HWHII Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 I just finished reading Civil War Blacksmithing, by David Einhorn I found this to be a good read and found it hard to put down while reading it. This book will be a great resource book for ones library. It covers a wide range from the basics for the beginner to tips even a seasoned smith can use. What I found different and liked about this book where the chapters on knife making, which the author refers to as basic and I found to be very well rounded. The history he presents was very interesting as to the types of traveling forges and there uses. Also the areas on building a bellows and constructing a cannon wheel lead me to believe I good actually make one with the detailed diagrams, photgraphs and written information. Through out the book there are many photographs, diagrams, charts, and resources that will keep you going back to it as it sits on your shelf over time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southernforge Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Great book. It has a lot of tables,charts and other information that make it a good reference book to repeatedly refer back to for anyone doing blacksmithing. A good step by step section on knifemaking, making damascus, and useful tips and techniques for anyone doing blacksmithing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus Hopfinger Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 My copy just showed up today. Just paging through it looks fantastic! I can't wait to dig through it at my leisure this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus Hopfinger Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 This has lots of useful information in it! I have PDFs of scans of the original Ordinance documents but they are very had to read David has put the information into easily read tables that will be far more useful. I really like the paint color information that he has included. He has the paint formula used by the National Park Service to paint cannon carriages so a reenactor can take the information to the paint vendor and get an authentic match not just a "that kind of looks like the right color" match. Much good information on forges correct to the Civil War. He covers everything from permanent forges to field expedient forges used by General Shermans army complete with documentation (very important when doing an authentic impression). If you do historical blacksmithing demonstrations, especially of the mid-1800s, this book will be a huge help in getting things done correctly. Thanks for writing this David. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Wow; I just got a copy of this book yesterday and my wife didn't tell me about it till breakfast. Durn near made me late for work and first thing today is the conference call with my boss in Germany! I was highly impressed in how well this book was put together, great binding, printing, lots of pictures. The Civil War I'm generally interested was between Stephen and Matilda around 1139 but just after looking through this book I get an uncontrollable urge to build one of the ACW forge carts. The plans and instructions and pictures make it seem like even building the wheels could be done in a simple shop like mine. I also really like the section of common items wanted by re-enactors and how to forge them---very handy for a new smith wanting to break into the game! This is a great book and I'm really happy to have it in my bookcase of smithing books---it'l go an a middle shelf where it's easy to find and show to people! If you have been thinking of getting one; do it! If Dave has some copies to hand he'd probably be willing to sign it for you as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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