25 most important tools/resources for a beginning blacksmith

[klopdav]

As a homeschooling father, I am always trying to make assignments relevant for my kids. My 15 year old daughter has taken up an interest in blacksmithing and so I have assigned her the task of writing a report.

So I ask each of you the following, In your opinion, as a beginning blacksmith what are the 25 most important tools/resources that I should get first? Please rank them in order of importance.

As a side note could you also answer:

1) When did you begin blacksmithing?
2) Why/how did you start blacksmithing?

Once she has compiled her list I will be happy to share it with you.

Thank you all for your help.

Henry Davis
henryd@mcetoner.com

[macbruce]

1...anvil
2....forge
3...tongs
4...vise
5...punches, drifts
6....hammers....(could go anywhere above)
7....anvil hardies....cutting above all.
8....swage block....getting harder...
9....layout table
10...drill press
11....power hammer
Well, those are the easy ones......

started 1972-3
I started because I'm eccentric (prerequisite) and I have the will to move iron occasionally.......

[Francis Trez Cole]

12. safety glasses
13. proper clothes
14. coal
15. join local blacksmith group

[beth]

16 pictures of blacksmiths work, the best you can find, to see what is possible
17 imagination
18 persistant streak
19 access to this forum...

henry where do you live ? would love to help/encourage your daughter if i can :)

[Jerry W.]

I have been working on blacksmithing for going on 7 years now. It is something that I had been interested in for a very long time and just did not put the effort into getting started. Wow, to think of what I could do today if I started at 15 (38 years ago).

I came across a familiar last name while browsing the internet. After a few weeks, it got the best of me and I called him. He is the older brother of two men that I had worked with and around for the previous 25 years. He has been a great mentor and friend.

I won't have 25 tools/resources but I will give a start of what I feel is important.

I would not even count the PPE. That is a given. Eye protection, hearing protection, gloves......

First, she will have to have the desire. Turning out nice work does not just happen, it takes work to polish your skills. Some take to it much faster than others. As for me, it takes a lot of work.

Second, I would recommend a mentor. Someone that will point her in the right direction and get her going, that will constructively critique her work and work with her to improve. Very talented blacksmiths very willing to share their knowledge of the craft can usually be found at your local association.

Third, someting to hammer on (an anvil would be best but, doesn't have to be)
Fourth, something to hammer with
Fifth, Tongs -
Sixth, books and reference material.

Somewhere in here, she will want a forge of her own. Once she has worked in a few, she can make an educated decision as to what would work best for her.

I am sure she will need a wire brush, a hot cut, maybe a hacksaw, a file (old farriers rasp).

I could go on but I time is limited today.

Good luck,
Jerry

[Thomas Dean]

Howdy from East TEXAS!! and welcome to IFI. GOOD FOR YOU!! Exciting to hear a father allowing his daughter to pursue blacksmithing. Maybe we will get a young smith interested in something besides " I want to make a knife or sword 10 feet long". Seem we get a lot of those and yet they have no idea of how to even light a fire....done with my short rant.... You have come to the rigth place to find answers to anything metal related. But reading and studing will only get you so far, eventually she will need to "get in the fire" and actually beat on a piece of hot steel. But beware, once that happens it's all over, she will be hooked! Check the gallery for pictures of the type of work folks do and you can also click on an individuals name, which will pull up their profile, and from there you can pull up that persons gallery of work. There are days of reading and looking here on IFI so be prepared to spend some time. Once again, welcome.

[pkrankow]

It is best to start with

1 personal protective equipment (safety glasses, boots, apron, etc)
2 anvil (not necessarily a "London pattern" as a block of steel suitably supported will work well)
3 hammer(s)
4 fire (ok, forge, but a hole in the dirt works)
5 blower/bellows


you can make the following with the above
6 tongs
7 cutoff hardy
8 hot chisels
9 cold chisels
10 punches of various size for holes and slots
11 punches of various size for shapes and impressions (bob, eye stamps, shape stamps, etc)
12 other hardy tools as necessary

It is nice to have
13 hand hack saw
14 angle grinder
15 belt grinder and/or bench grinder
16 hand drill
17 post vise

Items I added in later
18 drill press
19 tong rings/clips

things I am trying to get now
20 arc welder
22 torch set (oxy/fuel, propane or acetylene)

23 ideas and projects at a suitable level,
24 time
25 market because this hobby is expensive without selling some stuff.

hobby smith, 3 years.

Phil

[Glenn]

As a homeschooling father, my 15 year old daughter has taken up an interest in blacksmithing. I have assigned her the task of writing a report.

So I ask each of you the following, In your opinion, as a beginning blacksmith what are the 25 most important tools/resources that I should get first? Please rank them in order of importance.

As a side note could you also answer:
1) When did you begin blacksmithing?
2) Why/how did you start blacksmithing?

