Blacksmithing
Shaping Metal With Intent: The Upset Technique
Below is a simple, reliable method used by professional smiths: Use a bright yellow to light orange heat (higher for high-carbon steels). ... If it’s too cold, the steel will crack almost instantly. Hold the bar perfectly vertical on the anvil.
added Oct 18, 2026
Read article →r/Blacksmith on Reddit: A question about flux
Same idea as forge welding, to clean off existing oxides and keep more from forming. You add the braze metal (copper, brass, bronze...) to the fluxed joint, and it gets under the flux (don't ask me how) and bonds with the iron.
added Oct 15, 2026
Read article →clinker removal - Problem Solving - I Forge Iron
k ive been runnin my forge on charcoal for a wile but i got my hands on a small amount of coal, and tried it out and i was having problems with clinker getting cloged in my tuyere, i got it out but not without greatly desturbing the fire, how do you guys get it out without breaking up the fire?
added Oct 13, 2026
Read article →Quench Oil for Knives: Parks 50 vs Canola & Plate Quench | ProKilnSupply
It's a medium-speed oil that's faster than canola but much more forgiving than water or brine. It works well for 1084, 1095, O1, and many tool steels, and it significantly reduces the warping risk compared to faster quench media.
added Oct 10, 2026
Read article →Dirt Cheap Froe : 6 Steps (with Pictures) - Instructables
... steel rod, corresponding drill bit , hacksaw, ball peen hammer, oil, and drill or drill press if riveting. ... I had to use a blowtorch because I ran out of fuel for my forge, sad days. something to shape the wood, I used a plane, a drawknife ...
added Oct 8, 2026
Read article →Village Blacksmith Tutorial: Forge a 45 second leaf with veins – The Village Blacksmith
Students are required to do all work by hand at the anvil during the class with veins hand chiseled in. The shape is then refined by filing and finished with a brushed brass technique or hot applied wax that is burnished.
added Oct 6, 2026
Read article →Forging a cut off hardy out of a jackhammer bit - Tools, general discussion - I Forge Iron
i'm going to make a cut off hardy out of a jackhammer bit, what is the right cutting angle for a hot cut ? or is it that big of a deal ? also Brian Brazeals style of a rounded cutting top or just a straight top ? and how about harden or temper them ?
added Oct 3, 2026
Read article →How to Forge a Basket Twist Like A Pro- Blacksmith Code
The essentials for forging a basket twist include; ... The material for making a basket twist is usually a square bar. You can try a 5/8” square bar, and it will work better if the surfaces of the steel are regular and even.
added Oct 1, 2026
Read article →How Colonial Gunsmiths Forged Musket and Rifle Gun Barrels – Revolutionary War Journal
The iron was continuously re-heated and hammered until a long barrel was produced. Rifle barrels were hammered into a rough octagonal shape. The look was popular and the sides were simpler to forge when working with a heavy tube.
added Sep 26, 2026
Read article →One-piece forging helmet. How to make armour - YouTube
This is the full version without voice acting and musicENG voiceover https://youtu.be/-eshtAU-65AI live in Ukraine. Surely you know that the war has come to
added Sep 23, 2026
Read article →r/ArmsandArmor on Reddit: Dishing techniques
• Dishing involves using a hammer ... metal, basically you need to have an bowl shaped depression and you stretch the middle of the sheet metal into it by repeated annealing(softening the metal) and hammering....
added Sep 23, 2026
Read article →How to Forge Scrolls - YouTube
Forging scrolls tutorials by Christ Centered Ironworks to help blacksmiths forge a basic scroll, fishtail scroll, snub end scroll, and more!
added Sep 21, 2026
Read article →r/blacksmithing on Reddit: guide for decorative scroll work.
