2 day axe making course

Angela reviewed: 2 day axe making course

"My 16 yr old daughter has just made a fantastic axe incorporating her own ideas into the design over the last 2 days with fabulous instruction form both Gary and Josh. A very friendly, welcoming and helpful team. They gave her clear instructions and knew exactly when to let her get on with it, when to check her progress and when to help. It was a pleasure to be able to watch her take a small rectangle of metal and use numerous processes to end up with a fully functioning axe. She thoroughly enjoyed the course and is proud of what her hard work has achieved. No doubt we will be booking another course with them. Highly recommended. "

Mikkel reviewed: 2 day axe making course

"Having finished first day of the 2 day axe making course and it's been brilliant. Now in my hotel room and can't wait to get back there tomorrow to finish my axe. Highly recommended."

Jack reviewed: 2 day axe making course

"It was an awesome weekend. Joss is a great teacher. He let me do the majority of the work with helpful input all the way through, especially on some of the trickier grinding and polishing parts. I'd definitely come back and do it again. Thanks Joss and Gary!"

Friargate Forge responded:

"Was a pleasure meeting you you did really well thanks for coming. Gary+Joss"

Michael McCarthy reviewed: 2 day axe making course

"Had an absolutely brilliant time up at the forge a couple weeks ago making a Damascus steel axe. The axe came out beautifully and it’s really clear Joss and Gary are absolute professionals. I’d have paid the money just to watch them work but they were excellent and showing you how to get stuck in and do as much of the work as u can even as a beginner. Would definitely recommend this to anyone from one person interested in learning the skills or bigger groups looking for a fun few days. Will definitely be going back at some point in the future."

Owen reviewed: 2 day axe making course

"We had a great time on the 2 day axe-making course. The guys were great teachers, being patient, supportive and encouraging and always happy to help. And most importantly fun - we were all friends within hours. A really good experience!"

James McCubbin reviewed: 2 day axe making course

"I did this course for my stag do with 9 other mates. The team at Friargate forge were no less than excellent, we all made our own individual axes and alongside good banter and generally the friargate team being a group of really cool guys we all got some truly excellent 1:1 coaching on blacksmithing. We all feel like we've come away with a news skills, something to keep and experience we'll all cherish. A number of us are already looking at times we can return for more. I cannot reccomenend Friargate forge, Gary and the team enough. Huge thanks Gary!!!"

Fred reviewed: 2 day axe making course

"This course is definitely worth your time and money, for reasons you might not think... Gary and his team were attentive, enthusiastic and positive throughout the pandemic. Our booking was kept and moved, never was it suggested we cancel. As soon as it was possible, we (group of 10) had been fit in. I felt I knew him well before even meeting him. The course is absolutely brilliant value. The feeling of learning anything new is a lovely one. The feeling of learning something totally new whilst creating a beautiful, practical tool is the best. You are paying less than £20 an hour for direct coaching and tuition to achieve a goal with instant, tangible results. Machines that at first seem alien, dangerous and intimidating will soon become familiar, dangerous and intimidating. You will take a piece of metal about the size of a snickers and turn it into a beautiful axe over two days. The result will be a unique representation of two days of hard work and learning. Whilst you concentrate on how to step down, fuller, flatten, fire weld, power hammer, temper, grind and hang your axe, the most amazing thing happens - you think about NOTHING else. I forgot about covid, the state of the world, my dog, my son, my partner, my family, work, possessions, obligations etc. You focus 100% on a glowing, growing orange piece of metal that turns into a glistening axe for 2 days. In doing so, you focus on yourself. It is almost meditative. You make a sharp thing to play with when you get home but the process was, for me at least, really valuable and special. Gary and his team are clearly very close, almost telepathic. They know what needs doing next, they have a sense of who needs help next. In a place that looks like a hot, dirty, intimidating torture chamber, there is an organised harmony that is a pleasure to see. Better still, is that you instantly feel a welcomed, valued and important member of this team. The instruction is clear, very clear: "I'll stop drawing and hit stuff with a hammer; I'm better at that!" The combination of theory, demonstration, coaching, humour, seriousness and letting you loose is perfect. At no point did I feel like I would be allowed to ruin my axe yet I also felt I had a good amount of unsupervised autonomy. Odd though it is to say, even if I had ruined my axe, the weekend would still have been completely worthwhile to spend time with Gary and his team - they are that good! The course was part of a stag weekend. I can highly recommend it. If you are fed up of liver damage and being banned from whichever country you visit, try this. Once the noise and the heat of the day abate, nobody really has time, energy or ego to want to get drunk and stupid. You'll want to eat, rehydrate and process what you've been doing. Despite being hot and tired, you probably won't even want to leave. Whether for a stag, a treat, a mega corporate weekend or your mental health, this weekend will be some of the best money you ever spend. Do it."

Olly Kinsey reviewed: 2 day axe making course

"Spent 2 days creating a tomahawk axe with Gary and his team as part of a stag weekend. To say it was excellent is an understatement! Gary and his team were such a great bunch, they allowed us to just crack on with a great balance of minimal supervision whilst also ensuring that as a complete novice i didn’t end up with an awful axe. They were so knowledgable and the skill they have is just unreal! Other than the actual axe making and fantastic team, they kept us all entertained put on some great food and there was never a moment you felt that you couldn’t be doing something. Would highly recommend!"