Practical Blacksmithing

The blacksmith’s ABCs—learn metalworking as taught by the old masters!

The forging of metal gave birth to the Iron Age, and Practical Blacksmithing is the classic primer on the craft that shaped modern civilization. Featuring more than 1,000 illustrations, this foundational text describes every aspect of working with iron and steel, and is essential for both the do-it-yourself backyard blacksmith and the professional metalworker.   

Originally published in four volumes in the early 20th century, this hefty, single-volume, new edition of Practical Blacksmithing is different from similar books in that it includes contributions by working tradesmen. In addition to its clear and concise instructional material, the book’s editor collected the actual words of old-time blacksmiths offering their best methods, unique how-to’s, original techniques, and arcane knowledge.

Industrialization and mass production may have led to the disappearance of the blacksmith from everyday life, but the art of metalwork never died. It smoldered like hot coals in a forge, and today those coals are red hot as craftsman taking up blacksmithing as a hobby or art form seek to learn the foundational aspects of the trade.

Proving that what may be old can actually be new and useful, Practical Blacksmithing describes all the important smithing processes: welding, brazing, soldering, cutting, bending, setting, tempering, fullering and swaging, forging, and drilling. It also includes the early history of blacksmithing and describes tools used since ancient times. In addition to thousands of other useful facts, the modern blacksmith will be introduced to old tools and learn how to make them, and can even learn how to build a retro blacksmith shop with detailed do-it-yourself plans!