The Waldie Blacksmith Shop is a unique historic living museum. In 1865, the Waldie Blacksmith Shop opened its doors for business at this location. Our blacksmith courses are focused on historical techniques and projects and are held at this historic shop at 16 James St in downtown Milton, just north of Main.

2020 Courses

Course Offerings and Prerequisites

We are offering a wide range of blacksmith courses. In addition to the Beginner and Intermediate Courses, we are also offering some specialty courses as well as one-to-one learning with one of our blacksmiths. Register early to get a place!

Prerequisites:

• Beginner Level or previous experience is required for the Intermediate Level Course.
• Completion of both the Beginner and Intermediate Level courses is required in order to register for the One-to-one Course.

As individual courses are filled, the Blacksmith Coordinator works with the Blacksmiths to see if additional courses can be added. There is no guarantee of new courses, but we encourage you to check back at this page to see if new courses have been added.

Instructors

We have two teams of instructors and provide two instructors for each course:

Darwyne Hourie

Darwyne Hourie has been a blacksmith since 1996 and has taught blacksmith classes for over 15 years at the Waldie Blacksmith Shop.  Darwyne specializes in traditional blacksmithing. He also demonstrates at the Scugog Shores Museum and Village Blacksmith Shop and has taught blacksmithing at the Pickering Village Museum. Darwyne is a long-time member of the Ontario Artists Blacksmith Association.

Jonathan Miller

Jonathan Miller graduated from the Artist Blacksmith program at the Haliburton School of Art and Design in 2016. After graduating he and three of his classmates opened a forge in Toronto called Blacksmith Assembled where they could continue to work on their skills and further their knowledge of blacksmithing while sharing their passion. Jonathan volunteers at the Waldie Blacksmith shop doing the demonstrations during the farmers market and is an active member of the Ontario Artist Blacksmith Association. Jonathan’s work can range from furniture and sculptural pieces to knives and camp axes in traditional blacksmithing.

Mike Armstrong and Megan Carter

Armstrong and Carter Ironworks is an artist blacksmithing business owned and operated by Mike Armstrong and Megan Carter.  They both studied artist blacksmithing at Haliburton School of The Arts in 2010.  In 2012, they combined their skills and efforts to open their own shop in Georgetown, Ontario.  Their work ranges from architectural ironwork to furniture, sculpture, functional tools, door hardware and copperwork.  They continue their studies through courses with more experienced blacksmiths and by staying involved with their local blacksmithing chapter – the Ontario Artist Blacksmith Association.  During the summer they can be found selling their work at the Georgetown Farmers’ Market.

Registration Information

Registration and payment

• To confirm a spot in a blacksmith course, you must complete the online registration form and prepay the course fee.
• If you are unable to use this form or need to pay by other means, please contact Bruce Carlin at bdcarlin@gmail.com.

Cancellations and refunds

Safety guidelines

• All students must read the Shop Safety Guidelines and sign the Waiver Form; these documents will be provided via email once your online registration is complete.
• Students will be be on their feet and require stamina to be able to swing a hammer. The environment includes working with hot steel and near a forge which emits heat and smoke.  If you are not used to hammering, we suggest you prepare for this course by practising hammering while wearing eye protection.

Blacksmith Course Outlines 2020