As her teacher you are asking us to do her homework, and yours.

If you have looked at the blacksmithing > blacksmithing general discussion the first post is What do you need to get started in Blacksmithing?

If you have looked at the General Discussions section you could have found
Interview with a blacksmith.
There are several blacksmiths that have responded to the same questions in the interview nprocess. A very good resource for both you and your daughters homework.

Additional reading of the 254,581 Total Posts on the site will answer most of you and your daughters other questions.

If she does an internet search for the answers to her homework, I would suggest the following:

1 Desire, that has to come first.

2-6 you can be done simultaneously.


2 Something to hit on (anvil substitute)
3 Something to hit with (hammer)
4 Something to hit (metal)
5 Personal protection equipment (to be acquired and used before she starts)
6 Knowledge from any source, mentor, internet, books, blacksmith gatherings, etc.
---The rest of the tools needed, you can make.

[Larry H]

desire.....fire......rock on a stick....bigger rock to hit on. The other twenty one are incidentals, ( made with the first four)

[SmoothBore]

The type of work you intend to do, has a lot to do with the tools you need, ... and the order of their importance.

I'll go out on a short limb, and guess that a teenage girl is probably going to be more interested in "ornamental" work, than something like tool making.

So, the basic tools for fullering, bending and cutting will be the most useful.

The other thing that hasn't yet been touched on, is "user friendly" material.

By that I mean mild, low carbon round, flat and square bar, in sizes that won't require a lot of work, to bring them to the desired dimensions.


During my "working" years, I designed Forge Tooling, for use in 500 to 1,000 ton Forge Presses, forging "slugs" that were heated in Induction Heaters, ... but I've only had a Coal Forge in my "home" shop, for a few years.



.

[Blakksmyth]

Another item that is very handy to have is an all steel heavy duty work table or bench. At least 5' x 4' in size. You can hang a post vice off it and it's vital for laying out your projects for welding and assembly. It saves your back and knees if you're getting on in years.

RobK

[tzonoqua]

you are asking one of those "how long is a piece of string" questions...

it all depends on the outcomes you perceive...

first and foremost, a brain!! (to work out the most efficient way necessary to achieve your goals.... and all else will follow....)

[Jeddly]

I think everyone pretty much summed it up. Only thing I can add is .....










A bic lighter!!

[David Einhorn]

26) bowl of ice and a towel, until the person learns not to touch iron that is black-hot.
27) first aid kit
28) file, and sandpaper to remove sharp edges and burrs, so that you don't need the first aid kit so often.
29) a book with pre-measured beginner projects
30) a course or two at your local blacksmith group or school

[Old N Rusty]

If your dotter can read, I strongly reccommend the book "The Art of Blacksmithing" by Alex Bealer.

[matto]

more good books; the backyard blacksmith by lorelei sims, the skills of a blacksmith vol. 1 and 2 vol. 3 when it comes out by mark aspery, new edge of the anvil by jack andrews, a blacksmithing primer by randy mcdaniel, the blacksmiths cookbook by francis whitaker, a blacksmiths craft by francis whitaker then any books about past blacksmiths. " for it is through the past that we will build the future" or " learning to use the tools from yesterday, today, will build tomorrow"

[pkrankow]

Don't forget that all these excellent books and more can be found at your public library. If they do not have them in the local collection they can ILL (inter library loan) them from a network of other librarys in the US.

Phil

[klopdav]

Thank you for your input.

Based on the responses, I’m realizing I should have been more specific.

We are members of both MABA & IBA (Michigan & Indiana). We have the basic equipment already, and Lilly has a blacksmith teacher that she is seeing for her industrial arts credit and loving it. However due in part to her dyslexia, it’s her English and Math that I'm having issues keeping her involved with. What I trying to teach her in this exercise was basic statistical research, to take the responses and come up with the 12 – 15 most common tools that appear on all of the lists.

I also want her to see how the list might change based on how long a person has been working as a blacksmith, or what they are trying to accomplish.

We have e-mailed a number of blacksmiths and have received replies from most, however those I know are limited and from a statistical viewpoint the data is not yet valid. I was trying to get more data, for her to work with.

Again, thank you for the responses

Henry E. Davis
Homeschooling dad to 4 kids
henryd@mcetoner.com
(574) 274-0633 cell

[Francis Trez Cole]

I have dyslexia and it has never held me back She is great company I have a collage degree and was a teacher at the same school. Half the thing to over come is what you are doing keeping her involved with what she likes. I can read through technical manuals but give me an novel and forget it. she will need to learn to write bids on project and well math she will have to learn how to blue print that will help her with the practical side. don't for get income tax that was the best skill I learned in school. The more teachers she has the better we all have a different way of doing the same task

[Borntoolate]

Since you have a bunch of numbered and in order stuff here is just some other ideas and thoughts to figure out how to slot in and where.

