Get that metal hot and start hammering! Setting up your own forge and crafting everyday items is easier than you might think. With simple methods, easy-to-follow photographs, and insightful tips, you’ll soon be creating items of lasting beauty and durability from iron and steel.

Get to know the ultimate skill for using your own two hands! The Art and Craft of the Blacksmith discusses a range of blacksmithing tools, techniques, and projects, from fundamental skills to advanced forging, as well as a gallery showcasing inspiring artists using innovative techniques today. Craftspeople making the transition from interest to hobby and beyond will find both inspiration and practical how-to projects in this comprehensive reference to ironwork. Beginning with an overview of iron and the traditions of historical forging, professional blacksmith Robert Thomas offers everything you need to get started or to take your work to the next level.

Geared toward answering the many questions that new blacksmiths often have, author Ryan Ridgway hopes to fill the void of inaccessible information for aspiring blacksmiths with this comprehensive volume. By explaining the physics of moving metal, the different styles of anvils and forges, and alternative fuel sources, Ridgway sets his book apart from less detailed volumes. With 40 practical, easy-to-follow projects, The Home Blacksmith shows hopeful blacksmiths how to make tools, such as hammers and chisels; farm implements, such as gate latches and hoof picks; and items for home use, including drawer pulls and candle holders.

Born from fire and forge, Blacksmith is an exploration into the life and practices of the modern smith, and the history and folklore of this ancient art. Alex Pole guides the uninitiated on a journey from apprentice to master. Celebrating tools and traditions, from the humble nail to the history of the axe, he shares his passion and wealth of knowledge as a blacksmith to allow you a glimpse behind the steam- and smoked-filled scenes of life at the forge. Through sparks, fire and heat, delve into fascinating detail about the technique and skill that is required to master this age-old trade, and in the process discover a new appreciation of everyday objects and the people who bring them into existence. Beautifully designed and richly illustrated, Blacksmith is an essential guide to this timeless craft.

The tenet of this book is provide a tool for artists/blacksmiths and metalworkers. It tells how to work metal: heating it, cutting it, upsetting it, drawing it out, twisting it, forge welding it and shaping and assembling it. It tells about metallurgy and tool making, metal finishes and corrosion, sources of information and supplies, charts and guidelines for many tasks. It explains the process of design, how to use the computer in metal design, how to set up a business and how to manage it. Providing an inspiration for all blacksmiths are portfolios of the wrought iron work of Martin Rose and Samuel Yellin, two of America's premier metalworkers of the past. To further inspire and to show the new focus of blacksmithing in the metal arts, six contemporary metalworkers show a series of demonstration pieces of their iron work. This 256 page book is bound with an improved binding system (Otabind) that allows the pages to lay flat.

With more than 500 illustrations, this book is perfect for craftsmen who want to set up a blacksmith shop, and for lovers of history and craft alike. This book describes and illustrates the equipment and techniques developed in more than six thousand years of working iron by hand.Indeed, this unique book covers every aspect of a fascinating and little-known art, the fundamental craft on which the civilization of the Iron Age was built.

This vintage book contains a practical treatise on the common methods of production for blacksmiths, apprentice blacksmiths, engineers, and others. Profusely illustrated and full of helpful tips, this volume provides a elementary introduction to the tools and techniques of the workshop, and is highly recommended for those with little previous experience. Contents include: “Forges for Hearths”, “Cast-Iron Forge”, “Brick Forge”, “Hearths”, “Pot Fire”, “Tools”, “Anvils”, “Hand Hammer”, “Tongs”, “Hand Tools”, “Anvil Tools”, “Clippers, etc.”, “Anvil Swages”, “Small Anvil”, “Angle Bar Tools”, “Cutters”, “Side Set Tools”, “Radius Tools”, “Spring Swages”, etc. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing “Blacksmith's Manual Illustrated” now in an affordable, high-quality edition complete with a specially commissioned new introduction on blacksmithing.

Learn the timeless art of blacksmithing or simply admire the beautiful illustrations of vintage tools of the...

The iconic, must-have guide for modern handcraft artisans, Blacksmith’s Craft has been teaching the fundamentals of blacksmithing since 1952 for good reason. The first in its series, this facsimile volume of the seminal British textbook includes 37 foundational lessons, crisp photography, descriptive captions, and all the timelessly essential knowledge a beginner needs to practice and become a skilled blacksmith, from understanding the parts of the hearth, blast, and anvil to creating T-shaped pocket welds.