What are the projects for beginner blacksmith?

Blacksmithing Project- Forging a Ram's head letter opener / knife!

How to forge a center punch and a chisel

from start to finish using only hammers and anvil.

Typically made from medium spring steel and shaped by forging, with attention paid to the taper and the striking end. The process involves heating the steel, shaping it, and then normalizing or heat-treating it for durability. 

Chisels are essential tools used for cutting and shaping metal, both when it's hot and cold.

A Blacksmith's Center Punch - DF In The Shop

The Best Cold Chisel - DF In The Shop

Forging a hold-fast for your anvil's pritchel hole.

A pritchel holdfast is a blacksmithing tool designed to be inserted into the pritchel hole of an anvil, providing a stable point for holding workpieces during various forging operations. It acts as a clamp, securing materials to the anvil's surface, and is particularly useful when more than two hands are needed to hold the work. 

Forging simple hardies for the blacksmith shop -

tool making - Black Bear Forge.

Hardy hole tools, also known as bottom tools, are essential blacksmithing implements with square-shaped shanks that fit into the square hardy hole on an anvil to provide an upright surface for shaping or cutting hot metal. Common examples include hardies (for cutting), bending jigs (for twisting or shaping), fullers (for creating grooves), and custom-made swages (for forming specific shapes). These tools dramatically expand the versatility of an anvil, turning it into a multi-functional workstation for a wide range of forging operations. 

A Beginners Guide To Making Tongs Without Tongs.

With this video I want to show how you can forge your own first pair of blacksmithing tongs, by hand, with basic tools only. A perfect project for someone starting out, who has gathered the basic setup with a forge, anvil, vice and hammers. No tongs needed! I would almost argue this should be your very first project. Tongs are essential, even for the beginner projects like hooks and such.

Torbjörn Åhman

Forging my Bent Knee Style of Tong -

This video shows the process of forging a bent knee style tong.

The creator explains their preference for this style and demonstrates the unique features that make it ideal for holding various shapes.

GS Tongs

A small, long-nosed rivet peening hammer

is a specialized tool used for precisely shaping and securing rivets, particularly in tight spaces. 

It features a long, slender nose and a curved peen (rounded striking surface) designed for detail work and accessing confined areas. 

These hammers are typically used for peening (shaping and hardening) the ends of small rivets, often in applications like model making, jewelry, or small-scale metalwork. 

Small Long Nose Rivet Peening Hammer - GS Tongs

Punch Holder Tongs

feature a tong-like design with a groove or slit to accommodate the chisel, allowing for a secure grip during cutting or shaping operations and to securely hold punches and chisels, especially under power hammers. 

These tongs are crucial for safety, preventing burns and ensuring precise control when handling hot chisels. 

They often feature long bits to accommodate different chisel sizes and a hinge joint for flexibility. 

Forging Light Duty Chisel Tongs - DF In The Shop

A better approach to making TOOLS for the Blacksmith

The primary difference between a

Coal and a charcoal forge.

ire lies in how they burn and the resulting ash. 

Coal, when burned, can produce clinkers (hard, glassy lumps) that need to be removed, while charcoal produces only ash. 

Charcoal also requires a deeper fire bed and can be more prone to producing sparks. 

Coal tends to heat up metal faster due to its higher fuel value. 

Blacksmithing For Beginners - Working With A Coal Fire

Coal Forge Vs Gas Forge (Different Types of Blacksmith Forges)

Blacksmith tongs

are absolutely necessary. 

They are essential for securely gripping hot metal during forging and other blacksmithing processes, allowing the smith to manipulate the workpiece safely and efficiently without burning their hands. 

Tongs are indispensable tools during the forging process.

They come in various shapes and sizes, each designed for specific tasks.

And it is a great help to your making your tongs, if you have some tongs to make them with.

Introduction to tong making part 1, flat stock tongs without tongs - drawing out by hand.

Introduction to tong making part 2, flat stock tongs without tongs - shaping the jaws

Forging Flat Jaw Tongs Without Tongs

Blacksmithing - A Beginners Guide: Making Tongs Without Tongs

Forging Flat Plate Tongs.

Super Quick Tongs: Making First Blacksmith Tongs for the Beginner.

Wolf jaw tongs

are generally considered a great, versatile choice for beginner blacksmiths. They offer a good balance of grip and versatility for various stock sizes and shapes. While not the absolute best for every specific task, they provide a solid starting point for learning fundamental forging techniques. 

