Drunken Smithy — Attraction in West Lebanon Township

I purchased a knife making class for my fiancee's birthday here and drove 2 hours from Philadelphia. Reader, when I tell you it was SO WORTH IT.

The staff was so kind, helpful, and knowledgeable. We'd never made any sort of knives before and had chosen a knife type that had a more difficult process than most of the other students (something I loved was that they had a display table showing the different projects you could make and some premade projects that could inspire your own designs). Everyone we talked to made us feel completely at ease with what we were doing and we never felt like we were being too much in asking for more information, why there were certain steps, or asking them to take a second pass of the knife on any sort of machine. All of them made sure to stress that they wanted us to be happy with the product we took home and were very kind in proactively explaining what was going to be happening, why we were doing things, and what each step accomplished.

On to the actual product we took home: a Damascus steel knife. My fiancee had decided that they wanted this knife to be the knife that we would cut our wedding cake with later this year. Being first time knife makers, I went into this experience with the expectation that we would either a) come out of this with an excellent project and perhaps not the best mood or b) make the absolute dullest and dumbest looking knife possible, laughing all the way. I did not consider what actually did happen, which was we left with a knife that was incredible, perfect, and we were so overjoyed by the class we took that we talked about it to each other (you know, the two people who were literally JUST THERE) for the next hour. Our knife is beautiful, everyone (staff and students alike) congratulated us on our upcoming nuptials and told us this was a cool idea, and the owner, Greg, worked with us personally to make sure we walked away with a beautiful piece that could- and WILL- become an heirloom in our family. We were even able to add on additional pieces to the knife that were not initially offered, such as a leather wrapped handle with the help of their leather worker, Mike, and a delicate copper charm of a dragon by their copper worker, Maeve. Every time my fiancee suggested a new idea, no one ever pushed back or told us we couldn't try something, even if it had never been done before. We fell in love with the piece.

The class itself was also wonderful. Started with a very thorough safety talk that had key points that were repeated multiple times (which I personally appreciated) and only went up. Students outnumbered staff, but the way that everyone was working was so effective that it didn't matter and didn't feel like you were ever fighting for attention. Someone was always willing and able to answer questions and help out. Most of the class was making railroad spike knives and we saw them doing almost all of the work on their own. With the more complicated projects, there was some additional help offered, and my fiancee and I were occasionally offered the choice to do something ourselves, to try something and then pass it off to a more seasoned blacksmith, or to have a blacksmith do it completely. We ended up doing around 80% of the work completely on our own, only the most dangerous and higher level blacksmithing being done by another person. Lunch was delicious and it was a very cool experience to roast your own sausages over the forge (a surprisingly good cooking method). Food was plentiful and we were all reminded multiple times to eat and drink as much as we wanted. Axe throwing was very fun, despite neither of us being much good at it!

Overall, we went into this expecting to have a bit of fun and walk away with something that kind of looked like a knife when you told someone what it was. We ended up being BLOWN AWAY by how amazing of a time it was (and as someone with ADHD, let me tell you, I was fascinated and engaged from the moment we started) and with an incredible piece that will surely be a showstopper in our wedding!...

From the moment we walked in until the moment we left, this experience was brilliant! The crew are all well versed on the blacksmithing craft and they teach beautifully. Very patient, good instructors. All safety briefs were complete and posted in case we needed them. Gloves and safety glasses were provided.

They give you so much hands on that you feel like you know what you're doing fairly quickly. Our entire group of 8 have all decided we would do this again in a minute! One of our friends is even going to try to make his own steel to forge there.

My project was the horseshoe heart, while the rest of our crew made chef knives, axes and something similar to a Bowie knife. Just very cool, all!

Lunch was hilarious as we roasted sausages in the forge! After our projects were complete, we got to try our hand at ax throwing. While we were great at it, we laughed a great deal.

Sean, Isiah, Maeve and every other person who taught us were all super! The leader of the staff, the amazing kilted Eitri (hope I've spelled THAT correctly!) had two of our guys singing to get the precise rhythm for dual hammering, which was so fun to watch! He also let us pull him into our group photo at the end! Oh, and thanks for letting us love on Honey while we were there. She's gonna be the best dog ever - already so smart!

This was such a unique...

I simply cannot say enough positive things about our time at the Drunken Smithy. This was a gift for our son's 18th birthday who has taken an interest in Axe throwing. He was very nervous going in with no idea about forging or what to expect. This, of course made us nervous as this would be an hour and a half trip for us each way.

Our son was mainly paired with one of the owners (Eitri) and he took magnificent care of him. With him forging the large Viking axe, Eitri knew exactly how to help him and when, never making our son feel lost or that he wasn't doing a good job. In a big class, that can be a huge endeavor.

Eitri also answered questions, that I'm sure he has been asked 100 times, like we were the first ones inquiring. All the employees were incredibly informative and helpful. The facility was pristine, well maintained, and you can tell the individuals there take pride in their work.

If you are looking for a unique experience, have no fear in booking time at the Drunken Smithy.

*Small note, there is an employee there who needs brush up on customer service (Nick) I believe his name was, we had our own nickname that rhymed with his.

That being said, I will absolutely be going back to forge again!...