for us. Sandy was friendly and extremely helpful! He went through each step to ensure we understood and was there with each hammer to help guide us. We were able to complete our project and left feeling like we really accomplished something! I would recommend this class to anyone looking for a new challenge!
• 5/5 from Graham Fairgrieve, attended Jul 2024: I got this as. Christmas present from my daughters and had a great experience would recommend it
• 5/5 from Iris, attended Apr 2024: Had an amazing time at the introductory blacksmithing class with Sandy. Loved the hammering to create a bottle opener. We then created a fire poker. My favourite part was creating the swirly handle. I would definitely recommend the class. My partner and I left with smiling faces and a feeling of achievement, having crafted some useful tools for our home. Sandy was super helpful and friendly.
• 5/5 from Katie Omahoney, attended Apr 2024: Had a great time learning some basic techniques and crafting some cool pieces. (A bottle opener and wall hook) We learned so much and it was great value. Teacher was so friendly too. Would totally do this again, once my muscles have recovered
• 5/5 from Kajetan Stanski, attended Mar 2024: A relaxed atmosphere. The tutor was happy to answer any question about the whole workshop and to present how different machines work. I really enjoyed the experience.
• 5/5 from Murray, attended Dec 2023: A very fun time, in 5 hours we made a bottle opener and fire poker from scratch. I think good value for money - we started at 10 and kept going right through the day and Sandy very kindly let us run on an extra 40 minutes so we could finish properly. Highly recommend! Quite a workout though so have a big breakfast!
• 5/5 from Eszter Kalapos, attended Dec 2023: It was a really fun half day and well worth the money! I'm not a very strong woman so I had to ask for a bunch of lighter tools (I wish I did it at very start) but Sandy was fab and readily provided everything. Maybe bring some snacks and water to take a wee break in the middle, it's tiring work but super fun!
• 5/5 from Khaterine Castellano, attended Nov 2023: Our class with Alex was entertaining and a lot of fun. He took the time to teach us all his techniques, shared lots of stories and metaphors and allowed us to create bracelets because we were not able to bring the fire poker. We definitely recommend this class to anyone who would like to try blacksmithing.
• 5/5 from Graham Thom, attended Oct 2023: A great day out. Learned some new skills with a couple of nice class mates.
• 5/5 from Kirsty Holmes, attended Jul 2023: My two friends and I had a fantastic day at Athelstaneforge with Sandy. The time just flew by as we learned about the forging process. There was an excellent mix of instruction and hands on experience, and we would all recommend this option for a thoroughly enjoyable and very different day out.
• 5/5 from Craig Thomson, attended Jul 2023: I had a great time. The teacher is a working blacksmith who had ongoing projects in the workshop and who was happy to talk about the tools of the trade and answer any questions. Safety was clearly covered and very good instructions and individual support was given while making the two pieces on the beginners course. We were even shown how to safely use the blowtorch and bam bam the very large machine in the corner.
• 5/5 from Michelle Rae, attended Jul 2023: Great experience, good laugh and now have a true appreciation of the art of blacksmithery. We will be back X
• 5/5 from David Johnston, attended Jun 2023: A huge thanks to Sandy for our intro to Blacksmithing! My son (12 years old) and I had a fantastic day learning how to heat, bend and fashion metal into beautiful and useful objects! Sandy was quite simply a brilliant teacher and was particularly great with my son who has come away from the experience inspired and hungry for more! We’ll be back and I couldn’t recommend the day highly enough! Thanks again Sandy, David and James