Wolf jaw tongs, can be forged from a single piece of flat bar stock. The process involves carefully shaping the jaws, creating a hinge, and forming the reins, ensuring symmetrical and functional tongs. These tongs are designed with a V-shaped groove on the jaws to securely grip various materials. 

Forging Wolf Jaw Tongs. - Christ Centered 

Blacksmithing For Beginners - Wolf Jaw Tongs. DF In The Shop

Scrolling tongs and round nose pliers. - Black Bear Forge.

V bit and bolt jaw tongs. - Black Bear Forge

Box jaw tongs or just box tongs,

are a type of blacksmithing tongs designed with a box-shaped jaw that provides a secure grip on flat or square stock, preventing slippage. 

They are particularly useful for holding knife blades and other flat pieces of metal during forging.

There is a are a variation of flat bit tongs, featuring a widened and curved jaw to securely grip flat stock.

Forging box jaw tongs. - DF In the Shop

Rivet tongs,

also known as chain link tongs, are specialized tools used by blacksmiths to hold hot rivets and chain links during construction and other applications. 

The rivet is usually heated and placed in the tongs, then hammered on both sides to set the rivet and achieve the desired gap. 

They feature a specific jaw design that allows for a secure grip on the rivet while leaving enough shank exposed to form the rivet head. 

Some rivet tongs are designed for specific tasks, such as setting rivets in chainmail. 

How to Forge Blacksmith Rivet Tongs - Farmstead Forge 

A Beginners Guide: Making Basic Slitting Chisel and a hammer eye drift Tools by Hand

I hope this video will inspire beginners to make tools to make their very first hammer, a slitting chisel and a hammer eye drift. Making hammer tools doesn't need to involve any special tools or processes, only basic forging and some grinding. The materials are cheap, so there is no excuse not to start!

A blacksmith's slitting chisel is a hot-cutting tool used to start a slit in hot metal, often to create a hole or "eye" in a piece of steel for other projects.

A blacksmith's hammer eye drift is a tapered, forged tool used to enlarge and shape the punched hole, or eye, of a hammer head to create an hourglass shape.

Forging a Cross Peen Hammer with ONLY Hand Tools.

Forging a cross peen hammer involves shaping a hot steel billet into the desired hammer form by drawing out the stock, punching the eye, and forging the face and peen using tools like the anvil's horn and punches. The process is followed by grinding, rough shaping, and finishing with a file, a maker's mark, heat treatment (quenching and tempering), and fitting a handle. 

Nils Ögren

 Forging a woodworkers holdfast

Torbjörn Åhman

A blacksmith's holdfast is a simple, bent metal tool used to secure a workpiece to a workbench or anvil, often in a dog hole or hardy hole. It works by wedging itself into the hole when its head is struck with a mallet, creating friction and pressure against the hole's edges to hold the work in place. Holdfasts are quickly made, do not need to be hardened, and are a fundamental, versatile tool for both blacksmithing and woodworking. 

A better approach to making TOOLS for the Blacksmith

Making The Fleur De Lis Cross.

Fleur De Lis Cross Kit - Christ Centered Ironworks.

Beginners Projects: Forging a Leaf Wall Hook.

Forging a leaf wall hook involves shaping metal, usually steel, into a decorative hook with a leaf-shaped end.  The process includes drawing out the metal, creating a taper for the hook, forming the leaf shape, and potentially adding details like veins and a twist. Finally, the hook is bent into its final shape, often with a curl or scroll, and can be finished with texturing and a protective coating.

This video demonstrates the basic steps of forging a leaf wall hook, including creating the leaf shape and the hook itself:

How to Forge a Rose:

Step by Step Processes to Forging a Steel Rose.

This video covers how to forge a rose. It is a very in-depth video that shows you all the processes that going into forging a steel rose including: making and texturing the stem, forging a tennon, forging leaves, assembling all the pieces, and blooming the rose. In a subsequent video that is part of this series on DIY metal rose, you will see how I apply the final patina and finish to a rose.

Forging an Stunningly Ornate Wall Hook!

Roy is making a decorative wall hook. Watch the process as he is forging a hook featuring blacksmith scrollwork and forge welding by hand. The making of this blacksmith wall hook also highlights blacksmith collars.

Blacksmithing - Forging a trivet.

Blacksmithing a trivet involves heating and shaping metal, typically bars, into legs and a central ring using tools like a forge, hammer, and anvil, with common techniques including scrolling, tapering, and forge welding or riveting to assemble the pieces. The process can range from simple designs, such as a single bar that is split and scrolled into legs, to complex designs like the "Gordo trivet," which requires precisely matched scrolls and decorative elements.

