How-to Resources
Helping other blacksmiths tackle new projects.
Over the years, I’ve made sketches and instruction guides to help other blacksmiths tackle new projects. As I talk to more and more aspiring smiths, I get more and more requests for this kind of information. So I’ve decided to offer some of these learning guides for you to download and add to your blacksmithing library. Each project will include sketches and clear descriptive text to explain projects you can try at home. Supplemented with photographs of finished work, these tutorials will make even complex projects approachable. Please enjoy the samples posted below, and let me know what else you’d like to see.
Forging an Octopus
The Octopus I first read about forging an octopus in 1991, in a newsletter from the Rocky Mountain Smiths. Jim Fleming was the editor, and he ran an issue about forging animal forms. I didn’t actually use that knowledge until a project came up in 1997. I made a few...
The Adjustable-height Anvil Stand
Tutorial to build an Anvil Stand that can be adjusted for height One of the first things a new blacksmith needs to do is mount an anvil on a functional stand. It may take some time to work out the proper height for your anvil, though, or you may share a shop with...
The Russian Rose Tutorial
Detailed Write-up of the Construction of the Russian Rose There is a theme park in southwest Missouri, near Branson, called Silver Dollar City. In the spring of each year, they hold a festival called ‘World Fest’, where they bring craftsmen, musicians, and...