FAQ

We accept reservations and walk-ins with availability. You are welcome to call ahead and make a reservation for the day you want to smith with us. If you do not arrive at your timeslot, you will be placed at the end of the waitlist when you arrive. Please, plan your itinerary well. We take our last group about 45 minutes before closing for all experiences except railroad spikes. For railroad spikes, our last slot is 2 hours before we close. Anyone arriving later will have to forge another day. If you have a group of 6 to 9, you can call 210-440-2159 up to 48 hours ahead to coordinate the date and time you plan to arrive. If your group has 10 or more, you can call 2 weeks ahead so we can schedule an extra smith to assist your group that day.

Yes, we have taken on several apprentices. We offer blacksmith lessons at $60 per hour during the weekdays at our shops. We now offer an apprentice blacksmith membership. This saves apprentices over 1/3 the cost of our other blacksmith lessons by learning in a small group instead of 1 on 1. Check out more about the Apprentice Program on the Caylor Forge Apprentice Program page.

Yes, we offer several types of classes. Read more about them on our site on the Register for a Class page.

We have a retail store in New Braunfels just down the street from Gruene Hall, at 1633 Hunter Road. We also have a store in San Antonio on Grayson St. across the street from the Pearl and the River Walk. It also happens to be less than a 2 mile walk from the historic Alamo. Our online store is in the making. We will have more products soon.

Our family makes many of the items in our store. Uniquely, we have hand forged items from our sister forge in Ghana, in Africa. Hertic Forge has been growing bigger and taking on young smiths to help them learn a trade. We love supporting their work. We also consign hand made items from local smiths and artists we are lucky enough to call friends and family. Some of our items are from local and out of state Forged in Fire (FIF) participants and champs. We have had items from FIF's: Tobin Nieto Local San Antonian James Helm Local San Antonian Kyle Gahagan from North Carolina Daniel Casey from Arkansas John Clark from Georgia Billy Salyers from North Carolina Ray Kirk from Oklahoma Brian Evelich from Connecticut

We limit the number of students per experience. When the roster is full, we do not allow additional registrations. The deposit/fee secures a spot and indicates commitment to attend the experience. If a person cancels, the deposit helps offset the lost opportunity for another person to attend.

We take commissions for some items. Our blacksmiths take commissions within their realm of expertise. We have made custom: Chicken catchers Horse hoof picks Decorative knobs Hooks Steak flippers Anniversary gifts Horse shoe sculptures/decor Knives On occasion, we accept items for refurbishing. The best time for this type of request is September when our work load is a little lighter. We do not make custom: Swords/sabers Branding irons Steak branding irons

We offer blacksmithing classes in historic downtown Gruene and downtown San Antonio. Most of the items created in the experiences below are premade and kept in stock by our smiths for customers who want the blacksmithed item without the blacksmith effort. Our horseshoe/RR spike knife options are listed below: -a $40 three-finger grip horseshoe knife, between 30-45 minutes of hammering -a $55 full-hand grip horseshoe knife, between 30-45 minutes of hammering -a $90 three-finger grip minecart spike, between 30-45 minutes of hammering -a $125 full-hand grip railroad spike, between 1 1/2 hours to 3 hours of hammering Each of the knife options takes an additional 10-20 minutes per knife for our blacksmiths to sharpen and polish as desired by our students. All of the classes we offer at our Gruene location are mild steels, which make them susceptible to rusting and losing their cutting edge. They are considered souvenir/novelty knives. We also teach copper pipe bracelets, mild steel steak flippers, and horseshoe/minecart spike bottle openers. Our copper pipe bracelet options are listed below: -a $25 1/4 inch bracelet measured to size, detailed with stippling and option of initials -a $35 1/2 inch bracelet measured to size, detailed with any design we have available, and the option of initials -a $45 1 inch bracelet measured to size, detailed with any design we have available, and the option of initials Each of the bracelet options take anywhere between 5 minutes to an hour depending on the design desired. Add approximately 20 minutes for our smiths to smooth edges and polish the bracelet. Our steak flippers are 18 inches of mild bar stock that can be hammered left-handed or right-handed with a twisted handle. These are between $90-$120 depending on how long they take to forge. Allow approximately 20 minutes for our smiths to smooth, clean, and finish the steak flipper. Our bottle opener options are listed below: - a mine cart spike with a keychain opener head - a horseshoe with a crown cork opener head Bottle openers are $60 to make in either design and take around 50 minutes to make. Smiths may require some time to clean and refine the final product. These opportunities are offered at our home forge in San Antonio as we prepare for our move to the new space downtown in Summer 2022. We offer 1 day and 2 day knife making classes. Occasionally, other special classes, like our pipe tomahawk class, are offered. For people dedicated to learning blacksmithing, we offer an apprenticeship.

We have two anvils at our Gruene location and can teach two to three people per anvil as necessary. We provide all safety gear required for the class. One to two people can forge on the same anvil and typically take 30-45 minutes. Larger groups can forge three to four people using the same anvil, and typically take an hour to an hour and a half if everyone does the same type of class. The number of people forging at a time is highly dependent on the dynamics of the group, the amount of assistance required, and will be subject to management and the blacksmith's discretion to provide the safest experience possible. If we have multiple varieties of classes being taught to one group, we will typically break into smaller groups. We teach bracelets first, then bottle openers, then horseshoe and minecart knives, and lastly railroad spike knives and steak flippers. This is to keep our instructors organized and make sure all products come out in a timely manner. It also allows the group members to engage in other activities until it is their turn with pretty accurate wait times. We are a family forge, not a theme park, so we ask you to be patient with us if it is particularly busy.

Children as young as 3 are welcome to make our mini nail swords, horse shoe knives, bracelets, and other small, easy to craft items. We recommend age 10 and over make the more challenging items, however, the person's determination, size, ability, and skill can be taken into account. Children are welcome to invite their adults to help forge items, and vice versa. We have experience working with people of all abilities and skills levels. People with autism, brain damage, blindness, amputations, wheelchairs and other conditions have forged with us.

You are welcome to reach out to (210)440-2159 via call or text during business hours with any questions you may have.

You can purchase gift cards in person at either of our locations or you can give us a call during business hours and purchase them over the phone.