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.

2024 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 normally required
  in order to register for the One-to-one Course. We can make allowances for individual
  circumstances.
• Minimum age for students is 12 years

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.

David Brandow

David Brandow has been blacksmithing since 2008 and runs his own part-time blacksmithing business, FireSword Forge. David has taught many students over the years at his home shop, and demonstrates many times each year at various fairs and events across the province. David spent several years on the executive of the Ontario Artists Blacksmith Association.

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.

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 send an email to waldieblacksmithcoordinator@gmail.com.

Cancellations and Refunds Policy

Students who register for classes can cancel for a full refund up to 14 days before the scheduled class date.

Please understand that we have purchased supplies, materials and booked time with our instructors for these courses, which is not recoverable beyond the 14 days – thus NO REFUNDS are possible.

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.
  • Please bring your own leather gloves.
  • Do not attend the blacksmith course if you are feeling unwell.

Blacksmith Course Outlines 2024

You can also buy Gift Certificates for Blacksmith Courses.