During the founding of the Canadian Museum of Making, the Museum built its own forge and machine shop for on-site restorations as well as to preserve and share the traditional methods of making everyday items from metal. Japheth Howard, the resident Blacksmith at the Canadian Museum of Making, learned his craft through travelling and working around the world, just as the journeymen of the past. His level of skill and creativity are unique in North America.
The functions of the Forge at the Canadian Museum of Making include:
In addition to our focus on forging; the wood shop, mechanics shop, and machine shop allow us to make almost any new project or take an acquisition apart and restore it. By trying to keep our work to a very high standard we pay homage to a time when art and engineering worked side by side and beauty was considered an essential part of every man-made object.
We work to communicate this concept in demonstrations given to visiting university or technical students. The workshop also serves as a resource to artists and craftsmen in the Calgary and Bow River Valley area.