At Riff’s Workshop, we specialize in hands-on blacksmithing classes, custom forged creations, and unique metal products. Whether you’re learning the craft for the first time or commissioning a one-of-a-kind piece, we bring traditional skills and modern design together.
A great blade begins with the hands that forge it
Learn from a skilled blacksmith with years of hands-on forging experience.
Conveniently located in Middletown, NY in the heart of the Hudson Valley.
We use only high-grade steel and metals for lasting craftsmanship.
Discuss your project ideas and get expert custom design advice.
At Riff’s Workshop, we combine traditional blacksmithing techniques with modern creativity. From beginner forging classes to advanced metalworking, we provide a hands-on experience that sparks skill and passion. Our custom metalwork brings your ideas to life with craftsmanship built to last.
A hands-on blacksmithing class covering forging basics, hammer control, and traditional techniques. Create custom blades or unique metalwork with expert guidance. (Lunch Provided)
Craft a custom railroad spike knife in this one-day intensive class. Learn essential blacksmithing skills like forging, tapering, twisting, and grinding while also making a few extra trinkets to take home. Perfect for those ready to challenge themselves and leave with a unique hand-forged creation.
Forge hooks, a heart, and other trinkets while mastering blacksmithing basics like tapering, scrolling, bending, and hammer control. Ideal for beginners building core skills.
Our students and clients love the hands-on learning, expert guidance, and quality craftsmanship. See why people across the Hudson Valley choose us for blacksmithing classes and custom metalwork.
At Riff’s Workshop, we blend traditional forging techniques with modern tools to craft strong, functional, and lasting pieces.
Every forged creation starts with precision, patience, and heat. We carefully prepare each piece, choosing the right steel and controlling the fire to achieve optimal workability. From the first hammer strike to the final detail, our focus is on strength, durability, and craftsmanship.
The ancient and powerful craft of shaping metal through heat, raw strength and conforming it to your will — where fire meets steel, and raw strength gives form, the only limitation is your imagination.
This age-old tradition has many techniques, methods, and forms to achieve a wide range of results. It is the act of allowing the internal grain of the steel to reform and realign itself after being shaped into what you decided it would become. It's similar to how our finest soldiers are molded into elite warriors—then given a brief break after AIT to reunite with their families and find their center.
A transformative heat treatment where steel is pushed to its limits in an extremely explosive process —heated to an extremely high temperature and rapidly cooled in seconds, often in oil or water. This locks the structure into a hardened state, increasing strength and wear resistance. It's the finest moment where a steel creation or blades soul is born into this world. Though it is true and hardened it is also brittle if you don't do this next process carefully!
Tempering a blade is the art of taking steel that’s been hardened to the edge of brittleness and giving it a soul. Through controlled heat, the blade is carefully brought back from the brink — trading fragility for resilience. It's the moment where fire and precision meet to create a weapon that’s not just sharp, but battle-ready: strong, flexible, and forged for endurance.