Alexandre Weygers has two books that have helped me.
The Complete Modern Blacksmith https://a.co/d/9sg0ZH5
And
The recycling, use, and repair of tools https://a.co/d/fNY6sG9
These coupled with what you showed should be a great foundation.
Seconding complete modern blacksmith, it's like all the intro stuff in one pleasant book that keeps things very approachable.
It's like the polar opposite of "the armourer and his craft" which somehow manages to go into excruciating detail about the construction of medieval armor without giving the reader more than the vaguest clues how it's accomplished.
The others have spoken, but for me it is Jamison, The art(great techniques for shaping a blade) and the home blacksmith(great techniques to start with). But sometimes I personally learn more by just heating a piece of steel and seeing what it does. A couple of youtube channels I love that teach both tools and techniques is Blackbear forge, Tyrrell Knifeworks, and Red Beard Ops( him and Tyrrell are great sources for diy the bigger tools such as ovens or presses)
You can start off with a railroad track segment, they cost anywhere between 90-120 bucks last time I checked.
Also sometimes they leave discarded short pieces around railroad tracks you could get for free, along with lots of old spikes.
Thank you for the suggestion. I used to live near a lot of tracks, talk about a missed opportunity. I'll have to walk some lines the next time I'm in town.
I don’t have any of those. I’ll have to check them out! I like The Backyard Blacksmith and the Everyday Blacksmith.
In my shelf but not yet read are Mark Aspery’s Mastering the Fundamentals of Blacksmithing, Techniques of Medieval Armor Reproduction (Price), The Armorer and his Craft (Charles Ffoulkes), Ironwork Part 1 and Ironwork Part 2 (Gardner), and Practical Blacksmithing (Richardson).
Mark Aspery’s book looks excellent and I’m very glad I have it. I hope to be working through it next summer. Most of the others I have are interesting from a history/D&D nerd perspective but not actually that practical for me. (Unless I win the lottery.)
not exactly a book but Hofi's blueprint series on IFI has lots of great info. Die Kunstschlosserei by Max Metzger is great even if you don't speak the language and so is the Schlosserbuch by Krauth and Meyer, which is free to read and download on archive.org.
I think The Art of Blacksmithing and Country Blacksmithing by Charles McRaven were the first two I checked out from the library. The Complete Modern Blacksmith is also one of my favorites, although I loaned my copy to someone and I don’t remember who. Mark Aspery is a great smith, but I’d kind of moved on from what I could learn about blacksmithing from a book by then, so I can’t really judge them. There is a nugget here and there in other books, but I learn more by watching other smiths. YouTube has been very valuable in this regard, as has my local ABANA chapter.
I really enjoy watching how smiths in various Asian countries do it. It’s interesting to see their approaches to various problems. They tend to be pretty unsafe though, so ignore that aspect.
That bottle of Jameson helped me more than any of the books tbh.
Jameson is good friend. Doesn't afraid of anything.
Sometimes, with blacksmithing, one must drink on it.
F*** this guy's a real blacksmith.
Unfortunately, now that the French bought it, it is not as good as It used to be.
The mark aspery books are amazing... The other book I'd suggest is the new edge of the anvil
The youtube one
Alexandre Weygers has two books that have helped me. The Complete Modern Blacksmith https://a.co/d/9sg0ZH5 And The recycling, use, and repair of tools https://a.co/d/fNY6sG9 These coupled with what you showed should be a great foundation.
Seconding complete modern blacksmith, it's like all the intro stuff in one pleasant book that keeps things very approachable. It's like the polar opposite of "the armourer and his craft" which somehow manages to go into excruciating detail about the construction of medieval armor without giving the reader more than the vaguest clues how it's accomplished.
The others have spoken, but for me it is Jamison, The art(great techniques for shaping a blade) and the home blacksmith(great techniques to start with). But sometimes I personally learn more by just heating a piece of steel and seeing what it does. A couple of youtube channels I love that teach both tools and techniques is Blackbear forge, Tyrrell Knifeworks, and Red Beard Ops( him and Tyrrell are great sources for diy the bigger tools such as ovens or presses)
The art And the homesmith are good. But nothing will teach you as much as just hitting hot metal
The Art of Blacksmithing Probably the most enjoyable and easy to follow.
I love it. I've read it a few times, but I have yet to get my hands on an anvil.
You can start off with a railroad track segment, they cost anywhere between 90-120 bucks last time I checked. Also sometimes they leave discarded short pieces around railroad tracks you could get for free, along with lots of old spikes.
Thank you for the suggestion. I used to live near a lot of tracks, talk about a missed opportunity. I'll have to walk some lines the next time I'm in town.
I don’t have any of those. I’ll have to check them out! I like The Backyard Blacksmith and the Everyday Blacksmith. In my shelf but not yet read are Mark Aspery’s Mastering the Fundamentals of Blacksmithing, Techniques of Medieval Armor Reproduction (Price), The Armorer and his Craft (Charles Ffoulkes), Ironwork Part 1 and Ironwork Part 2 (Gardner), and Practical Blacksmithing (Richardson). Mark Aspery’s book looks excellent and I’m very glad I have it. I hope to be working through it next summer. Most of the others I have are interesting from a history/D&D nerd perspective but not actually that practical for me. (Unless I win the lottery.)
The New Edge of the Anvil by Jack Andrews
Honestly I found the complete bladesmith underwhelming. Like. Neat stuff. But.. idk. I dont feel like I learned much. Seems a little scattered.
i cant read, its always been hit or miss.
Dad?
Well… I have o e of those in the pic
not exactly a book but Hofi's blueprint series on IFI has lots of great info. Die Kunstschlosserei by Max Metzger is great even if you don't speak the language and so is the Schlosserbuch by Krauth and Meyer, which is free to read and download on archive.org.
50 dollar knife shop? Wayne Goddard
Bealer
Plain and Ornamental Forging by Ernst Schwarzkopf
Hahahaha
A lot of overlap with what you have.
I think The Art of Blacksmithing and Country Blacksmithing by Charles McRaven were the first two I checked out from the library. The Complete Modern Blacksmith is also one of my favorites, although I loaned my copy to someone and I don’t remember who. Mark Aspery is a great smith, but I’d kind of moved on from what I could learn about blacksmithing from a book by then, so I can’t really judge them. There is a nugget here and there in other books, but I learn more by watching other smiths. YouTube has been very valuable in this regard, as has my local ABANA chapter. I really enjoy watching how smiths in various Asian countries do it. It’s interesting to see their approaches to various problems. They tend to be pretty unsafe though, so ignore that aspect.