Sat. & Sun., September 22 & 23, 9AM-4PM, Knife Making Class at Newfield

Saturday & Sunday, September 22 & 23, 9AM-4PM, Knife Making Class at Newfield

Knife Making Class at Curran Homestead Village at Newfield, 70 Elm St., Newfield, ME.  Instructor Frank Vivier assists you making your first knife and starting on the road to mastering this satisfying craft in a weekend. This is both an opportunity for beginners and intermediate level knife makers. Using propane fired forges, cut and shape a blade and tang from spring steel. Use a combination of hand files, grinders, and belt sanders. Quench harden using a coal fired forge and oven temper knives. Create hardwood handle scales with brass rivets. Epoxy and finish sand to satisfaction walking away with a nearly completed knife. Materials and tools provided. Tuition: $225. Pay to register, Discount for returning students. First come, first serve. Limited to 5. Call: (207) 205-4849, Visit: curranhomestead.org

This class has been given since 2013 at the Newfield museum and has evolved:

Formerly Willowbrook Museum's "Horse-stock Building", this smithy was used largely for a static exhibit. The horse-stock was removed crating a large space for other anvils and propane fired forges. This building is the site of our current knife making classes, although we have had smaller classes held in the Tom Flagg Smithy depicted below.

This smithy was actually moved from a farm in Lincolnville, Maine. It was constructed by 17 year old Tom Flagg in 1935. Flagg inherited many tools from previous generations as well as well as acquired many of his home. The collection of tools includes many hand-forged hammers, drifts, cuts, and tongs either made by Flagg or previous generations of his family. The anvil stand is Tom Flagg's own with am Fisher anvil donated by Paul Baresel of Buxton, ME. The smithy now contains a forge that tom Flagg made himself that uses a Champion forge blower. The second forge in the smithy came for the Estate of Lawrence Cook in Meriden, CT. Cook was a machinist who created Civil war artillery pieces sometimes from scratch as well as muzzle loaders and re-enacting accessories. The museum received many pieces of equipment from Cook's machine shop including pieces from the 1880s including drill presses, a horizontal milling machine, and an American Sawmill Co. band saw. In addition to the large Buffalo forge in the smithy there is a wall mounted drill press