At my local forge group, the first thing we do is go over safety. What to wear, what not to wear, where the fire extinguishers are, where the first aid stuff is, assume everything is hot, don't try to catch anything if it falls, take out hardie tools as soon as you're done with them, etc.. Even if the student swears they've heard it a hundred times before, if they haven't heard it in your shop then they haven't heard it. This doesn't count as part of the class, it's a pre-requisite before any new student completes their signup.

Similar idea with each item in the shop. Have an explanation and a little safety spiel for each of the main things, and don't introduce them all at once. For our group, no one uses machinery at first. Doesn't matter if they've been a mechanic or a machinist or whatever for 20+ years. Everyone starts at the bottom. It's all about hand hammering and anvil work. Once they get that and you trust them there, then introduce one machine at a time.

That may mean making a quick simple carbon steel knife or other little small project (not necessarily heat treating it or anything but getting them used to using your forge and anvil height and all that) for the first class before you move onto the actual damascus project. Some will go straight to the power hammer, and that may be fine for this student if you know them well, but the more you teach the more you realize some kids just aren't ready to be trusted with even a regular hammer. Nothing to do there but thank them for their enthusiasm and let them know if they want to continue they're not ready for a damascus class and need to be bumped down to a beginner's class. 

It also really helps to make a safety checklist/matrix for them to sign off on for everything as you go through it, as well as signing in and out every day. Makes it a lot easier if you ever do have to file a claim with your insurance over an incident. Doesn't have to be fancy, but still needs to be more than nothing. 

Not sure of your shop setup, but water. Get a case or two of bottled water if you don't stock it already. New/younger students often get too excited and forget to hydrate. 

The one thing I wish instructors would do more of is provide a condensed list of where to go for personal study. Websites you like, youtubers who do good instructional videos, any local forge groups even if they're more on the ABANA side of things, and books you've found helpful. You don't have to let the student borrow your books...I'm very protective of my books, I don't like anyone else except the Mrs. to touch them...but giving them a quick printout with some info is a huge help. Cuts through a lot of the internet noise and bad/outdated advice floating around. It also can help stop a lot of the more mundane questions, and sometimes they find something new and bring it to you so you can add it to your knowledge bank too. 

Bobby Best Thanks, I think I will checklist placards for each of the machines and a couple of fire extinguisher signs, there are two in the shop by each door.

I will do the hammer work first.  My personal feeling is that if you dont understand how it moves under the hammer, the machines wont help.

I've been teaching Bladesmithing classes for over 25 years.  It sounds like you have it fairly well figured out.  I will offer a few things I believe are important...at least they are to me.

  Methodology... Group teaching, or One-onOne.  To be honest, most of the time it's the difference between quality and quantity.  If your idea is to make money teaching, the group method is the best method (provided you have the facilities).   If quality of training is more important, then One-on-One. Why?  Because when teaching multiples/groups, there will always be one or more that have more drive, determination, and/or a high aptitude/knowledge level.  And at the same time, there will always be a complete newbie....who will suck up all your time trying to keep up with the group. If you lean towards that individual, others will be angry at the end (whether they let it be known or not), OR if you shift your speed to the first type, and leave that "newbie" behind, they will be angry.   IMO, either way, bad news travels at the speed of sound, and it's not worth the heartache/hit to your reputation. 

  The absolute biggest complaint that I've heard from students who've taken a group class elsewhere, before coming to my shop, is what I've described above plus...  Things such as: "Too few instructors", "lost in the crowd", " It was a Free for all",  "I saw an instructor TWICE a day, at the start of the day, and at the end of the day", and other such things. I feel that teaching One-on-One has allowed me to make some of my dearest friends, that I would not had I'd taught via any other method.  Put plainly, it allows for a far more intimate relationship between teacher and student.    Without question, Teaching is by far, my favorite part of Bladesmithing/Knifemaking. 

- I think the biggest hurdle you might have to overcome teaching Bladesmiting vs Blacksmithing is the use of different materials....as in high carbon steels vs low.   Most Blacksmithing classes teach that the hotter you can get the steel, without burning it, the easier it is to work.  As you well know, too much heat with high carbon/alloy steels, and you create more problems than you solve. 

-UNlearning:  Something else that often happens is having to UNlearn bad habits or even bad information that individuals have received elsewhere.  It can eat up a bunch of time. 

- I think you're total estimated hours might be too few.  My basic class, which takes an individual from "bar to finished knife" is scheduled at 40 hours (5-8 hr days).  That's working at a fairly frantic pace, with me doing the blade tempering after class hours.  It's also not uncommon to spend extra hours on given days to ensure a student gets everything he/she needs.

-I choose to separate classes in Bladesmithing/Knifemaking, and Sheath/leatherwork (or other lateral subjects). First, because leatherwork is easily my least favorite part of Knifemaking 😝 , but more importantly, because most of my students travel to get here, and are on a schedule.  So most of the time it's not feasible for the student to do "back to back" classes/subjects.  Very often I will be able to direct them to someone in their home area for leatherwork or have them back at their availability.

-Pricing is always a controversial point.  And this is a bit of a rant.....For many years I took flack from some other Bladesmiths who said I wasn't charging enough.  Turns out it was coming from those individuals who were teaching via the group method and felt threatened because some students  were publicly saying my One-on-One classes were a much better value. 

Having a wife who is a book-keeper, she "ran the numbers" and told me what I had to charge to pay for everything plus my salary, and that's what I charged/charge.   What I do know is that you need to establish your price(s) BASED ON YOUR NEEDS, and advertise it.

 Best of Luck!

Posted by: Ed Caffrey

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UNlearning:  Something else that often happens is having to UNlearn bad habits or even bad information that individuals have received elsewhere.  It can eat up a bunch of time. 

Thank you

Yup, totally forgot about this one.  Noted: I may have allocated too little time.  

I really only agreed because his wife already bought one of my knives and was a great customer.  He has asked a total of 7 times now, even after I explained I only have 4 yrs experience.  

I will stick to the 1-1 because that matches my style of teaching and my philosophy of quality vs quantity.  I am also fortunate enough to only rely on my bladesmith business for extra retirement income.