The owners of Laidlaw Forgeworks in Mission are happy to call blacksmithing their full-time job.
Rusty Laidlaw has been at it since he was 13 years old.
"I knew as soon as I started it that I wanted to stick with it for the rest of my life," Laidlaw said.
He received his journeyman ticket in 2010 and moved to B.C. in 2012. He built his shop and taught lessons part-time at the former Laidlaw Forgeworks location on Sylvester Road.
"Then I got tired of the job that I was doing full time. And my wife [suggested] we just go straight into it and do it. And so we ended up starting Laidlaw Forgeworks from the ground up," he said.
Michael Lobsiger was one of Laidlaw's students in his certification program, and things clicked. They partnered up roughly a year ago, and Lobsiger is now part owner.
Lobsiger got started on the forge in his early 20s when one of his best friends took a lesson from a blacksmith and inspired him to try it out.
"We ended up buying our own forge, and we just ended up doing it as a purely fun hobby. We weren't worried about actual technique or if we were doing things right. It was just igniting that passion for it and then later on realizing that we had no clue what we were doing," he said.
Later in his 20s, Lobsiger decided to go to a blacksmith school and learn the art properly. When he moved to B.C., he had his eyes on the hand forging certificate at Laidlaw Forgeworks.
"There's a tremendous amount that I still have to learn. And that's the cool thing about Rusty. He's got so much knowledge that sometimes I'll just stick to the things that I'm good at, and I want to perfect it more before he teaches me new stuff."
Attendance for classes at Laidlaw Forgeworks has been progressing in the two years since moving to Gunn Avenue in Mission.
"We have a way better property here ... we've been milling trees too and made a picnic table from them. So we're just in a nice groove. Finally, everything's just, working together for us," Laidlaw said.
Class participants come with a wide range of goals. Some want to craft a single knife, others want to learn the basics, and some have ambitions to set up their own shops.
"We teach tool making ... our level one is basically making a punch and a chisel. And then you use those to make a pair of tongs, then you use that to make a hammer and then by the end of it, you've got a whole tool kit of stuff that you made yourself just from raw metal. So that's kind of what we gear ourselves towards is teaching people how to be self-sufficient," he said.
The pair is hoping to expand its course offerings, including work on a possible weekend-long swordmaking course.
"It's a pretty cool level-up when you make a sword," Laidlaw said.
Laidlaw's favourite things to craft are flowers and leaves, while Lobsiger enjoys swords and armour.
"When I made my first sword, that was really like, 'wow. ' I'd been working up to it for years," Lobsiger said.
Those interested in taking classes can sign up on the website or email laidlawforgeworkssales@gmail.com.
Laidlaw Forgeworks does custom orders and has items on Etsy and at Off the Lake Decor in Mission.
