Adam’s Forge

GO! DO IT! It is a ton of fun, and not nearly as hard as you might think. I attended the discovery class this last weekend and had a great time. Not too expensive to try, and well worth it for a great afternoon of trying something new!

My husband and his buddy went up here for an intro to blacksmithing class. They had a really good time. The atmosphere was very friendly and comfortable, the instruction was thorough and helpful. At the end of the class, they both came home with barn hooks that they’d made themselves.
They enjoyed the class, we are all planning on going up with a bigger group and taking another class.

My girl and I went for my birthday. I have always wanted to give blacksmithing a try but she was nervous… It turned out to be a really fun time. The teacher, Scott, made sure of it.

I enjoyed the Discovery Day class, and have taken some more. My wife liked the steel rose, and I’m happy with the other projects as well. The instructors range from good to great, and there’s plenty of tools for each of the 12 student stations, although the stations are close enough that we have to work around each other at times.
For the reviewer complaining about prices, I looked at three other Southern California teaching smithys. They all have a beginners’ class of about half a day; their prices were $ 125, $ 40, and $ 10. Adam’s Forge isn’t the cheapest, but spending $ 30 more beats driving an extra two hours for me.

Is it just me or are their prices ridiculous? They charge $ 40+ for basic classes, where as every other blacksmithing school charges $ 5 – 10

Hot forges. Cold iron. You and a hammer!
Adam’s Forge teaches blacksmithing classes (and offers a place for people who already have experience to use a forge). You can sign up for their intro class («Discovery Day/​Night») — in fact, you have to — and then you’re ready to go with their classes on making knives, steel flowers… almost anything you can imagine.
The crowd for the first class I went to was skewed towards slightly geeky dudes, but there was an entire family of six there, too; the second class was more gender-​balanced, included a couple teenagers, and even had a 12-​year-​old kid (and his mom); I’d say anybody who can comfortably hold a hammer can easily do this. It’s fun to give it a whirl: even if you never plan on doing it again, hey, at least you can say you have some forging experience. And I have to say, after the intro class, it sounded like every single person there was clamoring to take more, so it wasn’t just me who enjoyed it.
For that first class, they actually do provide everything — you’ll need safety glasses/​goggles and earplugs, but if you don’t own a pair, you can borrow the (well-​used) shop ones. As for other equipment (leather gloves, apron, etc.), for the first class, at least, you do not need those. As you progress and make more complicated things and start to really work closely with the metal, apparently you do.
Oh, and one other note: this is a classroom-​setup; so it’s a series of tables, each with a small (maybe 16 inches by 10 inches) forge on it; so it’s super-​cool, but don’t think you’re going to be looking at the sword forge from Conan the Barbarian, here, either.
A few other notes:
— It’s located in a warehouse district, though a relatively nice one.
— Apparently this is a relatively new location and incarnation of a group that’s been around awhile.