Why Randy McDaniel is a MUCH sought after instructor

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Mr. McDaniel began his experience in blacksmithing with a class from an 81-year-old blacksmith in 1972, over 50 years ago!  The class was a couple of hours for four Saturdays and it cost $2.00! That was the spark that ignited his passion for forging hot metal. Randy also learned from other “retired” smiths who taught him not only how things were done, but also why and how things worked. He also researched the craft in libraries, by taking craft schools classes from various skilled mastersmiths such as Frank Turley, Francis Whitaker and Ivan Bailey, and by participating in blacksmithing conferences. Mr. McDaniel traveled to England in 1987 to participate in the British Artist Blacksmith Association’s International Conference in Hereford and to study ironwork in London. In 1988 Randy was baptized as a mastersmith by Manfred Bredhol from Aachen, Germany.  In 2016 he returned to Europe and went to eastern Spain to study the medieval ironworks and the modernist ironwork and buildings designed by Antoni Gaudi. This was followed by a couple of days in Paris, France, for more ironwork. 

Frank Turley, the granddaddy of blacksmithing, who not only taught Mr. McDaniel so much about how-to blacksmith but also in knowing how to teach it, became great friends. Frank had this to say about him in 2014: "Randy was a short course student of mine when he was getting started, in the 1970's. I now acknowledge him as an accomplished smith. He has done small work and monumental work of high quality."

Unfortunately, Mr. Turley passed on in order to work on the pearly gates in November of 2020. He is greatly missed. 

Mr. McDaniel gained recognition and acclaim for writing and illustrating the award winning book,  “A Blacksmithing Primer, A Course In Basic And Intermediate Blacksmithing” in 1998. Blacksmiths, blacksmithing groups and even colleges and schools around the world are using this book to teach basic to intermediate forging. Currently it has sold over 30,000 copies plus it has recently been updated and printed as a hardbound book with lay-flat binding. 

In the summer of 2014, he wrote his second book, “Hydraulic Forging Press for the Blacksmith”. This book points out the versatility of this machine and the tooling 

needed to achieve the most from it.  

More Information on the "BOOKS" page.

Mr. McDaniel prides himself with teaching personal classes by only taking three students in a class. He passes on what made such a big difference in his learning, the basics that everything is built upon and going back to the tried and proven ways of forging hot metals. He does this with patience and good humor. Besides the class schedule, classes can be tailored to days of the week and what topics  are being taught. His fully equipped shop and school is conveniently located south of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia.

The USA Today 10 Best Readers' Choice Travel Award Contest has been awarded to Berkeley Springs the 9th best Historic Small Town. Berkeley Springs' nomination was carefully picked by an expert panel and the public's votes presented Berkeley Springs with this great honor.

Now Berkeley Springs is also listed as one of the 

"9 Best Small Towns in the U.S. for Art Lovers"

in Travel + Leisure (July 11, 2022

Mr. McDaniel has been interviewed on several television programs, is featured in a number of books on blacksmithing, and has had numerous newspaper articles written about him and his metal work. Most recently there is a six-page article in the June 2023 edition of Wonderful West Virginia magazine about Mr. McDaniel and his blacksmithing school.