The first sculpture for CMA’s campus was completed during Hot Rivets: A Collaborative Sculpture workshop taught by Steve Howell @ballardforge. The pictures above and below are of the sculpture from our first week long workshop. We are very excited by the addition to our campus as well as the success of the class.
Refurbishing of the First Steam Hammer
One of the main reasons we moved to Johnstown and what initially attracted us to the sight was the preserved collection of large scale forging hammers and accompanying hand tools. Our mission is to preserve and grow this historic art in our Johnstown location by refurbishing these tools and equipment and making them accessible to the artist blacksmith community who otherwise might not have access to industrial scale forging equipment. Thanks to the hard work of CMA staff and a generous donation by Gregg Glosser of Glosser Steel, we were able to refurbish one of the large steam hammers in the Blacksmith shop and run it on compressed air. This 3,000 pound power hammer was last operated twenty seven years ago. The picture in black and white shows the power hammer in operation 1987. The picture beside it was taken May 2019 during its first operation under CMA’s care . This is a large milestone for us and we are excited for the next steps in refurbishment of the historical blacksmith shop.
Fall Workshops Openings
We still have some room in our fall workshops! The below are a small selection of some of the workshops that still have openings. For our full workshop listing or to sign-up for a workshop, visit our website.
Toolmaking for the Metalsmith
This two-day workshop is perfect for metalsmiths who are interested in learning how to make their own forged tools. During this basic tool making workshop, attendees can expect to forge, finish, and heat treat an 8oz cross peen hammer, center punch, and scribe.More Details.
Forging a Meat Fork
In this one day workshop, students will learn how to taper, isolate, rivet, and move steel by hand forging at the anvil. The foundation of this class will be about basic techniques that show the plasticity and capability forged steel can have. More Details.
Tong Making
This workshop is jam packed with hand forging skill development, involves lots of small subtle steps and nuances, and moves quickly. More important than walking away with one or two pair of functional tongs, you will learn the skills and gain the confidence to go home or to another shop and continue to make tongs of all varieties and grow your toolset. More Details.
Tools for the Kitchen
This workshop will focus on the use of forged steel and formed brass to create beautiful, functional kitchenware. Students will be exposed to two different studios splitting time between blacksmithing and metalsmithing. Handle design, basic forging and forming steel will be covered in blacksmithing. Forming, fabricating, riveting, and planishing brass will be covered in metalsmithing. Students will have the opportunity to make both a ladle and a spatula. This is an excellent opportunity to learn a broad range of metalworking techniques and is open to all skill levels.
More Details.
