Chasing is a style of relief work in sheet metal that can be applied to almost anything. From teapots to battle armour it has been used to create sculptural narrative in metal throughout human history. This class is taught by Douglas Pryor, a master of the style.

Duration

6 days

Note: The first class April 11 - 16 must fill before registration for the second class April 18 - 23 will open.

Come forge your own chasing punches modeled off of all my personal tooling!

I’m going to teach you how to make the punches you actually need for the type of sculptural relief work you want to do.

In the past 10 years I've been teaching chasing no matter where I go there is a common theme. 

People don't have enough tools. Or they don't have the right ones.

It seems there's always a little miscommunication or confusion around what tools you need for different styles of relief work, it's always made it difficult to teach. My solution for the longest time has been to supply the tools myself. But that means at the end of our time together students must leave behind the tooling and source their own somehow down the road.

And no matter how good my student sets are, it doesn't cover everything. There are so many different styles of projects and designs, and the punches can reflect that diversity.

This is what makes this opportunity so special, you can come work with me for a few days and forge duplicates of my personal tooling. No guess work, no wondering if the tool kit you're buying has exactly what you need. You and I can brainstorm together to make sure that you leave with exactly the tooling that you need for the projects you hope to make. 

A larger chasing set can run up to $1,000, and then you're still left with a bunch of gaps that you need to fill in or maybe you have tools that are redundant or that you never use. Why not skip all that and leave with exactly the tooling that you actually need. 

I have taught at the Virginia Institute of Blacksmithing for a few years now, so I can say with confidence that Dale who runs VIB has a particularly good class blacksmithing setup. We will have everything we need to make our tooling and test them out on a chasing project. 

So come join me in April as this is the first time I’ve been able to offer this and I'm not sure when these particular stars will align again.

Dates: Two Courses are available!

1st session: April 11th - 16th 

2nd session: April 18th - 23rd

Price: $915 and includes materials and fuel, no hidden fees at the end.

Expectation: The first three or four days we will be making our tooling. How many punches you can make in 4 days depends on the style of punches and your experience with forging, but I'll be helping and guiding you the entire way. 

The last two to three days we will be refining our tools by testing them on an easy chasing project in copper. This way you will leave with the confidence of knowing your tools are exactly what I would expect to use on my own bench. 

Safety: Dale will run us through all the shop safety requirements first thing when we begin. In addition to that you should know that this will be physically demanding. You can expect the work to be very physical and we will be working in front of heat for full days. Brakes and stretching will be strongly encouraged, and I will be there to make sure everyone is going at their own pace. 

If you have any of your own personal safety equipment you are most welcome to bring them. 

I'm very excited to make this happen. This has always represented one of the more challenging aspects of teaching. The potential of being able to hand people exactly what they need and watch them go home with that to pursue their artwork further is what it's all about for me.

So I can't wait to make some tools with you.

If you have any questions feel free to shoot me an email. See you in April!

Class Cost:

Price at check out is class tuition plus $15 booking fee.

Transfer, Cancellation, and Refund Policy:

Call to make any changes to your registration. Transfers and cancellations must be made more than 14 days before class in order to receive a refund. There is a $75 fee for any transfer, cancellation, or refund.