The Blacksmith's Guide

Experienced blacksmith James Sallows offers a practical guide to various forging techniques, the smithing of tools and machine parts, and much more – this edition contains well over 100 charts, drawings and diagrams.

Raised in a family of blacksmiths, Sallows brings the kind of knowledge and respect for his trade that only decades of experience can imbue. Plain-spoken and no-nonsense, scarcely a sentence in this guidebook is wasted. The guide expertly shows how smiths work with and shape metal to the highest quality: attention to the temperature applied and the grade of steel used in the forging is shown to be of utmost importance.

Unlike smiths of past eras, for whom weaponry and armor were important, Sallows was born at a time when demand for smithies was almost entirely for replaceable machine parts and industrial tools. The techniques employed by the author were designed to maximize his creation’s durability and hardiness on workshop and factory floors; much of the discussion emphasizes the shape and dimensions of the metal tools, that they be able to last for years of heavy or even punishing use.