Also for making them Scroll wrenches and a jig will be your best friends. ... Fibonacci spiral. ... That'd be the one, I just remember my tutor calling it the golden ratio. ... Corbel with decorative scroll work, assembled using traditional joinery. ... Decor advice!! ... Forged a turd. Apparently I…
added Sep 21, 2026
Read article →Persimmon Forge: Professional Blacksmithing: Making a Great Double Lung Blacksmith Bellows
He states that a good bellows has enough leather to allowing opening to a width which equals or is greater than the widest part of the bellows. Mine will open well in excess of his formula so my leather panels are probably larger than necessary.
added Sep 19, 2026
Read article →Rural Blacksmith: Making Tools for the Anvil: Bottom Swage
This is just one way to make them, as it suited the tools available in our traditional shop. Start with a piece of steel with enough mass for the tools. In this case we used a piece of steel cut from a hammer head.
added Sep 17, 2026
Read article →Introduction to the treadle hammer for blacksmithing - YouTube
A few viewers have asked about the inline treadle hammer. So today I will discus the hammer I built using the plans by Clay Spencer. Plans available at htt...
added Sep 14, 2026
Read article →The basics of hot shoeing
After the foot has been trimmed, rasped and is ready for the new shoe, the farrier will heat the shoe in the forge and place it briefly on the foot to sear the path where the shoe will ultimately lie.
added Sep 12, 2026
Read article →Smelting Bog Iron in a Bloomery Furnace — From Ore to Wrought Iron | Youblob
This final burn consolidates the iron particles into a single bloom at the bottom of the furnace. The bloom forms just above the slag pool, where reduced iron particles weld together at high temperature without fully melting. Stop the bellows when the last charcoal charge has burned down to the tuye…
added Sep 10, 2026
Read article →Locks and Keys Part I, Locksmithing Basics : Blacksmithing How-to on anvilfire iForge
June 19, 2002, update August 2011 · iForge is an Andrew Hooper Production Copyright © 2002, 2011 Jock Dempsey, www.anvilfire.com Webmaster email: webmaster at anvilfire.com
added Sep 8, 2026
Read article →Making a forged scissor - Yamamoto Scissors
If it is wire cut into scissor blades directly, 10 small sheets are layered and is now welded together all way around to keep the sheets together. Now these blocks of 10 layered sheets is wire cut into desired shape – scissor blades (Not with ...
added Sep 6, 2026
Read article →Blacksmiths Depot has several sizes of nail headers for forging your own rose head nails
Traditional or Tom Clark design nail headers with tapered hole. Relief of sharp corner on top of hole recommended
added Sep 4, 2026
Read article →51 Guillotine/Fullering Tools ideas
Free delivery and returns on all eligible orders. Shop Blacksmiths Guillotine Tool 1&1/4 ... Nice pic of drawing out using a spring fuller. ... I got tired of trying to swage big stock with spring swages and the one guillotine tool I had was to small so I b uilt this one from all 1/2
added Sep 2, 2026
Read article →Case-hardening - Wikipedia
The traditional method of applying the carbon to the surface of the iron involved packing the iron in a mixture of carbon-rich material such as ground bone and charcoal or a combination of leather, hooves, salt and urine, all inside a well-sealed box (the "case"). This carburizing package is ...
added Aug 31, 2026
Read article →Tire Shrinker Mechanism: How Wheelwright Jaws Upset Wagon Tires, Parts and Uses Explained
A Tire Shrinker is a wheelwright's tool that locally upsets a steel wagon-wheel tire to reduce its circumference so it grips the wooden felloes again. The working component is a pair of opposed cast-iron jaws driven by a screw, lever, or hydraulic ...
added Aug 29, 2026
Read article →Custom Blacksmith Made Hand Forged Barn Door Hinges with Latch and Bolt — Axe and Anvil Handworks
The doors are assembled and all the hardware mounted using hand-forged “rosehead” nails that are driven through and clinched on the opposite side of the door- a widely used method in days gone by that results in rock-solid construction that ...
added Aug 27, 2026
Read article →Swage Blocks | Swage Block Blacksmith | Blacksmiths Depot
Some blocks have piecing holes ... now back in stock after a several year hiatus. Some folks just use a stump to sink their bowls, ladles and spoons into....
