Winter Fundraising Classes – January 2024
By signing up for one of CFI’s classes this January, you help the club and its mission of supporting and growing the blacksmithing community in and around Spokane. Thank you! Our volunteer instructors generously donate their time to teach, and these classes have been a wonderful kickoff to a new year of forging together!
Sculpted Bottle Opener with Chris Kerney
Saturday, January 6, 2024 10:00 AM – 02:00 PM
$65, 4-hour class
CLASS IS FULL
Use hot punching hand tools and hammer and anvil to create your own unique bottle opener!
Railroad Spike Knife Class with David Corn
Saturday, January 13, 2024 10:00 AM – 05:00 PM
Saturday, January 20, 2024 10:00 AM – 05:00 PM
$100, 7-hour class
CLASS IS FULL
Forge, harden, and sharpen a railroad spike knife with a twisted handle.
Fused Glass & Steel Roasting Skewer Class with Mallory Battista
Saturday, January 13, 2024 Noon – 04:00 PM
$65, 4-hour class
CLASS IS FULL
Forge a unique roasting skewer with a coil twist handle and a fused glass pommel. Several colors of flat marbles to choose from, or feel free to bring your own glass marble. Feel fancy while roasting marshmallows or hotdogs over the fire this winter!
Garden Spade Class with Zach Robins
Saturday, January 20, 2024 Noon – 04:00 PM
$65, 4-hour class
CLASS IS FULL
Forge your own sturdy garden spade from a steel pipe!
ABOUT CHRIS
“For as far back as I can remember I have been driven to create art. I have never been able to settle with just one craft so I’ve accumulated a lot of skills and often shift gears at the drop of a hat. That being said there has always been one constant, the tools and hardware that are used for most crafts can be and have historically been smithed. For years I did things the hard way, making tools parts and even art using a wood stove or a torch, working at low temperature and only making one or two things for a project and not really thinking about it as blacksmithing. Eventually I bought a propane forge and planned on making all new woodworking hand tools. Working with real heat and seeing the potential of having a real smithy set up I was absolutely hooked and found myself out at the forge every day with new ideas and a new passion for the craft of blacksmithing that exceeded all other crafts I had done. At this point, I am a jack of many trades on my way to being a master of one. Blacksmithing to me is the most rewarding and historically relevant trade there is and I kick myself everyday for not taking it serious 20+ years ago. I absolutely love teaching what I have learned to anyone who will listen and hope to leave an impression on the future generations of blacksmiths to come.”
ABOUT DAVID
“After cooking for most of my life, at home and professionally, I stumbled into the idea that I could make my own chef’s knives. In 2013 after some research I jumped down that rabbit hole head first and have not come up for air yet. The last nine years have been spent exploring, trying, and experimenting with every technique I could find or think of. In 2019 my friend Steve McGrew introduced me to teaching which turned out to be an incredible experience and very inspiring. Starting people on the path of bladesmithing and keeping our now thriving art growing has become very important to me.”
ABOUT MALLORY
“I am a visual artist, and I have been blacksmithing since 2014. I create many different kinds of art, but forging steel is something that captures my imagination and keeps me interested like no other. I enjoy forging whimsical and organic shapes out of steel, and incorporating colored glass has been something I have wanted to play with for a long time. Teaching blacksmithing to beginners is one of my favorite things, and I always look forward to seeing what unique things other craftspeople dream up. I love the comradery of CFI and have met so many wonderful people and learned so much while volunteering here.”
ABOUT ZACH
“As cliché as it sounds I stumbled on blacksmithing/blade smithing through a TV show I’m sure you have all seen. My life journey has led me to far off lands where many of my Brothers never returned home to see their families again. This left me with a great sense of loss and anger. Like others in our blacksmithing community I have dabbled in many “hobbies” looking for something but not sure what it was. I found that something in bladesmithing. There is something symbolic in taking a chunk of metal and under great heat and pressure making it into something not only useful but pleasing to the eye. I have found peace within the hammers blow. Now I do my best to share the peace, knowledge and joy I have found in the world of blacksmithing with others.”