Books

*One of the best guides to metal for the individual interested if forging is "Metals for the Engineering Craftsmen” published by the British Rural Industries Bureau (COSIRA) in 1964.  It has an elementary spark chart, a nice glossary and clearly describes the metals a shop would most likely run across from wrought iron to Monel.  It describes the properties. "These are high-strength materials, cold working raising the tons / sq. in. from 23 in the annealed state condition to over 50. The addition of silicon not only enhances the strength but confers resistance to corrosion by acids, and improves the weldability. There work hardening properties are good, and annealing is achieved at temperatures between 490 C and 760 C. but they are subject to fire cracking and stress corrosion failures."
When forging, welding and polishing the coppers you should be aware of fumes and dust. Good ventilation is important. I still love iron. Unless you get hit by it, it's very safe to work with.  From David Court *Regarding books, how many of you have read Fredrick Faller's novel:  A Sword for Immerland King?  This is a great read AND he manages to weave a lot of blacksmithing and bladesmithing information into the story.  Don't get this book because the craft of metalsmithing is integral to the story.  Get this book because it is a great story in which the craft of metalsmithing is integral to the story.
From Rick Korinek

* Practical Projects for the Blacksmith
By Ted Tucker
Rodale Press
A good book to begin with. It has good instructions for the projects and a glossary. The focus is on American colonial style forging. Tucker has a good eye for practical beauty so I often find myself browsing this book for inspiration.
From Lucian Avery

*New Edge of the Anvil
By Jack Andrews
Skipjack Press
This book has a little of everything. From basic instruction and shop setup to
 blacksmith portfolios, design theory and metallurgy.
From Lucian Avery

*Professional Smithing
 By Donald Sreeter
 Astragal Press
Streeter was an amazing blacksmith and this is one of my favorite books. This book focuses on Streeter's methods of making high quality colonial reproductions and has great informative photographs. Beginners may be frustrated at the lack of basic instruction.
From Lucian Avery

*Werk und Werkzeug des Kuntschmieds
By Otto Shmirler

*Ernst Wasmuth Verlag Tubingen
This one has German, English and French text but the best part is the pictures. It is a photo library of traditional hand tools and techniques side by side with corresponding details of exquisite German ironwork.
From Lucian Avery

*Plain and Ornamental Forging by Ernst Schwartzkopf
www.astragalpress.com ISBN 1-879335-95-6
It covers everytjing from building a forge to making all of your own tools and covers techniques from basic forgings to advanced tool making and ornamental forging. It is very nice and the forward I believe is by a smith I know from theForge Mr. Mark E. Williams. It is a nice book in paperback and only 18.95
Submitted byTed Jones

Computer Tricks

* To keep your desktop uncluttered consider putting a new file called “Metal Filing Cabinet" in your documents folder   This will allow you to send many files to “My Documents” and categorize them in the sub file. From Ralph Sproul

Definition

* Blacksmithing - The Process
 A blacksmith is a person who forms hot iron with hammer and anvil - a process called forging. When metals are heated they become softer and can be readily shaped by skilled hands. It is a cyclical process of heating in the forge then shaping with a hammer on the anvil as the metal cools. When the metal gets too cold and hard to forge the process is started again, and is repeated until the desired effect is achieved.

*A Bit of History

For three thousand years blacksmiths forged all of the iron needed for civilization.  They made weapons, household items, agricultural implements, architectural pieces, horse shoes, art and many of the tools needed by other craftsman. During the mid 1800s the methods and scale of industry changed from one of a kind work done by the blacksmith to mass production. The small community oriented shops could not compete with the prices of the mass produced goods and they faded away.

Mass production now gives people the time to, once again, produce things that have individuality and character. The over abundance of sameness in our culture has stimulated people to search for articles that bring character into everyday life.  Because of a growing demand for the unique and an increasing number of people working to preserve this cultural cornerstone, blacksmithing is now moving away from the brink of extinction.

Materials

Traditionally, a metal containing layers of silica interbeded with iron, called wrought iron, was used. Often, if you look at old ironwork you can see the wood like grain caused by the iron rusting away, leaving the silica raised. Smiths today generally use mild steel, a readily available, homogeneous iron alloy, though we now have many choices of medium - stainless steel, brass, bronze, copper, aluminum and even titanium are often used.

