It looked like a scene from medieval times at South County Museum on Wednesday night, with hammers clanging and coals burning as people were learning the fascinating art of blacksmithing.

The museum hosted “Blacksmithing for Beginners” every Wednesday night in August from 5:30 to 8:30 where the Director of South County Museum Jim Crothers, taught people basic blacksmithing techniques.

“My job is to simply get the fire ready and get people to try their hand at blacksmithing,” said Crothers, of Wakefield.

Crothers provides all the materials needed and for $10 per session, anybody can come in and learn the basics and create various projects at the museum at 100 Anne Hoxsie Lane.

Crothers first teaches people how to make an Shook, which is used to hang cooking pots over a fireplace or to hang basically anything else. It is a basic project that requires all of the basic blacksmithing processes including bending, twisting, quenching and drawing.

Eight people showed up on Wednesday, five of which were taking their first class. Two people even came from Middletown to take the class for the first time.

Crothers was at the Washington County Fair demonstrating basic blacksmithing techniques and believed that helped spread the word about his classes.

“It’s not something you can learn at home, so the idea is to make it available for adults who are trying it for the first time,” said Crothers.

People who were getting their first lesson were taught the basics and worked on an Shook. The first-timers were also given the most attention until they felt comfortable to do things on their own.

“Some people have a knack for it, others have a more difficult time picking it up,” said Crothers.

The first step for creating the S-hook is to heat the metal in an air-fed charcoal pit until it glows orange. Next, the material is pounded with a hammer while being pulled slowly back. It then must be rotated 180 degrees and pounded again several more times. This process is used to draw the metal out to a point and make it long and thin.

Once it is elongated, the hammerer must place it on the round point of an anvil and begin curving the point of the metal into a hook. It must also be dipped in a slack tub to quench and cool off the material before it is heated again.

The process of twisting the metal is actually much easier than one would think. The metal is heated and placed in a vice. One then takes a large clamp tool and twists it around the metal several times until you make a corkscrew pattern up the shaft of the metal.

Those who have attended the class before were allowed to work on their own projects.

Tim Tietze of Wakefield, was attending the class for the third time and was making a machete and a Scottish long dagger.

“My wife gave me a gift certificate for these classes, which has ended up being one of the best gifts I have ever gotten,” said Tietze.

He said that he has always been into carpentry and making things, and thought this would be fun.

Warren Hagist of Exeter, is also taking the class for the third time and has been a member of the South County museum for 40 years.

“I’ve been watching the blacksmiths since they got here, so when they started offering this class I thought I’d give it a try,” said Hagist.

Hagist was working on creating a fire poker for a portable forge he has at home.

Crothers first learned about blacksmithing at a craft fair at the Courthouse Center for the Arts in West Kingston several years ago. He met a blacksmith there and began learning from him and has been doing it ever since.

He then began volunteering as a blacksmith at the museum in 1990, before becoming the director of the museum in 2004.

This is the second year Crothers has taught the class and he says he definitely sees it continuing next year.

He also encourages people who want to learn more about blacksmithing to attend meetings of the New England Blacksmith Southern Bunch, which meets at Historic Chase Farm Park in Lincoln, the fourth Saturday of every month.