Forging for Beverages
Workshop Fee: $495.00
Bottle openers, anyone? Forging tools for fine craft brews opens up a wealth of opportunities for learning. We’ll make “working ends” with lots of different styles and techniques: classic & modern; big BBQ- sized & small pocket-sized; scrolled, punched, and sheared! Each style leaves room for your artistic handle designs. Folks with more experience can branch out into forged corkscrews (with minimal tooling!). Can you design a matched pair of bottle opener and corkscrew?
Our first designs will emphasize controlled tapers and scrolls as we work to get the geometry right for actually removing a bottle cap. A modern plastique-style design is both handsome and forgiving. A more traditional-looking design will push us to more controlled tapers and careful scrolling to achieve pleasing symmetry. And we get to twist the metal, which is always fun.
We’ll move onto designs that involve using top tools to punch or shear key parts of the opener. A ring-shaped opener pushes you to think more about where and how to move the metal, and leaves you with a blank-slate handle just begging for your artistic experiments. Then a riff on the classic ‘church key’ style opener will introduce using a special top tool for shearing a tongue in the middle of a blank. I’ll show you a nifty (but optional!) handle design with a reverse-twist that looks like carved wood.
I’ll finish off by teaching a ridiculously simple, nearly tool-free, method for forging great corkscrews. The core of that skill can be incredibly empowering in some (otherwise) tricky blacksmithing situations. If folks are interested, we might add a fifth bottle opener design. Or… see if you can apply the theory of opener geometry by inventing a whole new design!
Expect an emphasis on skills growth, efficient body mechanics, and good coal-fire management skills, along with some artistic riffing and experimenting. By the end of 3 days, you should be more versatile and confident at the anvil, and have a handful of great gifts for your favorite beverage aficionados!
Students should have had at least one previous blacksmithing class, and be comfortable using tongs while forging.
Skills and Techniques:
- Multiple basic bottle opener designs, with and without tooling
- Vital bottle opener geometry
- Bending and scrolling with control
- Hot cutting
- Controlled tapers
- Punching and drifting
- Shearing with a top tool
- Controlled twists; reverse twists
- Corkscrew with minimal tooling
- Working in higher-carbon steel
- Efficient and body-safe forging
- Better coal-fire management
Materials Fee: Included in the cost of the workshop.
Special Tools or Equipment: The farm makes available to students eye and ear protection, gloves, and aprons. Comfortable closed toed shoes and street clothes are recommended.
Please bring your favorite PPE, hammer, and small hand tools, if you have them! (Don’t worry if you don’t-). A notebook and measuring stick are always a good idea. The instructor will bring bottles and corks to test the operation of your creations.
Workshop Policies: Please be sure to read our 2025 policies before you register for a workshop which can be found here Workshop Policies
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