There is some confusion about the term "wrought iron." Wrought means hammered, so the term literally means "hammered iron". When referring to types of steel it means the aforementioned historic, no longer manufactured iron containing layers of silica. In this case it refers to its method of manufacture. Cast iron blooms were forged out, with large trip hammers, into wrought iron. The term is often used today to mean decorative ironwork made of mild steel that, hammered or not, resembles traditional ironwork.

Techniques
Traditional forging techniques are often divided into the categories listed below. In practice these divisions are not clear cut and two or more techniques are often happening simultaneously. Some of these are used on both hot and cold metal.

Draw out - to make thinner and longer

Upset - to make thicker and shorter

Bend - this term is used in the normal way -- to cause to assume a curved or angular shape

Chisel - to shape or cut with a sharp tool - a chisel

Chase - to indent with a blunt tool from the front

Reposé - pushing out from the back to give more depth. Usually used on sheet metal.

Hot punch - to make a hole by displacement and sheering

Twist - to turn the ends of a piece in different directions and impart (or take out) a helix shape

Forge weld - to join two or more pieces by adhering their two surfaces together

A contemporary blacksmith will command a host of auxiliary skills in addition to those listed here, such as brazing, heat treating, electric welding, filing, grinding etc.

Tools

Again, this list contains only the most basic traditional elements, the tools that
 distinguish blacksmithing from other trades/arts. A modern, well-equipped shop
 will have a huge assortment of tools, some specialized and some extensions of
 those listed below. One of the beauties of blacksmithing is the ability to make ones own tools. This gives smiths great creative latitude, as they are not limited by what is commercially available.

Anvil - These come in many shapes but all are heavy blocks of iron or steel with a
flat top on which metals are shaped by hammering. The horn is the round, pointy
end, the hardy hole is square and the pritchel hole is round.

Hammer - These also come in many shapes. Hammers typically have a flat side,
called the face and the other side is called the peen. Hammers are usually classified by their weight and their peen end.
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Forge - The furnace of hearth where the metal is heated. Mild steel is forgeable
between 1300F and 2400F.

Leg vice - A stationary clamping device with a leg that transmits the force of the
hammer blows to the floor.

Tongs - Large iron pliers that allow the smith to handle hot metal.

            From Lucian Avery 

Design

Forging Bronze:

*The alloy is CDA 655
        Here's what I've found when forging it:
SB can be forged up to a dull red color. When it's at the right heat,
it is very soft and forges very well. You can do most of the same kind
of things you can with iron, with the exception of forge welding. It
doesn't really scale like iron does, so you end up with a smooth
surface texture. You have to be careful with the heat, though: there is
some sort of phase change at about a bright red heat. I highly
recommend learning it in a semi dark shop. What happens is you pull the
piece out of the fire and it looks fine, nice and hot, and then you go
to hit it, or even just drop it on the anvil, and it will crumble like
a piece of cornbread. It has NO STRENGTH in this phase!  If it gets to
this temp, and you realize when you take it out of the fire that it's
too hot, be very gentle, you can just let it cool till it cools below 
the threshold, then forge away. Just below the critical heat it is
VERRY soft and really easy to push around. You can also just melt it,
too... I think the melting point is around 1700 deg. F, and the weird
cornbread phase is maybe 1-200 degrees below that. If you think a piece
has been overheated, check for cracks if it matters. The stuff I've
bought from Diversified seemed to crack a lot easier than the stuff
from Atlas...At least I had this experience once with some 1 1/4" rod
that I was forging into a 5/8 x 1 1/2 rectangular handrail.
      I usually rub it with a green scrubby pad, or emery paper, to finish
it, and then maybe spray lacquer. Don't contaminate it with abrasives
which have been used on steel, or it will rust. It doesn't hold a
brassy type of shine, but it ages very gracefully and anything that is
handled regularly will get polished. Outside it will go brown and then
slowly verde gris green, with very little bleeding and no rust.
     SB is extremely sensitive to work hardening, which you can really use
to your advantage if you want to. Cold working is the ONLY way to
harden it, and if it is heated and then not cold worked it will be soft
even if it's quenched. I think "cold worked" is below maybe 500 deg.,
but I don't really know. Maybe 700 degrees.  I've made a lot of letter
openers with it. I make the handle, then draw the other end to a small
SQUARE tapered point maybe 3/16" or less, tapering to a point 3-4" long
or so. Then I heat the taper up pretty hot to get a good even anneal,
and then quench it. The point is then dead soft and you can bend it
double with your fingers if you want. It should never see heat again! I
then forge out the blade cold by flattening it on the diamond, and when
it's all thinned out it has a very nice spring to it and it will hold
enough edge to open a really lot of email.   I think it would make good
little leaf spring type things for locks and such.
     One thing about SB is the different shapes. Round bar is cold drawn and
very hard-- for bronze-- and is the cheapest. (Maybe $4/lb or less
last time I got some). Plate is also available and is sort of half hard
or pretty soft, and it costs DOUBLE per pound what the rod costs.
Rectangular bar is available in a few limited sizes, and is cold rolled
and very very hard, with sharp edges, and also double the price. The
price varies... Once I needed some <yesterday> and paid $11/lb for
round stock from General supply in New Bedford.
     SB mig wire is available. Torch welding is tricky because of cracking
during the cornbread phase. I usually have good luck torch welding
round stock and no luck with flat stock. I use straight borax for flux.
Brazing with brazing rods is pretty easy but the color match isn't too
good. I also silver solder it a lot.
     Remember there are a million alloys of "bronze". I'm only talking about
CDA 655, which is 97%Cu, 3%Si, 1% Manganese.
      From Whit Hanschka

