Last week in Mississippi | Blacksmith Show and Tell | Forum

It was very cool that our stays overlapped a little bit and we got to meet face-to-face; the end of my week with them marked the start of yours.

I'll echo a little of what Rashelle said above- this really is an amazing experience. I can think of no other opportunity in any pastime- sports, music, etc. where you can get 9-10 hours a day of 1:1 (or sometimes 2:1) hands-on training from an expert in the field for a full week.

It really is an immersive experience. Karen takes care of everything for you not directly related to blacksmithing- the class fees include a place to stay and all meals. Karen not only feeds you, but she takes care of sundry tasks like laundry so you can "pack light" for the trip to leave room to haul tools home. (as it was, I still needed to check two bags on the way home so as to keep them below the 50 lb limit!)

As a result, you get up in the morning, have breakfast at 7 am, and start smithing. You take a break for lunch at noon, then continue smithing until dinner at 6-ish. After dinner, you can go back out and smith- and though class is officially over for the day at that point, Ed was more than happy to come back out there with me and hang out/offer advice and suggestions while I worked.

I would encourage anyone, at any skill level, to book a week with the Brazeals- go become part of their family for a week and immerse yourself in some intense training. I know I learned a heck of a lot, and I'm looking forward to sharing it with the Camp Hahobas blacksmith staff, as well as anyone else that I can. Like Rashelle, I have a lot of notes I took during class that I'm referring back to quite a bit. I spent half the class (3.5 days) making tools and going through the class curriculum, then the last half of the class (the remaining 3.5 days) working on learning techniques. They were very flexible and adaptive, and were great about working with me, asking "what would you like to learn?"

In addition to demonstrating techniques, and coaching me as I worked, Ed had me do some drills- for example, making a scroll on a bar, then cutting it off and making another, then cutting it off and making another. He'd film me on his iPad, then we'd watch my "game footage" together and discuss where I did things right, and where I needed improvement.

It's truly a fantastic opportunity, and while it may be a year or more before I can get that much time off work again, I plan to return.