Torbjörn Åhman

Making a touchmark stamp

If you are a Smith or Farrier then the Blacksmith touchmark is an important distinguishing feature as well as part of the stylish decor on your hammers, axe heads, shovels, knives, hammers, swords, tongs, pliers, and other tools and household items, so that no matter whose hand your forged item ends up in, everybody ...

Torbjörn Ahman

Follow along as I make

a forged dish

out of 100x10mm steel bar stock. This is more of an art piece than a functional object, a project that popped into my brain one day. A fun process that shows how the forging can create the design elements by itself.

Heat a piece of metal and use various tools like a radiused block or a swedge block on the anvil to create a depression, hammering the metal around it to form the bowl shape. Texturing can be added with a ball peen hammer or cross peen hammer, and the base can be flattened with a set hammer or by carefully hammering it on the anvil. Finish by shaping the edges, sanding for a clean look, and applying a protective clear coat or food-grade wax for functional dishes.

Torbjörn Åhman

Forging a Blacksmith's Knife With ONLY Hand Tools

(Perfect for Beginners!)

A blacksmith forges a knife by heating steel to a malleable temperature in a forge, then hammering it into the desired shape on an anvil, a process called bladesmithing.

After shaping and profiling the blade, the blacksmith performs a heat treatment to harden the steel, followed by tempering to reduce brittleness. Finally, the knife is ground, polished, and fitted with a handle to become a finished blade.

Nils Ögren

Forging a chipping hammer.

A blacksmith chipping hammer is a hand tool with one pointed or beveled end, and another end that is typically flat or chisel-shaped, designed for precise material removal in both blacksmithing and welding applications.

While often associated with cleaning slag and spatter from welds, a blacksmith's chipping hammer is forged to perform various tasks, including detailed shaping of metal, breaking off excess material, and even serving as a general-purpose "beater" hammer for less precise work.

Torbjörn Åhman

Forged Figure Head -  

Black Bear Forge

Fantasy figure heads are always a fun blacksmithing project. This one is very loosely inspired by one from a ‪@Blacksmithvideos‬ video    • 2nd International Blacksmith Gathering, Bu...  

Although I chose not to re watch the video before trying this out. So it is not at all the same result.

How to Forge a Ram's Head // Blacksmithing Tutorial

Christ Centered Ironworks

In this video, I show how to forge a ram's head. This blacksmithing tutorial walks you through the complete process for forging a rams head.

Book on Forging Animal Heads... Iron Menagerie: http://amzn.to/2vKTFfH

If you want to learn how to make a hand forged rams head, you're in the right place!

I show forging rams head from going to bar stock to finishing touches.

This type of accent makes a great conversation piece for your metalwork.

SOLID STEEL ELEPHANT -

WorkingWithIron Nathoo Studio

These are fun to make.

This process shows you how to have all the material you

need to make a one piece .

Showing the use of the chisels and such as I think we too often get away from that.

Folks tend to think it all has to be done with the hammer and forget that there are butchers, files and a whole host of other tools that blacksmiths have used for eons..

Forging Knots

as Blacksmith Projects to Sell.

Christ Centered Ironworks

A blacksmith's knot is a simple decorative form of a knot, not a functional rope knot, created by shaping a piece of metal, often round, into a flowing pattern by heating it in a forge and working it with tools. 

It involves creating loops and then working the metal, often by tucking the end of the metal bar through the loops and tightening the knot with a mallet, to produce a finished knot that can be used on objects like fire pokers or skewers.

Blacksmiths split cross or Friedrichs cross

Derek Melton - How to forge a Friedrich's Cross keychain

In plenty of time for Easter, here's a video on how to make a simple forged cross keychain.

A Friedrich's Cross, also called a split cross or blacksmiths cross, is a hand-forged cross made from a single piece of metal by a blacksmith. It's characterized by its unique, open-center design, achieved by the blacksmith's skill in opening up a square or round bar of metal on the anvil. These crosses are popular as keychains, but also as pendants, and can be made from various metals like copper or wrought iron.

Sit back, relax and enjoy some music and forging.

Forging a Split Cross

Whiskey Cat Forge.

Forging a split cross involves making two intersecting cuts in a single bar of steel, heating the metal, and then unfolding the resulting flaps to form the cross shape, often creating a diamond-shaped opening in the center. 

The process requires a forge, an anvil, and various tools like a hacksaw, chisel, hammer, and tongs to cut, split, and shape the steel before finishing it with techniques such as grinding and texturing. 

Forging a Leaf Key-chain

Small Utility Knife - Part 1

Whiskey Cat Forge.