The Blacksmiths Guide

The Blacksmiths Guide: Valuable instructions on forging, welding, hardening, tempering, casehardening, annealing, coloring, brazing, and general blacksmithing. First edition.

Geared toward answering the many questions that new blacksmiths often have, author Ryan Ridgway hopes to fill the void of inaccessible information for aspiring blacksmiths with this comprehensive volume. By explaining the physics of moving metal, the different styles of anvils and forges, and alternative fuel sources, Ridgway sets his book apart from less detailed volumes. With 40 practical, easy-to-follow projects, The Home Blacksmith shows hopeful blacksmiths how to make tools, such as hammers and chisels; farm implements, such as gate latches and hoof picks; and items for home use, including drawer pulls and candle holders.

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1907 Edition.

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.

This vintage book contains a practical treatise on the common methods of production for blacksmiths, apprentice blacksmiths, engineers, and others. Profusely illustrated and full of helpful tips, this volume provides a elementary introduction to the tools and techniques of the workshop, and is highly recommended for those with little previous experience. Contents include: “Forges for Hearths”, “Cast-Iron Forge”, “Brick Forge”, “Hearths”, “Pot Fire”, “Tools”, “Anvils”, “Hand Hammer”, “Tongs”, “Hand Tools”, “Anvil Tools”, “Clippers, etc.”, “Anvil Swages”, “Small Anvil”, “Angle Bar Tools”, “Cutters”, “Side Set Tools”, “Radius Tools”, “Spring Swages”, etc. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing “Blacksmith's Manual Illustrated” now in an affordable, high-quality edition complete with a specially commissioned new introduction on blacksmithing.

Excerpt from The Blacksmiths̕ Guide: Valuable Instructions on Forging, Welding, Hardening In offering this book to my fellow craftsmen, I do not wish it to be inferred that I consider myself the only one who knows how to do the work described in its pages. In 27 years' experience at blacksmithing, however, working in nearly all kinds of shops, including horseshoeing, marine, railroad, printing press, sawmill machinery and automobile shops, I have had opportunities seldom obtained by the average smith. I therefore hope that the book will not only help the young men in the trade, but some of the older blacksmiths as well; and since much attention has been given to the subjects of hardening, tempering, casehardening, coloring, etc., I believe it will also prove useful to machinists and toolmakers. Part of the matter upon these latter subjects was contributed, in somewhat different form, to the columns of Machinery, but most of the material is here used for the first time. Everything in these pages is from actual experience and I am ready at all times to answer any question on any subject that is not fully understood by the reader; but I have, tried to make everything so plain that the average blacksmith can readily understand the methods explained. The man who gives the best satisfaction is the one to get the highest wages and I am confident that one who follows the directions in this book will give satisfaction. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from The Blacksmithso Guide: Valuable Instructions on Forging, Welding, Hardening In offering this book to my fellow craftsmen, I do not wish it to be inferred that I consider myself the only one who knows how to do the work described in it"