Classes
The Artist-Blacksmith’s Association of North America provides training opportunities in various ways such as hosting conferences, providing funding for local demonstrations, working with ABANA affiliate organizations to provide hands-on training using the National Curriculum, and by hosting online tutorials and/or coaching sessions.
Ongoing Classes
The Bear’s Head Class consists of 3 Zoom sessions which demonstrate forging a bear head, the tooling required, and then a final session demonstrating additional heads. Recordings of each session will be made available to all registered participants generally within a week (sometimes sooner) of the initial session.
- November 18, 2022: National Curriculum Instructor, Mark Aspery, will give a presentation on how to forge a Darryl Nelson-style bear’s head from square stock.
- November 21, 2022: Victoria Ritter and John Williams, both National Curriculum Instructors, will discuss the tooling required for the forging of the bear head and how to make those tools.
- January 2023 (Date TBD): Bealer Award winner, Darryl Nelson, will give a demonstration showing how to forge 5 additional heads.
This class is currently in session, therefore registration is closed.
Mark Aspery forging a Darryl Nelson Style Bear’s Head
Previous
This course featured 5 Zoom Tutorials delivered by ABANA-certified National Curriculum Instructors. The class covered all aspects of the Level II curriculum and grille production including: measurements, transferring drawings, forging scrolls, square corners, collaring, grille assembly, metallurgy, and more! The 2-hour tutorials were held once a month from June 2022 to October 2022. Small-group coaching sessions occurred in between the tutorials with an assigned instructor to provide tips, troubleshooting, and focused feedback. The teaching team consisted of Mark Aspery, Frank Annighofer, Russ Evertz, Victoria Ritter, and Becky Schimpff.
