Local blacksmith offering classes where you can forge a special Valentine’s gift
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ST. ANTHONY — If you are looking for a unique date idea for Valentine’s Day, look no further. A local blacksmith is offering classes so couples can learn how to forge a special gift.
Devin Mace has been a blacksmith for over 20 years. He owns “The Buckin’ Buffalo Forge” in St. Anthony, which is located at his home.
No experience is necessary for the classes he has to offer. Mace posted about it on social media and wrote, “Forge your love together with a gift that lasts forever!”
People can learn how to make a steel rose, pendant, knife, bottle opener or steak turner.
“It’s a personalized experience. I walk them through the steps. It’s a one-on-one … it’s not a big shop where there are tons of people. It’s a private session. It’s a fun time,” Mace explained.
He said roses are one of the popular items that he makes often.
“I do copper and steel roses. It’s something I make every day. That’s one of my staples,” Mace said.
The classes are $95 per person, and the experience lasts two to three hours, depending on the gifts that are selected. Appetizers and drinks are included.
“It’s guaranteed that they leave with a finished product. I can take any skill set. I can take anybody from eight years old to 98 years old,” Mace said.
Mace provides the safety equipment, aprons and gloves.
“All they have to do is wear closed-toe shoes and preferably jeans and a long-sleeved shirt,” he said.
He explained the process of forging a special Valentine’s gift starts by taking the steel, putting it into a forge and heating it up.
“The temperatures get up to about 2,000 degrees in the forge. At that point, it comes out, and I have the tongs to hold onto it, and I put it on the anvil, and we use a hammer to actually forge the steel into the shape,” he said.
Mace learned how to do this type of work when he was a kid with his dad and grandpa.
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“I got really into the decorative ironwork where I do anything for homes like towel bars and fireplace tools,” he said. “I make barbecue branding irons too, where they can heat their initials up and brand their steaks and hamburgers. Woodworkers buy them, and cattle ranchers buy them.”
Mace described what his favorite part about being a blacksmith is.
“You are basically taking a bar of steel that is plain, and you are getting it hot … to mold it into something useful and decorative is just satisfying. You are creating something just from natural materials,” he said. “It’s fun because it’s almost like handwriting. Every blacksmith has their own style and own take on it.”
He added teaching classes is something he loves to do. The pieces that are made can become an heirloom that’s passed down in the family.
If anyone is interested in a class before Valentine’s Day, there are still spots available every day except Sundays, including mornings, middays or evenings.
He can also book other appointments if classes before Valentine’s Day don’t work.
“If somebody books, I give them my home address, and that’s where the shops at,” Mace told EastIdahoNews.com.
Mace usually takes two people at a time for sessions.
“I can do up to four. If a couple’s date wants to come, that’s really fun too,” Mace said.
To schedule an appointment, call Mace at (480) 586-4165.
He said he wants to offer holiday classes in the future, too.
“I am going to do it for every holiday. Like for Mother’s Day, we will probably do roses mainly, and for Father’s Day, I am going to be doing barbecuing tools,” he said.
