Jim Blaho

It’s December 19, 2025, and this thread dates back more than twelve years. Richard Postman, author of Anvils in America, passed away three years ago. Our publishing house, Artisan Ideas—specialized in books for metalsmiths—has obtained the rights from Richard’s family to republish this encyclopedic work. We are about ten days away from receiving stock from the printer. We have kept the retail price at $95, the same price Richard charged when he was selling the book himself three years ago. Someone earlier in this thread remarked that the book should be updated. That observation was correct—but the updates will come from the community, not from the publisher. The book is already enormous, at over 550 pages, and in Richard’s final printings he encountered binding failures due to its size. For that reason, we chose not to add additional chapters. Instead, we are creating a dedicated “Errata Corrige and Addendum” section on the ArtisanIdeas.com website, devoted exclusively to the anvils covered in Anvils in America. This will be a traditional addendum—no discussions or comments—containing verified corrections, updates, and high-quality photographs submitted by blacksmiths and collectors. In other words, the book will continue to grow through the knowledge of its readers. This section will be live by mid-January 2026. A link to it will appear on the book’s description page on the Artisan Ideas website, along with instructions for submitting material. We greatly appreciate any verified information or high-quality photos you can contribute to help keep Richard Postman’s work alive. Jim Blaho Editor, Artisan Ideas

The New Spruce Forge Manual of Locksmithing: A Blacksmith's Guide to Making Simple Lock Mechanisms was published in January, 2022. It's available from most online book vendors. This new edition is double in size as compared to the original. There are 14 lock projects now compared to the 6 in the 1st edition from 1999. It's now hardcover with a "layflat" binding so the pages stay open when you're working on a project. The first section (70 pages) is a good introduction to the tools, techniques and procedures you'll need to construct the locks. The next section (228 pages) contains the 14 different projects, illustrated with color photos and diagrams.