What Can I Expect

Strike it hot on a blade smithing experience in Essex! Spend the day at the farm forge at Heybridge near Maldon, learning how to make your very own Viking knife!

This brilliant day out will see you working the knife steel using traditional tools and a coal-fired forge to make an all-metal knife. The style is based on first century Danish knives, as used by those terrible Vikings!

You can choose to sharpen the blade, so you can use your knife for cooking (it’s the perfect tool for BBQing!) or bushcraft, or you can leave it blunt and keep it as a rather lovely piece of bespoke decoration. It’s entirely up to you.

Working with the skilled blacksmiths, you’ll be working hard with the hammers and anvils to shape your knife from the red-glowing heated steel. You’ll also be discovering the secrets to tempering steel and how to create a rather stylish handle too.

In essence, you will be able to channel your inner Viking to create a thing of beauty in its simplicity - and something that can be used, admired or both.

These full-day, introductory courses to blade smithing in Essex take place on the farm forge near Maldon, on the edge of the River Blackwater. It’s a bucolic setting for a great experience, so roll those sleeves up and get stuck in to proudly forge your very first knife!

When Is It Available

• Weekdays throughout the year, with occasional weekend dates
• Sessions are generally available starting at 10:00