*Bronze - Forging bronze is a lot of fun.  I like forging the silicon bronze
because it is easily forged and it also can be cold worked and welded.   655
silicon bronze can be forged between 1300-1600 degrees. I use the visual of a
dull red color.  385 architectural bronze is another forgeable bronze 1150-1350
that we use a lot.  There are a lot of forgeable bronzes out there, these are
just a couple that we use.  Just remember that bronze goes through a band
when cooling that it is real brittle and will shatter when hit.  After that
is cold workable.
   You can get more info from Copper Development Assoc. 260 Madison Ave. New
York, NY 10016.  One book of theirs that I like is the Copper Brass Bronze
Design Handbook.
     From George Martell 

Formulas & Layout

Harden & Temper

*To harden and temper molding blades: I used a piece of 3/8" plate about 4 or 5" square and lay it on top of the fire..... until it turned red..... Then lay the thin molding blade on the plate and let it soak up the heat until it was red then remove it and quench it in oil and back to the block and I had a little bolt welded to the plate so I could stand the molding blade on its back and let the heat run the colors until I got the straw that I wanted and cool that in oil..... It is kind of simple but it worked for me... and the guy I use to do them for never broke a blade and he had a huge machine that turned out all this custom molding and it had a massive motor and it would chew up a knot like butter....
From Bonnie Billings

Metallurgy

Patina & Finish

Shop Setup

* Flow Chart for a metal working shop

Item or Process                   Tools required in area

Stock/Plan/Cut/Layout        -drawing plans/layout table/steel rack/cut
off saw
------------------------------------------------------------
Rough Forge                      -forge/ anvil/vice/ welder/ swages/ tooling
Weld - Jig/Fab                  drill press/ clamps/ quench tank/ torches
Punch                                treadle hammer/ power hammer/ tongs
Drill
----------------------------------------------------------------

Weld/Twist/Upset            -layout table/ vise/ benders/ rolls/ drill press
Punch/Bend/Drill/             tooling/ jigs/ swages/ stakes/ welder/
Tenon/Rivet/Texture        torches/ clamps/ treadle hammer
Roll/ Assemble

----------------------------------------------------------------

Grind/Sand/File              -finish bench/ belt sander/ grinders
Finish                             files/ compressed air station
Photo                            packing bench or crating area
Pack/Ship
Install

So you can see this is a rough outline I have devised to layout a
shop's floor space, material flow, product steps and execution, on thru to
shipping and installing.
From Ralph Sproul

*One of the best was to make room in your shop is to have casters on your tools. Another way to improve the efficiency of your work is to have all the accessories on that tool with casters so when you pull it out – you are ready to go to work. This of course is determined by having a concrete floor in your shop.
From Ralph Sproul

*Floor pockets are a very handy option in a floor. I use 3/8 wall 6 x 6 tubing so that any 5” square tube will fit in it for a tool post, support, or accessory to be plugged into the floor socket.
From Ralph Sproul

*Installing weldments in your floor allows you to add a plate to the floor to work from for sculpture of mocking up railings. The addition of a ground cable in the concrete to the weldments set in the floor eliminates the need for a ground cable crossing your work space from you welder.
From Ralph Sproul

Stainless Steel:

