The Salty Sitkan - Sitka, Alaska

Dawn Gunderson

We took the metal workshop at the Salty Sitkan in June before our cruise and had a great time. Mike goes over everything with you with an emphasis on safety step-by-step. As you work he looks over what your doing giving suggestions on what you could do to improve how it looks. Even if everyone in the room does the same cut out they will all come out different.

I had no metal work experience but the whale I did is now up on my wall with memories from Alaska. The time we had to do the work flew by. We had ours shipped home and it arrived shortly after we got back. I would recommend the workshop through the Salty Sitkan if you are looking for something fun to do and something unique to take home with you.

The photos attached show the metal you start with, the picture of the finish product that Mike took and what they look like on our wall.

Chris Rounds

We had a great experience with Mike at Salty Sitkan. He made safety his first priority. Mike gave fantastic instruction and people with no metal working experience were able to complete a great looking project. We were excited to make a quality souvenir while having a fun time too! After the class completed, we were running short on time to return to our ship—the taxi van was full, so Mike went above-and-beyond by driving us to the shuttle stop. I would highly recommend the Salty Sitkan to anyone who would like to craft a quality souvenir while visiting Sitka!

Beth Maxie

This was such a fun and unique experience in Sitka, Alaska. We had so much fun creating our humpback whale, salmon and halibut and learning all about the process. I would definitely recommend this tour and there was still plenty of time to visit downtown and have lunch afterwards.

Marianne Fedunkiw

This workshop was a highlight of my cruise. It's been 45 years since I worked in metal shop. I had a great metal shop teacher in Grade 7. And Randy, our Sitka instructor, was excellent, too. Appreciated the step-by-step instructions, the safety precautions (safety glasses, gloves to handle hot metal), and the demonstrations before we started each task. We were a small group of four, each with our own work station and equipment.

The cutout forms were ready for us: choices included various local fish included two types of salmon, a whale and a puffin. All are native to the waters around Sitka. I chose a humpback whale. First step was grinding off the burrs on the reverse side, then buffing that side. Then buffing the 'show' side. Next, we were shown how to use a mallet and blocks of wood to hammer our sculptures, giving them three dimensions. Finally, we were shown how to use hand-held torches to heat up the metal. We practiced on a piece of scrap metal to see how more heat takes metal from gold to blue to purple. The colour changes continued for a few seconds even after we turned off the torches. Fascinating!

Then everyone did a herring as a smaller second project. I could see the improvement in the second metal piece -- gaining more control over both the grinder/polisher and the torch to selectively apply colour via heat where I wanted. My trepidation about working with metal was eased by the instructor's guidance and my growing confidence as I worked the metal.

Wished I could have done more! If I return to Sitka, I'll be back for sure.

Jennifer Emerle

Would highly recommend this as part of your day in Sitka. Such a fun idea, Mike was incredible in teaching us how to work with the metal, had some great stories about the area and and shared some general knowledge. My boys and I loved it and have the coolest souvenir which will be shipped directly home.

Meghan Williams

Tried this class as an excursion for our cruise. It was a fantastic experience! Great communication leading up, very informative, and so fun to try something new and take home a souvenir we made ourselves. Highly recommend if you want something away from the crowded tourist destinations.

Stewart Bushman

We had such a good time with Mike at The Salty Sitkan! Our group (two grandparents in the 70s, two parents in their late 40s, and two teenagers (16 and 12) took up the majority of the 10-person class. We started off with Mike demonstrating his plasma cutter and some of the science behind it, and then we each selected a precut fish/whale (there were several options) and headed upstairs to the shop. Each of us had a workstation with movable magnetic mounts, a dremel-like tool with two different polishing bits, a hammer, a blowtorch, safety glasses, welding gloves, and ear coverings. Mike gave us our instructions for finishing the underside of the cut fish, and we were off, shooting sparks in the air as we removed blobs of melted metal. This pattern repeated over the entire 2-hour class as we polished the front, then shaped the fish with the hammer on wooden blocks, and finally oxidized the steel with the blowtorch to develop a colorful patina.

Mike and Randy really helped us out along the way to try to improve the detail on the fish, like polishing the face to add scale features, or sweeping the blowtorch to shape the colored features.

As a parent, I really, really appreciated how Mike and Randy (both high school shop teachers (one retired)) treated our kids, which is to say they provided guidance, but they let them do the work themselves. Seeing our 12-year-old safely handling a blowtorch was definitely not something we expected when we got off the cruise ship that morning, but that's what we saw! By the same token, grandma and grandpa also were able to do everything as well.

When it's all done, they apply clear coat to the fish, bag it up, and send you on your way, or they'll ship them for you at a reasonable price (we paid by Venmo). Ours arrived via USPS priority the day after we got home. Now we just have to figure out where to display them.

This was one of the most unique activities we've ever done on a cruise, and I couldn't recommend The Salty Sitkan more highly. We walked there from the downtown Sitka shuttle drop-off point. It's about 20-25 minutes of easy walking, including a stroll through the Sitka National Historical Park (which I also recommend). The last 300 or so feet was the only distance where you had to walk on the street instead of dedicated walking paths.

Fun fact: on last week's episode of The Amazing Race (S36E07), which featured a welding challenge, they used the exact same arrow-shaped magnetic mounts that you mount your fish to in the Metal Art Class.

Laurie Semke

We have family in Sitka who took us to a workshop at The Salty Sitka when we were visiting. It was a wonderful, safe, artsy, interesting, informative, age/generation-crossing family adventure. I especially appreciated Mike's individualized instruction...not overbearing and paying attention to the eight different learners he had in our group. He does a great job!!!