- A source of scrap metal.
- Decision on what fuel to use - Coal, Charcoal, or Gas Forge (Propane, NG...)
- Decision to by or build you forge, tools, smithy etc. Depends on money and your ability to build your won stuff.
- A welding machine if you plan to amke a lot of your own stuff - See above.
- Willingness to be looked at funny when you talk about your hobby.
- Willingness to learn from others and teach others.

I started about 18 months ago with barely a clue and built a gas forge using propane. Then 12 months ago got introduced to a coal forge and was hooked. Built my brake drum forge and used it til about 6 months ago and have now a nice cast firepot and new larger forge.

[thingmaker3]

I began my blacksmithing hobby about seventeen years ago while working in a factory. Part of my job involved making precise (+ or - 0.015) adjustments on just-welded (CNC MIG) parts by beating them with a mallet. Curios about blacksmithing as a result, I read Bealer. That got me hooked.

My 25 are: eye protection, hearing protection, proper clothing, big hammer, medium hammer, little hammer. anvil, forge, vice, cold chisel, big hot chisel, medium hot chisel, small hot chisel, tongs for small stuff, tongs for medium stuff, small punches, medium punches, drifts, top swages/fullers, and bottom swages/fullers.

[ramsies11]

top 25 smallest number most important to biggest number least important:
-biggest number ever. her fathers support.
0.a set of good gloves.
.5. a scrap yard
1.a sturdy hammer
2.an anvil
3. a blower
4. a forge(yes, blower first then forge.)
5. an anvil stand (i use an old stump
6. vice
7. tongs/vicegrips
8. steel toe boots.
9. a crucible
10. heart wood chunks (id suggest about1"x1")
11. quench barrel filled with water
12. smaller quench barrel with old used oil
13. a metal coffee can filled with cat litter
14. casting stuff
15. a good welders apron (the best come with leather sleeves, ill be using these with foundry work)
16. ifi
17.ifi
18.ifi
19.ifi
20.ifi
21.ifi
22.ifi
23.ifi
24.ifi
25.ifi

[ramsies11]

my father had very bad dyslexya, he failed 1 and 2 grade untill they figured out what was wrong, somthing with this stuff is you have to make it relavant to the people who have it, otherwise it wont do them any good, for math, give her problems that deal with smithing (dont over bear or else she might think smithing is nothing but math) the reading thing i cant help with, i was an avid reader as a child, my school setup point systems for them and you got so many points per book you read and took tests over (the max a book was was only 10) and after a year in second grade i had 216 points. i was the second place winner in school. (someone beat me with 218 points) but the point is, find books she finds interesting.

is she a very industrious girl?

[Will. K.]

An engine hoist can be real handy when moving stuff around.

[Robert Yates]

As a homeschooling father, I am always trying to make assignments relevant for my kids. My 15 year old daughter has taken up an interest in blacksmithing and so I have assigned her the task of writing a report. So I ask each of you the following, In your opinion, as a beginning blacksmith what are the 25 most important tools/resources that I should get first? Please rank them in order of importance. As a side note could you also answer: 1) When did you begin blacksmithing? 2) Why/how did you start blacksmithing? Once she has compiled her list I will be happy to share it with you. Thank you all for your help. Henry Davis henryd@mcetoner.com

As her teacher you are asking us to do her homework, and yours. If you have looked at the blacksmithing > blacksmithing general discussion the first post is What do you need to get started in Blacksmithing? If you have looked at the General Discussions section you could have found Interview with a blacksmith. There are several blacksmiths that have responded to the same questions in the interview nprocess. A very good resource for both you and your daughters homework. Additional reading of the 254,581 Total Posts on the site will answer most of you and your daughters other questions. If she does an internet search for the answers to her homework, I would suggest the following: 1 Desire, that has to come first. 2-6 you can be done simultaneously. 2 Something to hit on (anvil substitute) 3 Something to hit with (hammer) 4 Something to hit (metal) 5 Personal protection equipment (to be acquired and used before she starts) 6 Knowledge from any source, mentor, internet, books, blacksmith gatherings, etc. ---The rest of the tools needed, you can make.

First I Homeschool as well as forge and weld you are on a good site for references as well as a very keen amount of Knowledge from around the world . As one teacher to another shame on you , you are limiting your daughters ability by not letting her ask the questions or researching her assignment .

One thing I did not see listed is the Old ways of Blacksmiths or forging type books they hold a vast amount of information . First and for most is safety. Folks here are more than willing to help anyone and do take the time to educate and answer young folks questions to help them along in their quest in the smithing world .

help your student by letting them do the work . We all learn by 4 types hands on reading instructions and a combination of several .

Sam