Hammer Making
Adult | Registration closed 12/1/2024
This class will provide an introduction to the tools and techniques used in forging your own hammer. Working together, students will forge a lump of steel into an elegant and functional tool. All aspects of the process; punching, drifting, forging, grinding and heat-treating will be covered. Students will also make handles and mount the forged head on them. Final finish and dressing of the tool will be covered as well. Each student can expect to make and take home at least one hammer of their choice (cross peen, straight peen or rounding) finished and ready to go to work.
Open to ages 16 and older.
There is a $4.00 registration fee included in tuition. Members will have the $4.00 fee deducted from tuition.
There is a $49.00 materials fee included in tuition.
**Please note that classes at Brookfield Craft Center must meet a minimum number of 2 registrations for the class to run. Students will be notified within a week's notice whether their class will be held. If the class is canceled due to low enrollment, students may request to be transferred to another class or be refunded in full.
* Safety Glasses must be worn and All Safety Guidelines followed *
* SAFETY FIRST*Closed toe shoes, Fitted sleeves, Long hair tied back*
Andrew Chapman
FIRE – METAL – VISION
Those three ingredients combine at the hands of Andrew Chapman to create works of metal artistry. Traditional blacksmithing techniques, using hammer and anvil, and artistic vision deeply rooted in modern sculpture work together in each of Chapman’s handmade works. Steel and copper, newly made or found object, all bend and flow under his hammer. He moves and molds the metal to his vision, making metal into all things imaginable. Leaves and branches from nature, well-crafted scrolls or classic motifs, and modern twists and turns that defy gravity all take shape on Chapman’s anvil. These pieces range from larger scale architectural elements and furniture to small, flowing table top sculpture and handheld objects. Each project shows the process and techniques learned during his 20+ years of experience. Chapman’s introduction to the field of metal began while earning his BFA in sculpture at the University of Cincinnati. Since then, he has zigzagged the country, working in custom metal shops from Texas to Michigan to Tennessee to North Carolina and now Connecticut . Learning and perfecting his craft at each stop. Homes across the country feature his works. Chapman has also added teacher to his list of skills, sharing his techniques and craftsmanship during group classes and as a featured smith during regional blacksmithing conferences. Andrew Chapman’s metal work continues a centuries old tradition in metal in the most modern of ways.