Hand Forged Colonial Camp Axe with Forged in Fire Champion Mark Sperry
SPLIT PAY IS AVAILABLE THROUGH CHECKOUT ON THIS ITEM!! 4 equal payments !!
In this intensive 3 Day Workshop students will create from scratch-to chopping wood, a colonial style camp axe.
The class will entail a folded steel axe head with forge welded high carbon bit and scratch made handle. Forged In Fire Champion(S5E18) and Colonial Williamsburg Smith Mark Sperry will be leading students to successful completion of the camp axe to include: proper forging techniques, forge welding, heat treatment, fitting and finishing the handle with emphasis on mostly hand work. He will be assisted by George Cramer (owner of the Village Blacksmith, Discovery Channel’s Master of Arms Champion S1E7, and Nat Geo’s Drain the Oceans S3E7).
**SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE (some forging experience recommended )
What: Hand Forged Camp Axe Workshop
Where: Village Blacksmith 6641 Gloucester Street Gloucester, VA 23061
When: Father’s Day Weekend June 16,17,18
9:30 AM- 4PM ish all days
Why: To Challenge yourself and instill the knowledge to create something from nothing with your bare hands that lasts generations and is of the utmost useful quality, applicable to both pre and post apocalypse scenarios and… also to create a useful tool to go camping.
What is provided?
Class Admission & Elevation in Society
Personal Pair of safety Glasses (students get to keep)
Pair of tong clamps, students gets to keep
All Tooling, materials, and safety gear needed for the class to create “axe magic”
Lunch for all three days, light refreshments and coffee
Memories and skills for a lifetime.
Requirements
Since this is an intermediate level course it is recommended that students have prior forging knowledge to get the most out of the course. Students who have completed our 1 or 3 day basic Blacksmithing class or alike are adequately prepared for this 3 day intensive workshop.
Leather boots (steel toe preferred)
Cotton based clothing preferred
Students can bring their own safety gear and tools with them if they wish
Desire and willingness to learn
Strong work ethic
Strong sense of humor (any students not displaying sense of humor maybe subject of testing of axe)
Refund policy: Because of the the complexities and logistics involved, these axe classes cannot and will not be able to be rescheduled or transferred to another class. Therefore, a full refund will be issued (minus a $50 restocking fee) if given at minimum 30 days notice. If given less than 30 days notice a non refundable $200 restocking fee will be applied. No shows are non refundable.
Teams
Teams of 2 can share an anvil with the creation of 1 axe per team for an additional $75 per person. (For example: A Father - Son team would pay a total of $700 to both partake in the class and share tools to create 1 axe as a team to keep costs down)
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Mark Sperry
Mark has been a smith at Colonial Williamsburg’s Anderson Blacksmith shop for nearly 22 years. The Anderson Blacksmith shop is revered for its hi-caliber artisans worldwide. The artisans there are tasked with the authentic creation of period pieces from colonial America utilizing only period techniques and tools. In addition, Mark has a prior lengthy service record in the field of metal work before his time at CW and has a substantial portfolio of work for private clients. In 2018, Mark was selected to be a competitor on History Channel’s Forged in Fire S5E18 the Russian pioneer sword. After the dust had cleared from brutal testing, Mark emerged as the sole winner of the contest and was crowned FIF Champion and received a $10,000.00 prize. Mark has also passed his practical performance destructive testing to become a Journeyman Bladesmith (JS) with the AMERICAN BLADESMITH SOCIETY of current there are only 220 in the world. He is expected to receive his J.S. stamp in 2023. Mark in 2022 was voted in by his peers to serve on the board of the Artist-Blacksmith’s Association of North America. ABANA is a 501c3 nonprofit entity dedicated to perpetuation of the art and craft of blacksmithing and is the premier authority of excellence and education in the craft in North America.
George Cramer
George is the owner and craftsman behind the Village Blacksmith. He has over 18 years blacksmithing experience and over 26 all together in the metals industry. He is an award winning business owner, artist and craftsman having won Discovery Channel’s Master of Arms competition S1E7 Arbalest Crossbow IN 2018. He has done work for the NPS, film industry, corporations and private clients. He served in the U.S. Navy as a metal worker and later became a welding instructor at a technical college before starting the Village Blacksmith, LLC. He teaches classes at his forge of which he has taught in excess of 500 students the craft of blacksmithing since 2015.