If you’ve been looking at blacksmith experience days and thinking “but what do you actually do?” — this is for you. I’m Mike, the blacksmith behind Soulful Iron, and I run Blacksmithing and Knife making (and soon, Axe Making) experience days from my forge in Stroud, in the heart of the Cotswolds. So I can tell you exactly what happens, because I’m the one running them.
The short version: you arrive, you learn, you make something real with your own hands, and you leave with a piece of forged metalwork you created yourself. Oh, and you have great fun!
It’s physical, it can be surprisingly meditative, and so far, EVERYONE has left with a big smile of their face an a sense of achievement. Here’s the longer version.
What you’ll actually be doing on the day
A blacksmith experience day is hands-on from start to finish. You’re not just watching me work — you’re working. I spend the first 15 mins or so going through the basics: health an safety, using the forge and hand tools, hammer selection, and how to hold & use a hammer properly. Which, if you’ve never done it, is not as obvious as it sounds — and getting it wrong is the quickest route to a sore wrist or elbow!
We use a gas forge to heat your steel to working temperature — around 1,200°C to 1,400°C for mild steel, which is the material we use on beginners Blacksmithing days, and on knife making days we use 1084 high carbon steel. At that temperature, steel moves. You can draw it out, bend it, twist it, and shape it in ways that feel almost magical until you’ve done it a few times. Then it just feels like craft.
The anvil and hammer do the heavy lifting; your job is directing the energy. By the end of the day, you’ll have forged something from raw steel bar stock — and you’ll understand, in a way you can’t from watching Forging in Fire or YouTube videos, what Blacksmithing is really like.
What will you make?
This depends on the experience you book and how quickly you get comfortable at the forge. On a general blacksmith experience day, we first forge a hook, as these teach many of the basic techniques you’ll need to make a variety of other things.
After a hook, we go on to forge a poker, or handle, or pendant etc. These aren’t just beginner projects for the sake of it: they teach the core techniques (drawing out, bending, finishing) in a way that builds confidence without overwhelming you on your first day.
On the knife making course(s), we obviously forge knives. And in the up-coming axe making courses, we’ll make… Axes!
Everything you make, you take home. It’s yours, you made it.
Do you need any experience to do a blacksmith experience day?
None. Genuinely, none. I’ve had guests who’ve hardly ever picked up a hammer in their life and guests who work with metal professionally – and the experience works well for all of them, just in different ways.
Blacksmithing isn’t just about strength. It’s about technique, timing, and reading the heat in the steel. I’ll teach you all of that on the day. What helps more than anything is being willing to have a go and not being afraid of making mistakes — because you will make mistakes (I do!), and that’s exactly how you learn.
I keep sessions small deliberately (maximum of 6 people for adult sessions), so you get proper time with me at the forge rather than watching from the back of a group while I do the interesting bits. You’re learning a real skill. That takes real attention.
What does a day at the forge actually feel like?
I’m not going to pretend it’s a quiet, gentle afternoon. The forge is loud — the gas burner roaring, the hammer ringing on the anvil. Everything is warm.
But it’s not overwhelming. It’s one of those environments that becomes completely consuming in the best possible way. People who arrive anxious tend to leave looking stunned at what they’ve achieved. There’s something genuinely primal about working with fire and metal — it taps into something most of us never get to touch in everyday life.
I’ve had guests describe it as meditative. I’ve also had guests describe it as “much harder than it looks on YouTube”, which is fair. What I can tell you is that nobody has left disappointed yet.
Is a blacksmith experience day a good gift idea?
I think so! Experience days make brilliant presents because they’re different, it’s not something they’ll forget the way they forget a bottle of wine or another Amazon voucher!
I see a lot of birthday gifts, anniversary gifts, Father’s Day presents, and milestone celebrations come through the forge. Vouchers are vali for a year, which means the recipient picks their own date, removing the guesswork of trying to choose a date for someone else.
If you’re looking for an anniversary gift specifically, iron is the traditional material for a sixth wedding anniversary. Something hand-forged carries a bit more weight than a bunch of flowers, literally and figuratively. I also make hand-forged iron anniversary gifts if you’d like something made to order rather than booking an experience.
Blacksmith experience days in the Cotswolds — where I’m based
I’m based in Slad, Stroud, Gloucestershire (in the lovely Cotswolds). If wondering ‘is there a blacksmith experience near me’ and you’re in the South West, the Midlands, or anywhere within a couple of hours of the Cotswolds, I’m not far away.
If you’d like to see what’s available and book a date, head over to my experience days page.