IN the 21st century, many feel traditional crafts like a blacksmith have no place in the modern world of commuting, office meetings and e-mails, belonging to a bygone era and only recalled in period films and TV programmes.

However, the art of smithing is very much alive and well in St Clears, and visitors can even have a go at it themselves.

Ferric Fusion, based in Lower St Clears, has been going from strength to strength, and is offering one and two-day courses for would-be smiths.

Aaron Petersen, who runs Ferric Fusion from his own forge, caters for novices and experienced metalworkers alike.

Aaron uses his teaching skills to help those who have never so much as picked up a hammer before, let alone learned the black arts of forging or drawing out metal, develop the skills and confidence to make their own objects and tools from lumps of iron.

He explains each step fully, allowing learners to work at their own pace.

Aaron, who has more than two decades of blacksmithing experience under his belt, prefers to work in small groups, making sure everyone gets individual and personal attention.

As well as being highly skilled in his craft, Aaron is a natural communicator, providing plenty of useful pearls of information, whether about technical aspects of the many processes involved or the many historical and cultural elements of working with iron.

The one-day course covers many of the basics of traditional metal working, learning about the different types of forge and how they work, basic smithing tools and equipment, basic metals knowledge, different types of heat and what they are used for.

Getting down to the nitty gritty, Aaron also teaches the basic, traditional skills of drawing the metal down and "upsetting" it by making it thinner and thicker as you require it.

He also teaches would-be smiths about the various faces of the anvil and how they can be used to produce curves and angles, as well as bending, cutting through hot metal, and punching holes through hot metal.

After the one-day course, learners will typically make a poker and some kitchen hooks.

The two-day course goes on to include the skills of joining metals, usually using the modern techniques of welding and riveting, although the traditional fire welding is available to those with the skill and confidence to request it.

Although I have had some experience using modern techniques and skills such as welding, I know little about the ancient skill of smithing, and all its associated techniques.

After arriving in a set of rough clothes, I had a quick tour around the forge, which was full of curious equipment, much of it ancient in origin.

The first thing to do was learn the most basic techniques of heating up the iron and working it on the anvil.

A rod of iron was soon thrust into the heart of the fire, the coals bringing the metal up to the orange hue that meant it was ready to be worked.

If left too long the iron soon overheated and sparked, with a danger of actually burning out.

The iron was quickly brought to the anvil and struck with the hammer for the first process, drawing it out and getting a feel of just how easy such a hard metal was to work when hot enough.

Flexibility

All too soon the iron cools to a temperature where it needs to be reheated to regain its flexibility before being brought back to the anvil where the pointed part, the delightfully named "beak", can be used to make the metal curve.

While being worked on the anvil, the hammer ringing like the peal of a church bell, the worked metal needs to yet again be returned to the flame.

While getting to grips with how surprisingly delicate a touch is needed to work hot metal, Aaron was on hand to offer advice and encouragement, drawing on his many years of experience.

The first thing to be made was an S-shaped hanger, similar to a butcher's hook, but with curved edges, making the metal look like the prow of a Viking longship.

For a clumsy novice like me it was all to easy for the metal to misbehave, feeling like it had the consistency of modelling clay, curving this way and that, but anywhere other than where I wanted it.

For Aaron, rectifying my clumsy attempts at creating a functional object was child's play.

After the "S" we moved on to making wall hooks, which gave me a chance to get to grips with curving the metal on the "beak" once again.

I then saw what a versatile tool the anvil was, when I had a chance to cut the hot metal with just a heavy hammer and to drive a hole through it, using a special attachment on the bed of the anvil.

The final piece made, a poker, showed just what could be done with a simple piece of metal rod and a little creative imagination — Aaron's, not mine.

The rod was repeatedly heated and drawn to a pointed edge, with a handsome, yet simply made circle created by curving the metal around the beak of the anvil.

After the heated poker was quenched in water, the final product was dressed up on a grinding wheel, and now has pride of place next to my fireplace.

One-day courses can be run on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday at £130 per person, with two-day courses run either over a weekend or a Thursday and Friday at £260 per person. While spaces have been booked up for the near future, Aaron is keen to run tuition courses throughout the year. Anyone interested in booking a place can contact Aaron on 01267 223932, or by visiting the Ferric Fusion website at ferricfusion.co.uk