Note: To ensure everyone's safety, each participant must wear non-flammable protection to cover their hair during workshop sessions.
It is also mandatory that all participants wear non-flammable clothing, such as jeans, workshop pants, or the like. In addition, safety shoes or toe caps are required to protect feet in the event of a falling object. Clothing made of nylon or flammable materials, as well as clothing that melts under heat (such as tracksuits or jogging pants), is strictly prohibited.

This training offers a hands-on and hands-on experience into the world of traditional blacksmithing. Through an immersive and progressive approach, participants will discover the fundamentals of hot metalworking: fire management, tool handling, and material transformation through the power of movement.

Guided by Manus, a master blacksmith, they will learn how to forge simple shapes, understand the behavior of heated metal, and create a personalized blacksmith's tool. The goal is as much technical as it is sensory: to awaken awareness of materials, rhythm, precision of movement, and self-awareness in the workshop.

Accessible to beginners, this course aims to provide initial autonomy in blacksmithing, while showcasing the richness of this ancestral know-how from a contemporary perspective. It is also an opportunity to experience the physical and sensory aspects of craftsmanship in a supportive and stimulating educational environment.

At the end of the training, the trainee will be able to:

• Identify the essential tools and equipment of traditional blacksmithing (anvil, hammers, tongs, hearth, etc.) and understand their uses, while respecting safety rules
• Perform basic forging operations: drawing, crushing, twisting, openwork, and bending, using appropriate techniques and following safety instructions
• Design and manufacture a simple metal part (decorative or utilitarian) based on a personal project, following the manufacturing steps: sketching, tracing, forging, finishing
• Analyze and adjust posture, striking force, and rhythm to improve precision and prevent physical risks
• Place blacksmithing within a framework of manual skill and artistic craftsmanship contemporary.

Throughout the training, particular attention is paid to posture, rhythm, listening to the metal, and the quality of the movement. The moments of discussion foster the development of a detailed understanding of the connection between the body, tools, and materials.
This primarily practical approach is based on a true culture of the craft and the know-how imparted, as well as a deep sensitivity to the material. The goal is to help each participant become autonomous in basic techniques, while developing an awareness of the physical, emotional, and creative commitment that blacksmithing requires.

Furthermore, Manus generously shares his unique expertise, including his DIY approach, which consists of making his own tools, from the forge hearth to the hammer. Form Schedule

Day 1
morning and afternoon

• Introduction to the blacksmith's trade, basic tools, and the material to be processed
• Safety, posture, essential gestures
• Lighting the forge, introduction to fire
• Tracing the project with chalk on the anvil
• First hammer blows: striking techniques such as drawing or crushing

Day 2
morning and afternoon

• Debriefing of the previous day
• Controlling heating and reading temperatures
• Creating small shapes
• Assembly techniques, twisting, drilling

Day 3
Morning and Afternoon

• Debrief of the previous day
• Work on creating a blacksmith's tongs adapted to each student
• Concepts of hardening and heat treatment

Day 4
Morning and Afternoon

• Debrief of the previous day
• Concepts of hardening and heat treatment
• Finishing the part (brushing, surface treatment)
• Review of the techniques, sharing of experiences
• Cleaning up the workshop
• Group presentation of the work

Laurent Conversin, aka Manus

Laurent Conversin, better known as Manus, a nod to manual gestures, is a rigorous and passionate blacksmith who combines tradition and modernity in his work. A self-taught artist with an atypical background, he draws his inspiration as much from raw materials as from medieval art, developing a practice at the crossroads of artistic craftsmanship, sculpture, and transmission.
Manus shapes hot metal as one sculpts the memory of an ancient past. His forge is a living space where fire, breath, and manual gesture take on their full importance. He creates unique pieces, whether utilitarian objects, architectural elements, or delicate jewelry, in which each hammer blow bears the trace of the body and time. For several years, he has led introductory and advanced blacksmithing courses, with the aim of imparting more than just expertise: sensitivity, focus, and attentive listening to oneself and the material. He guides his apprentices with rigor and kindness, in an environment where gesture becomes a true language.
Committed to promoting manual skills and rediscovering so-called "lost" crafts, Manus belongs to this new generation of artisans who place gesture at the heart of contemporary creation, blending transmission, freedom, and resistance to the frenetic pace of time.

• Classroom, multipurpose room, workshops with professional equipment
• Materials provided
• Individual and collaborative work
• Workshop work
• Active participation and experimentation of participants are encouraged

• Collective and personalized monitoring of work, regular updates
• Self-assessment of technical skills
• Collective feedback
• Half-day attendance sheet
• Certification of completion issued by Campus MaNa