ABS School?? Opinions Please

I believe the Touchstone classes are in the $250/week range. Not sure about the room/board.
This place is back in the woods a bit, but they do have accomadations on site. I believe it was an old scout camp.
Is the NC chool on a campus or what? Some folks don't do well in a civlized enviroment:-) bruce
 
Ed Fowler said:
We are still planning on a few forging and heat treating seminars in my new shop. I would like to ask: What do you feel would be a fair price to charge, per day, per week and for personal instruction?
Take Care
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well I'll be dang'ed :)
I emailed the ABS a long time ago and still no answer?
and been a member for a short while now :confused:
I think anyway?? ( are we suppose to get a new card or confirmation for our check every year :confused: )

I did do a phone call a short time ago and got a message back with-in a week or two from Jan I think it was?
but it was while,, I was out so I called back and still waiting on a return call.

I know e-mails can get out off hand but if you have one and advertise it,,
they should be used in a reasonable amount of time, same as phone numbers.

sorry but it's just good PR.

Mike learning from others in their fields,, paying or not ,, is always a plus go for it...if you got the time, money and no one stoping you, by all means..

ED I'd say
with your name you could ask what you want and you'd get it from some.
of course a very high price would cut out a lot of young fledglings.
and some ole farts too. :)

name sells
so your down to the money or the want to teach the better Blade,
or a happy in-between, we all need to eat and know you'd have to keep up on the costs involved too.

lower the money, the bigger volume you'll have.

Idea ?
you could have a one on one say up to four or five guys at a time.
this would be worth a lot to a lot of makers. these guys would pay some big bucks to do it that way.

then have a big class for a lesser amount (volume) at a different time but have others helping with the teaching
this would satisfy two ends of a money issue
for what it's worth ED just my 2 cents :)
 
Because Im about the only person in my circle of friends that has ever learned the basics about knife making, I have been asked to teach a few kids of my co-workers how to make their own knives.

It was a ton of fun, more so when the dads were along to join in and hit the steel next to their sons... I once spent all day helping two brothers, ages 16 and 14, learn to make their own blades. By the end of that day their dad was so impressed with their progress that he slipped me some cash. (It had never dawned on me to charge for the little I know about knife making)

This started me thinking.

What if 30 or 40 years into my future I have my own school of bladesmithing? How much money would I charge people to come and learn? And what would my classes be like? What stuff would I be interested in?

I think that for a beginner class, that asking around$250 - $350 for a 2 day weekend is about right.

Figure a class of no more than 20 guys at a time, that works out to be... $7,000.00 per weekend. Do no more than 2 weekend classes a month and that comes to $14,000.00 per month.... and I would have a classes for about 4 months a year and that gets me over $50,000 per year!

Well a guy can dream cant he?
 
I''ve heard good and bad things about the school. The good, you know, the bad is that the equipment on site isn't very good or complete. Not sure it's true, having not done it.

I took 2 one-week classes at the John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina (www.folkschool.org), and I totally recommend it. Jim Batson teaches there (Don Fogg used tot each a sword making class). My friend Tony Palermo teaches there too, and he is simply the most hillarious story teller I've ever met.
 
DaQo'tah Forge said:
Figure a class of no more than 20 guys at a time, that works out to be... $7,000.00 per weekend. Do no more than 2 weekend classes a month and that comes to $14,000.00 per month.... and I would have a classes for about 4 months a year and that gets me over $50,000 per year!

Well a guy can dream cant he?
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:eek:

you got me dreaming :D
I'll do it for half that for 8 months and make the same right? :D
 
I attended the damascus class taught by Charles Ochs in 1990. We all made damascus blades the second day of class. I made a turkish damascus blade the fourth day of class.
A lot depends on the teacher. As someone already stated just because one is knowledgable in a subject does not mean they can teach others.
I know first hand that Charles Ochs is a excellent teacher.
 
I attended last falll. Charlie Oches was my instructor for the intro class. I had a ggod time, learned a lot and feel that it was well worth it. The other thing to remember if you're planning on joining the ABS is that the intro class counts as a year twords getting your JS. The equimpent consisted of 6 coal forges, 6 gas forges, 2 #50 little giants, 1 #25 little giant, a fairly honking sized air hammer (maybe #100 or so), 4 or 5 Bader III (well used, but servicable) and 2 KMG's that were new last fall. There was plenty of steel and belts. The equipment for handles and fittings was lacking, but that isn't really what the intro class is about. If they are done renovationg the bunk house stay there. If there is a frontier days gathering go. There are some very talented local blacksmiths that are friendly.
 
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