Casey Curtis, Communications Coordinator

HOPE, AR – September 27, 2021

The University of Arkansas Hope-Texarkana James Black School of Bladesmithing and Historic Trades will offer a Damascus steel knifemaking class October 11 through 15th from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The course will prepare students to learn pattern welding using common carbon Damascus alloys and methods. It will focus on material preparation, forge welding, power hammer techniques, and proper forge practices. The cost for the class is $450.

The class will be taught by a world-famous journeyman smith, Ricardo Vilar. Vilar won Season 7 Episode 27 of the hit television show “Forged in Fire” on History Channel and is currently a judge on “Forged in Fire” Latin American Edition. He served as the Brazilian Society of Cutlers president from 2003 to 2008, is a co-founder of a cutlery school in partnership with the University of Brasilia, and was invited by the University of Texas in 2005 to be a Brazilian style instructor at the Hammer-in Fall. In 2010, he was the coordinator and teacher of a cutlery course for Corneta Tools in Osasco, Brazil, where he taught more than two hundred students. In 2011, one of his knives was adopted as the official knife of the Brazilian Parachute Brigade. Some of his recent awards include Best Field Knife IV, Best Tactical Knife IV, Best Industrial Knife IV, and Best Knife Bush Craft IV at the 2015 International Cutlery Show.

To enroll, call 870-722-8109 or email [email protected].

For more information about the James Black School of Bladesmithing and Historic Trades, visit https://www.uaht.edu/bladesmithing.