Bladesmithing: San Mai Blade
A traditional Japanese knife making process
Service Description
UPCOMING CLASSES: SATURDAY & SUNDAY, MARCH 22-23, 9:30 AM - 6:30 PM In this class, we take a step into more advanced bladesmithing practices by learning how to forge weld steel into a San Mai pattern! San Mai is a Japanese bladesmithing practice that has been used for hundreds of years, originally designed to preserve precious high quality steel so that it is used only along the edge of a knife. Over the course of 2 full days, we will learn the fundamentals of forge welding, how to increase your chances of a successful weld, along with all it takes to produce a high quality, handmade chef knife. We will forge, grind, heat treat, polish and handle-sculpt everything by hand and, with some diligence, you will walk home with your own kiritsuke-style petty chef by the end of it. Akiva recommends taking either the bushcraft, stock removal, or petty chef class in order to improve your chances of taking home something truly high quality. There will be extensive forging and grinding required so come prepared. Akiva recommends bringing earbuds for your time at the grinder. Akiva has been forging for 10 years now, and works primarily as a bladesmith. With a specialty in forged-finish culinary knives, Akiva takes a lot of inspiration from Japanese methodology and tradition, along with his own personal taste for compound curves, forge texture, and sculpted handles. As a full time bladesmith, Akiva forges, grinds, polishes and handles sculpts each knife individually. His knives can be found at purveyors like Element Knife Co, Carbon Knife co, and have been featured on Tasting History with Max Miller. Akiva also has experience in the architectural/decorative blacksmithing world, having worked with Otto Engel of innovation forge on large scale forged railings and decorative elements. Outside of work, Akiva loves camping, fencing, history, fantasy books, anything with peanut butter or chocolate, and supporting his roller derby wife! LEVEL: Intermediate/Advanced PRE-REQUISITES: Bladesmithing: Integral Camp Knife OR Bush-Craft Knife OR Petty Chef's Knife OPEN STUDIO QUALIFIER: Yes DURATION: 2 DAYS (16 hours approx.) Saturday 9:00am - 12:30pm LUNCH 12:30 - 2pm 2 - 6pm Sunday 9:00am - 12:30pm LUNCH 12:30 - 2pm 2 - 6pm CAPACITY: 6 people AGES: 14+
Upcoming Sessions
Rules and Policies
At Hardy & Fuller, we strive to provide a safe and inclusive space for all of our customers. We reserve the right to refuse service to any person for any reason, especially if the individual is racist, aggressive or bigoted towards LGBTQ+ persons. Our classes are scheduled for specific lengths of time that we found to be the most optimal for student success. Each student is different, therefore we have provided some flexibility at the end of classes to stay for 30 minutes to allow students to finish projects. We cannot stay past the extra 30 minutes, as our schedule is tightly packed. If we do not think you will finish in that time, we will let you know your options for attending Open Studio to finish the project. Thank you for understanding. For specialty classes, cancellations must take place at least 72 hours in advance for a full refund. No exceptions. These 72 hours are the 3 days before the class, as I do not allow last minute sign ups on the day of the class. For clarification, this means if your class is on a Sunday at 3pm, then you must cancel on the WEDNESDAY of that week, not Thursday before 3pm. This way, we will be able to fill the spot that has opened up. This class is held irregularly, and therefore rescheduling will not be available. This class has a 2 person minimum to meet our costs. We reserve the right to cancel this class at any time. A full refund will be given to all persons that have signed up for a class that has been cancelled. These policies allow us to pay our specialty teachers a higher wage that matches their years of expertise that they will be sharing with you during this class. Thank you for understanding and we look forward to stoking the flames with you!