Workshops

In this two week course, we will go deep into our past to explore a foundational relationship between humans and the earth. 3,000 years ago, at the end of the Bronze Age, the discovery of a new metal swept across the world. Iron changed everything. We will follow the footsteps of our ancestors and make iron from earth. 

Transformation will be our focus: wood into charcoal, clay into cob, rocks into metal. We will collect ore from the mountains (prepare for a night of camping in the remote forest and a difficult hike), build our furnace from scratch, and smelt our ore into bloom iron- a unique material which we will learn to work with and forge into objects of meaning. 

Along the way, we will discuss the history and science of these techniques, convert our iron into steel, and experience first hand the human labor and teamwork required to bring a simple piece of metal into being. We will reflect on questions that have no answers, and grapple with the double-edged role that iron has played in our own path over the millennia. In the end, we may find ourselves transformed, for our story is not separate from that of iron.

————————————————————————————————————-This workshop will involve complete immersion in the exploration of design, construction, and operation of the traditional shaft type Bloomery Furnace. Workshop participants will produce all of the charcoal onsite needed to fire the furnace. We will have a two-day field trip to collect the ore from an abandoned 19^th century iron mine high on the side of Elkhorn mountain, just east of the continental divide. Using this and other ores we will smelt our iron, delve into refining our bloom using 18^th century hearth techniques, and we will practice forging this unique material.

This class will also explore the history of pre-industrial iron production, and involve conversations on the role of iron in civilization, aiming at cultivating a deeply respectful relationship for this essential material that we too often take for granted.

Previous experience is not necessary, but please be aware that this is a very labor-intensive process.  As well, the hike to the ore location near Elkhorn is a fairly strenuous three-mile hike with a 1500 foot elevation gain.  Folks who don’t feel up to the actual ore gathering hike will be able to join us for the field trip and simply stay at our base camp.  The field trip will also involve stops at other locations connected to mining and smelting in Montana.