added Aug 25, 2026
Read article →FORGING Drifts and Hammer Eye Punches - YouTube
WEBSITE: http://alecsteeleblacksmith.com/LEARN BLACKSMITHING ONLINE: http://beginblacksmithing.com/Hey! Thank you so much for checking out my daily videos! I...
added Aug 23, 2026
Read article →Wrought Iron Identification
Note that pure iron or very low carbon iron will spark the same as wrought iron. ... Take a small bar up to 1/2" square and saw about half way through or a little more. Then bend the bar to break it.
added Aug 21, 2026
Read article →Blacksmithing - I Forge Iron
Solid Fuel, Gas, Induction heating, oil forges etc. ... To ribbon or not to ribbon ......... ... Hot Cuts, Anvil devils, metal cutting on the anvil.
added Aug 21, 2026
Read article →Wrought iron - Wikipedia
Wrought iron is a semi-fused mass ... "grain" that is visible when it is etched, rusted, or bent to failure. Wrought iron is tough, malleable, ductile, corrosion resistant, and easily forge welded, but is more difficult to weld electrically. Before the development of effective methods of steelmaking…
added Aug 21, 2026
Read article →The blacksmith's fire
Sulphur causes a condition known as hotshort in irons and steels. This is a tendency to fracture at high temperatures. Clean coke is probably the easiest to use as it requires less management than the other fuels. Grains of coke should be small, about 12 to 16 mm.
added Aug 19, 2026
Read article →DIY Blacksmithing: Finishes
My preference is to keep it traditional. I use beeswax on almost all of my metalwork. I apply it after briefly reheating each piece either in the forge or with a propane torch. The heat melts the beeswax, coating the piece. This alone achieves a darker, "black" finish.
added Aug 18, 2026
Read article →General | Hardfacing a worn blacksmith anvil with new superhard steel mig wire: | Practical Machinist - Largest Manufacturing Technology Forum
Seems to me you need to determine what the base metal are before you commit expensive hard facing wire to this restoration. A good heavy wrought iron anvil with a forge welded tool steel face might be worth a restoration but not without dotting the I's and crossing the T's. Your hardfacing ...
added Aug 16, 2026
Read article →r/Blacksmith on Reddit: What is the best method to re-face this anvil?
you need a sharp corner somewhere on the front and somewhere on the back for setts, and somewhere without dents on the face to finish your work nice and flat. i would use hardfacing rods to build that chipped corner back up: sure, it'll break ...
added Aug 16, 2026
Read article →104 Blacksmithing Tools: The Ultimate Guide
Most forges generally use lump hardwood charcoal(not the grilling briquettes), bituminous coal, or propane. Which you use comes down to preference along the factors of cost, mess, obtainability, and forge setup. ... This tool is called a veiner as it is used to form the “veins” of leaves. This is a …
added Aug 14, 2026
Read article →What hardface rods do I need? | WeldingWeb - Welding Community for pros and enthusiasts
After I get all of the bad weld ... After that, I want to build up with hardface to be level with the tool steel surface, THEN add another few passes of hardface and grind it flat and dress the edges....
added Aug 12, 2026
Read article →Propane ribbon burner forge build | Canadian Hobby Metal Workers & Machinists
Then it was time to let everything ... at with it. It's all ready to be lined with 2 layers of 1" 2600* rigidised ceramic blanket, and a 1/4-3/8" kast-o-lite 30, with a poured floor....
added Aug 10, 2026
Read article →John McLellan Nov. 14, 1997 Page 1 TRADITIONAL JOINERY TECHNIQUES OUTLINE:
COLLARS · 1. USES · 2. STYLES · 3. FORGING · A. GENERAL · B. TOOLS · C. PROCESS · RIVETS · 1. USES · 2. HEADS · 3. FORGING · A. TOOLS · B. PROCESS MORTISE & TENON · 1. USES · 2. FORGING · A. TOOLS · B. PROCESS 3. VARIATIONS · PIERCING · 1. USES · 2. FORGING · A. TOOLS · B. PROCESS SHRINKING · 1. USE…
added Aug 9, 2026
Read article →Spirit Ironworks Metal Work NY — Processes, "Metal Work, Ironwork, Wrought Iron Restoration"
To create this type of joint, a hole is punched in one piece of metal to create the mortise; then the corresponding tenon is shouldered and forged to size to fit the hole. The tenon is then trimmed to length and inserted in the mortise.