* Stainless falls into three categories, the 300 series (18-8 types)
nonmagnetic, non-hardenable and the most forgeable, the 400 series, magnetic,
hardenable, and very narrow forging temperature range, and the Ferritic
grades; 430, 434, and 430F are non hardenable, magnetic and very difficult to
forge because of their low hot working temperature and fast grain growth when
heated.  Stay away from the sulfurized grades; 303, 416, 420F as they crack
easily as does 440A, B & C (for bearings and knives).  Stainless needs a lot
of force to move as you will see, and if you do forge the 400 series, don’t
letter it cool as it will harden in air.  Best to start by trying some 301,
302, or 304 stainless, then 316.  If you don’t have a power hammer you will
wish you did.  Also, stay clear of the 600 grades (630, 631) as they are PH
types, with extremely narrow forging ranges and even annealed are about
Rockwell C 30-35. 
     From Michael Schermerhorn

*I guess from the comments on "returning SS to being
corrosion resistant," I should have added;
Stainless gets its corrosion resistance from the chromium that it contains. 
When the Cr meets with the oxygen in the air it forms a chromium oxide film
on the surface of the metal that is very resistant to general type corrosion.
 The chrome oxide film forms by itself over time on the 300 stainless grades,
but the 400 grades, especially the high carbon 440C, A, &B require that the
material be heat treated, similar to a tool steel, to produce the required cr
oxide film.  All stainless grades, regardless of chemistry, can be
"passivated" to instantly produce the desired film by use of a nitric acid
bath.  Most commercial plating companies can do this for you if you don't
want the problem of what to do with the acid when you're done.  To do it
yourself;
First wash the parts by a 30 minute bath in hot (150-200F) 5% sodium
hydroxide, or any alkaline cleaner - FREE OF CHLORINE.   Clear water rinse. 
The 300 series and lower carbon 400 series (403, 410, 420) grades are then
soaked in 20% nitric/water solution heated to above room temperature
(120-130F) and soaked about an hour.  Followed by a hot water rinse.  The
surface of 440C may etch in this solution, so raise the acid to 50% to avoid
the etch.  Hot water rinse.
To give you an example of how the high carbon stainless grades rust, when we
hot rolled 440C at the steel mill, and then ran it though the pickling tanks
to remove the surface scale, we would hook onto a 2,000# coil with the forks
on a tow motor, lift it out of the hot water rinse tank and speed to the
tanks that held the rust inhibitor, and by the time we got there (maybe 2
minutes) half of the coil would be covered with rust and you could watch the
rust run across and around the coil.  This is one of the reasons that you
will see a great deal of 440C in small diameter sold with a copper coating
like MIG wire, to keep it from rusting before it is heat treated.  BTW, the
copper on many of the MIG wire grades is on there for these same reasons,
including our Pure Iron MIG wire.  The copper acts both as a drawing
lubricant for cold drawing to smaller sizes (or cold heading or cold forming)
and a corrosion barrier.

PS, or as my college student daughter writes: PMS- If you do forge
one of the free machining grades (303, 416, 5F, 430F or one called EZ or
Project 70) add about 2% sodium dichromate to the passivation solution to
avoid having the surface attacked.  Don’t forget that the sulfur is in there
to help in machining, but dirt is dirt, and the acid solution will attack it.
      From Mike Schermerhorn

Tools

Anvils

Bicks

Dies

Fabricated & Machined Tools

*Adding receiver pockets (like a trailer hitch) to your work bench allows the addition of many table accessories and tools by just dropping them in and taking advantage of the full weight of the work table.

From Ralph Sproul

*I have a broken anvil (the horn is missing). I use it's hardy as a tool holder so my working anvil is free for pounding. Railroad spikes fit the hardy nicely. I cut off the heads and weld quarter inch plate to them and use them as a platform for making jigs. Near where I live are several railroad sidings. When repairs are done to the bed, the old spikes can not be re-used so they are left behind. There also are round headed bolts which I use for staking tools. These I have to forge square
to fit the hardy. I weld a ring on the shaft just above the spot where the stake begins to get too snug so that in use it will not get stuck in the hardy.
From Mark Berlinger

Forged Tools

Forges (Coal)

Forges (Gas)

Shop Ideas

*Put your files in sandblast medium (coal slag) it keeps them from touching and getting dull.
            Idea I liked from David Court’s shop - from Ralph Sproul.

