I have had the chance to work with some really good smiths. When I decided that smithing is something that I wanted to try, I took a beginners blacksmith class. After that I was hooked. I have bought several books and the Blacksmith Primer video. I will pick one thing to make and make it over and over and over again, until I feel confident making that one piece. Then I will move onto something else. I have also joined 2 blacksmith associations, the North Texas and the Saltfork Craftsman. I will go to demo's and workshops as much as I can. Watching videos is great and reading the books is great, but if you can take a class then do that.