Art of Blacksmithing

by Alex W. Bealer

With more than 500 illustrations, this book is perfect for craftsmen who want to set up a blacksmith shop, and for lovers of history and craft alike. This book describes and illustrates the equipment and techniques developed in more than six thousand years of working iron by hand.Indeed, this unique book covers every aspect of a fascinating and little-known art, the fundamental craft on which the civilization of the Iron Age was built.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0785803955
• ISBN13: 9780785803959
• Release Date: November 2009
• Publisher: Castle Books
• Length: 440 Pages
• Weight: 1.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 5.5" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

The Art of Blacksmithing

A gift for my husband. He has been working with the anvil and creating some nice pieces. He was thrilled with this book, took it to one of his blacksmith meetings and was told by some of the seasoned blacksmiths that this is an excellent source of information. He was so pleased with it. Even I was impressed with the layout, pictures, drawings and wealth of information. Definitely would recommend this book to anyone interested in the art of blacksmithing.

Great Historical Reference

This is a great text for historical reference. I own most of the blacksmithing books in print and this is one that I often go back to for fun reading. It may not contain detailed information about specific blacksmithing operations but it gives such a wide range of techniques from the old school of blacksmithing. If you want a step by step guide for beginning blacksmithing, this may not be the book you are looking for. But if want an enjoyable text that outlines most of the aspects of blacksmithing, then this is the book for you. When I was learning blacksmithing, this was my first reference to the art and it helped me tremendously. Buy it, you wont be disappointed!

Enjoyable read - not a primer

I love this book. There is a lot of interesting information presented in a very readable format. I would not reccommend the book for a source of learning technical smithing, but I would reccommend it for someone trying to learn lots of background information about a hobby/trade they already love. It can save you from answering a lot of spectator questions with "I don't know".

An excellent resource

This book is an excellent resource, both for those going into the field, and also for those with an interest in learning more about blacksmithing. Every skill outlined in the book, is backed up with scads of historical information. This book was wonderfly written and a joy to read.

The Bible for Blacksmiths

Everything you need to know about the tools and techniques used by blacksmiths including blueprints and plans for numerous end products, how to set up a shop, build a forge, etc. Over 400 illustrations.