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Blacksmithed Spoons and Ladles w/ Tod Kershaw
March 8 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
About the Workshop: Blacksmithed Spoons and Ladles
Back by popular demand, and led by our always entertaining Tod Kershaw, engineer turned off-grid dumpster diver extraordinaire! In this Blacksmithing class, Todd will walk us through the ins and outs of DIY Blacksmithing, how to forage for metal in the scrap heaps, and so much more! This class will empower students to find metal, tools & fuel, and teach you what to do with it. All of the materials in the class will be 100% found, foraged, reclaimed & reused…even the coal.
In this class, students will create a beautiful and functional steel serving spoon or ladle through the process of Blacksmithing. We’ll start by blacksmithing the handle out of the thick wire ties used to bundle rebar; next we’ll cut out the bowl of the spoon from reclaimed pieces of sheet metal, then swage it into a form. Finally, students will make rivets (copper from salvaged electrical wire or aluminum from transmission wire brought down by hurricane Helene–there’s a lot of that!), then join the bowl to the handle, completing their masterpiece!
Participants will:
- identify useful materials including types of metals and fuels
- learn how to extract and process these materials
- learn basic Blacksmithing techniques including metalworking and coal fire tending
- learn basic cold swaging techniques
- learn basic riveting
- learn to use various hand tools
- complete a beautiful and functioning serving spoon or ladle to be proud of!
This class will be held outdoors on Saturday, March 8th, 2025, from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm near Barnardsville, NC.
This class is suitable for both intermediate blacksmiths and beginners alike! The minimum age is 14.
About the Instructor: Tod Kershaw
My father told me that when I was very young he took me to a craft gathering and I spent the entire time hanging around and pestering the blacksmith. Years later I worked as a professional welder and enjoyed working with hot metal. Then, around 35 years old I went to a gathering like Firefly and hung around the blacksmith the whole time. Then I started doing it myself.
One thing that draws me to this craft is that it can be done almost entirely with scavenged materials. I like scavenging. And with relatively little experience or money one can create beautiful and useful things.
Equitable Pricing Model $130 – $55
* Please click here to learn about your pricing options before you register for your first Perennial Workshop. The pricing options are the same for all events, so you only need to do it once!
In order to make our workshops more accessible, we offer two price options for each class, with an additional Equity Discount for qualifying individuals. Please consider these options and select your price at checkout.
- Sponsor Price $130: For those who have enough to share, thank you for being a Sponsor. This is an opportunity to contribute towards the cost of the class for someone else.
- Standard Price $90: The Standard reflects one person’s share of what it costs to produce the class and cover basic expenses.
- Equity Discount $55: We offer an additional Equity Discount for those from the following communities who support reparations and/or an equitable redistribution of wealth and would not have access to this workshop without this discount:
- Indigenous or Native American, Black, Latino/a/x
- Other peoples of the global majority, or racialized communities
- Ethnicities underrepresented in the Southeastern earthskills community
Thank you for helping transform the world into a culture of abundance, resilience, and opportunity for all.
Which Price Option is Right for You?*
*Please check your pricing options before you register for your first Perennial Workshop. The pricing options are the same for all events, so you only need to do it once!