added Aug 7, 2026
Read article →Post Vice Restoration | KnifeDogs.com Forums
I was trying to use my normal bench vise and the part was cooling faster than I could clamp it up. ... That's a heck of a deal. I've seen them around here, when you can find them, for as much as 3-400 dollars. ... I've never done this myself so take it for what its worth. I was talking to an old sch…
added Aug 5, 2026
Read article →How to Forge a Viking Axe?
This may be accomplished by pulling out the metal and creating the extended edge. Split the end of the blade and insert a high-carbon steel bit for a hardened cutting edge. Forge weld this bit into position to ensure a smooth connection.
added Aug 4, 2026
Read article →How to Forge a Cross Peen Hammer 2025 - Working the Flame
Punch in a notch to further identify where the eye will go. This does not have to be very deep, but should be the starting point for punching and drifting. Repeat on the opposite side of the block.
added Aug 1, 2026
Read article →23 Homemade Power Hammer For Forging | The Self-Sufficient Living
Weighing only 82 pound, this anvil mounted power forging hammer can be scaled to accomodate large or small anvils, allowing you to customize it to meet your personal forging needs. Anvil Mounted Homemade Power Hammer, Image via: Christ Centered Ironworks · This tutorial provides you with power hamme…
added Jul 31, 2026
Read article →How to Build a Brake Drum Forge - the Argo Builder
Place your bed of coal over the burning fire and crank the hairdryer up to high airflow to get the coal burning. Start blacksmithing! Enjoy! Real time video...3:45 minute video of lighting a brake drum forge:
added Jul 29, 2026
Read article →Blacksmithing - How To Forge Weld (Plus: How to forge chain) - YouTube
A tutorial on forge welding two pieces of steel together, also known as scarf welding or lap welding when welding two separate pieces together. I also go ove...
added Jul 27, 2026
Read article →Repoussé and chasing - Wikipedia
Hines, John & Cubitt, Catherine ... Fine Metalwork in Anglo-Saxon England, its Practice and Practitioners. Anglo-Saxon Studies. Vol. 2. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press. ISBN ... Corwin, Nancy Megan (2009). Chasing & Repoussé. Brynmorgen Press. ISBN ... Googerty, Thomas Francis (1911). Hand-forging and…
added Jul 25, 2026
Read article →Tatara (furnace) - Wikipedia
When the process is done, the clay ... the process, the tatara will have consumed about 9.1 t (9.0 long tons; 10.0 short tons) of satetsu and 11 t (11 long tons; 12 short tons) of charcoal, leaving about 2.3 t (2.3 long tons; 2.5 short tons) of tamahagane....
added Jul 24, 2026
Read article →Hardening and Tempering High Carbon Steel: Techniques and Benefits - MFG Shop
Temperature Range: Heat the high carbon steel to a temperature typically between 780°C and 850°C (1436°F to 1562°F). The precise temperature varies based on the carbon content and alloying elements.
added Jul 22, 2026
Read article →Making Tongs for Blacksmithing - Homestead Heritage Forge
Using a half-face hammer blow on the far side of the anvil, define the boss by indenting both edges, as shown below. Later we will slit and drift the boss to make a round hole for a rivet that will be the pivot and joinery of the tongs.
added Jul 21, 2026
Read article →Damascus and Pattern Welding - Ganoksin Jewelry Making Community
In either case, during the last heat, flux and clean off the firescale from one flat face and forge with that face against the anvil. This face will form the inside in the next weld.
added Jul 20, 2026
Read article →16 Blacksmithing Techniques - The Crucible
Hot metal can be shaped using bending, drawing, and upsetting techniques. First, heat the metal in the forge until it is easily malleable. Then, strike the hot metal with a hammer against the anvil to shape it.
added Jul 19, 2026
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