Traditional forging techniques

            Ed Grove's Blacksmithing Techniques

            A Yellinesque Quartrefoil By Francis Whitaker

            Heating small objects in the forge (not with a torch)

* Place a small plate of steel ( 6"x6"X 1/8")  on top of the fire and heat it
and the rivets, bolts or what ever you want to heat....   if you were to
concave the plate a little so much the better....
      From Bonnie Billings

* I can suggest using a piece of long flat stock with some holes near the
end to pass the pieces through.  It would be like a one piece holder.  If
you make it a loose fit the stock should not take too much heat and you
always have the option of pre-heating the stock, dropping in the small piece
and going back to the heat.  The cold end makes a handle.  Different sized
holes would suit different small parts.
     From Owen Bostrom

* Try putting some screen/grate on the coal, than put the small parts on the
screen.
     From Larry Theroux

* As to the suggestions concerning heating small parts in a coal fire. The
steel piece (or better still Pure Iron [higher burning point] used as a stage
on which to heat the small forged pieces is an idea often used by me.
Especially when heating small pieces such as springs for hardening where
grasping them with tongs (even preheated tongs) will result in irregular
heating and failure of the part. Generally though, small parts (what is small
anyway) can be securely heated in a coal fire if the fire is properly built
and managed. A new fire, well packed, lots of available coke and a good coke
"cave' fire. Keep the bed of the fire well packed with coke and use
intermittent or light blast once the fire is up to snuff. Properly built, the
heat produced should maintain itself enough to heat a number of pieces simply
laying in a quiet fire (no blast). A hand blower is best. I feel electric
blowers should be used by professionals only. A hand blower forces you to be
at the fire during all heats and inevitably leads to good fire management
skills.
  
The small hardware store gas torches are handy but expensive to run. I burn a
lot of propane and acetylene and I can tell you there is no cheeper heat than
coal, nor as versatile.
     From David Court

*Doug Wilson uses a flat bar with a slot in it that
will hold a dozen screws or so. Or a bar can be bent into a "U" shape with
space left between the legs to line up the screws/bolts/rivets in question
in a row so that the heads are touching. A handle can be forge welded to the
"U". If you slit a 1/4" thick bar from one side, the sharp edges formed on
the opposite side will tend to keep the threaded ends of the screws/bolts
from sliding through the slot. Doug puts the slotted bar in the fire so that
the axis of the screws/bolts is horizontal.

      From Doug Wilson

*When trying to heat small parts I use a small crucible that can be found at a jewelry supply.
      From George Martell

          Tongs 

          Doug Wilsons forge sequence

Welding

Carbon Arc gouging

Gas Welding

          Mig

Stick

*Low hydrogen rod like 7018 is one of the best rods for welding dissimilar metals which are becoming more prevalent with all the countries of the world shipping steel to the US now.  The ability to weld mild steel to low or medium carbon steels is exceptional with this rod also.
From Ralph Sproul

*When considering polarity in rods that will weld in either  -use the reverse polarity (electrode positive) for penetration, and  the straight polarity (electrode negative) for build up or overlay.
From Ralph Sproul

*When trying to run a vertical weld it is a common practice to cut the amps by 10-20% from the flat weld bead setting, to get the bead to run correctly.
From Ralph Sproul

*An electrode Guide:

Tig

Safety

*Climbing pressure on your regulators is something to watch for. The acetylene regulator is especially important on this point. When acetylene is released at over 15 PSI it creates an explosive compound that can be triggered merely by gas passing over them. That is a reason the red area is on your acetylene regulator – never allow it to be run over 15 PSI. Have all regulators with climbing pressures rebuilt.
From Ralph Sproul

*Oil on an oxygen tank stem is another thing to stay away from. When oil reaches the high-pressure oxygen section of your tank it will explode. Watch out for your power hammer sending oil in the welding tanks direction…this is not a good practice.
From Ralph Sproul

*Never weld around charging batteries...if you think propane or acetylene is explosive.........you've seen nothing comparing it to Hydrogen. The battery will explode sending acid all over you (not to mention the battery case/top comes apart like a grenade.
From Ralph Sproul

*NEVER EVER weld on a car or truck rim as long as
there is air in the tire.... TAKE THE CORE OUT OF THE VALVE STEM
STEM.......... heat from welding on the rim will expand the air inside
the tire and it will explode when enough pressure builds up... People
die every year doing just that.... there is enough pressure in a truck
tire to blow your head off...
From Bonnie Billings

Disclaimer:

The New England Blacksmiths are affiliates of the Artists-Blacksmith' s Association of North America, and is devoted to the preservation and advancement of blacksmithing.  The NEB disclaims any responsibility of liability for damages or injuries as a results of any design, construction, manufacture, use or other activity undertaken as a result of the use or application of information contained on this website of the NEB.