Reddit Reddit reviews The Backyard Blacksmith

We found 12 Reddit comments about The Backyard Blacksmith. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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The Backyard Blacksmith
The Backyard Blacksmith Traditional Techniques for the Modern Smith
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12 Reddit comments about The Backyard Blacksmith:

u/Angry_Ash · 9 pointsr/Blacksmith

check out "Backyard Blacksmith" by Lorelei Sims. It covers the basics of what smithing is, basic tools needed, basic smithing techniques, different types of steel, how to make your tools, and how to heat treat your tools. The last section is a collection of about 20 projects, arranged from basic to advanced that you can start on day one. It even tells you what sizes of stock to use, and breaks the project down into steps. Probably the best basic book I've come across.
https://www.amazon.com/Backyard-Blacksmith-Lorelei-Sims/dp/0785825673/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474489905&sr=8-1&keywords=lorelei+sims+book+backyard+blacksmith

u/BillDaCatt · 7 pointsr/Blacksmith

I think you mean this book: Wayne Goddard's $50 Dollar Knife Shop

I would also recommend The Backyard Blacksmith by Lorelei Sims.

u/OrionsAnvil · 7 pointsr/Blacksmith

There is a great book for beginners called "The Backyard Blacksmith" by Lorelei Sims that you could benefit tremendously from. It has a section in there about how to layout a forge area that I think works really well. If you search for it at amazon you can do the "look inside" thing and actually see that page before you buy it. But I recommend buying it, its a hardcover with great info and pictures along with a few beginner projects. its definitely worth the $12 us. Good luck with it. heres a link to it http://www.amazon.com/Backyard-Blacksmith-Lorelei-Sims/dp/0785825673/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1463055951&sr=1-1&keywords=the+backyard+blacksmith

u/hammmmmmmmertime · 5 pointsr/Blacksmith

2: Yes, mild steel is fine/good for tongs and fire maintenance tools. You actually don't want to use high carbon steel for tongs, since you'll be dunking them in water quite a bit

3: I'm still a newb, but this is advanced stuff. If you want higher carbon steel on a budget, get some old car spring material.

Just get some mild steel square and round stock, and The Backyard Blacksmith, and start working on the basic skills - it's a lot harder than it looks! :)

https://www.amazon.com/Backyard-Blacksmith-Lorelei-Sims/dp/0785825673/

u/Obstigo · 5 pointsr/Bladesmith

I too was in your position just a few years back. Here is a list of my recommendations for the entry-level versions of the items you listed above as well as some other things I like to have handy.

  • Hammer, $15; This hammer is cheap, it has a peen (for drawing out metal) and is... well... a hammer.
  • Anvil, $60; This anvil is definitely a beginner anvil but it is what I used for two years until I upgraded. You can pick it up in most all Harbor Freight stores as I assume there is one in every state.
  • Tongs, $15; This set of pliers will help with quite a few things the main being to hold the metal once heated. I know that these are not what one thinks about when they think "blacksmithing tongs" but I have used similar ones for the entire time I have forged due to their versatility.
  • Apron, $25; I personally have not used this exact apron before but it is cheap and though not beautiful, it is functional and trust me, spending $25 now on this may very well save you 100 times that in hospital bills.
  • Gloves, $20; These are the gloves I use at my forge and I can say that there is little to no loss of dexterity and they provide ample heat resistance.
  • Forge; This is the one piece that deters people the most as it is the most expensive piece. The type of forge you get depends on your budget and your ability/aptitude for DIY work. Here are my recommendations for three different budget levels.
  • High-End Budget; 2 Burner Blacksmith Forge $489.95
  • Mid-Level Budget; 1 Burner Blacksmith Forge $350
  • Entry-Level Budget; This Video will take you through the process of making a Coffee Can Forge. They are suitable for the entry level smith and can, if done right, be made for less than $150.

    Now for my personal suggestions;

  • Grinder, $55; This Handy-Dandy little grinder is what I use for most all of my knife smithing. It is pretty cheap and a great entry-level piece of equipment.
  • Metal, $5-$20; When you are starting off, I highly advise to start with the tool steel available at Home Depot and/or Harbor Freight because they are very cheap and you can stand to mess up without wasting expensive metal.
  • This Book is what I began learning with and it comes packed with a number of starter projects to help you get started on learning basic skills as well as acting as a reference later on down the line.

    I hope this list helps and I wish you well on your journey in beginning Bladesmithing!

  • O
u/BmpBlast · 4 pointsr/DnD

Awesome! Glad to see another person interested, smithing is fun! Getting started is actually pretty easy as long as long as you aren't planning on crafting gorgeous blades right off the get-go. You really only need a few things:

  • A forge (these can be built surprisingly cheap if you are inclined)
  • Coal or charcoal to fire the forge (not bricket charcoal)
  • A smithing hammer
  • An anvil (can be as simple as a piece of railroad)
  • Steel (I recommend starting with 1095, railroad spikes, or rebar).
  • A bucket of oil or water (depending on the steel) to quench the blade in.
  • A magnet. Those ones on the long extending stick are the best. (This is for checking the heat of the steel when tempering it)

    An anvil can be pricey, even used, if you get a real one but a piece of railroad can be obtained pretty cheaply though not always easily. Don't pay more than $2-4 a pound for an anvil if you buy a used one. The heavier, the better but starting out it should at least weigh 60+ lbs, preferably 150+. Don't try to use a jeweler's anvil or a cast iron anvil. There's some good videos covering types of anvils and where to find them. Everything else will be easy and cheap to obtain.

    You can find all the info you need to get started by searching YouTube for knife making or knife smithing. Walter Sorrells in particular has a good channel with some high quality videos. He focuses more on making knives from steel blanks than on forging, but he does have a couple of good forge videos and happens to have spent some time studying under Japanese smiths so he has some decent info on forging Japanese swords and knives if you are interested. Honestly, for a normal knife/sword the forging isn't that hard, it's the finishing part that takes all the time, effort, and skill. (Not to downplay the skills of most medieval smiths, they had to be much more precise in their smithing than we do today because we have power sanders and grinders to quickly fix mistakes). Most YouTube channels will focus on smithing knives instead of swords and I recommend you start with the same even though swords are awesome. It's the same techniques and process, but knives are cheaper to practice on and swords are more difficult to get right.

    If you want or prefer a book, there are a few good ones for sale on Amazon. The Backyard Blacksmith, The Complete Modern Blacksmith, The $50 Knife Shop, How to Make Knives, and The Wonder of Knife Making are all great beginner books (only the last two deal with actually making knives). When you get some practice under your belt, Jim Hrisoulas has a couple of books on bladesmithing that are designed for experienced smiths who want to build better blades and deals with swords specifically.
u/x5060 · 2 pointsr/Blacksmith

I read 3 books, one which was not very good and 2 that were phenomenal.

My favorite was probably The Backyard Blacksmith. It had great information and detail. I couldn't have been happier.

The Home Blacksmith was pretty good and has given me some projects for the future.

The one I did NOT like was The DIY Blacksmithing Book. It was garbage. It was little more than a pamphlet. looking around in google and youtube provided MUCH more useful information than this book. For a few dollars more the other books were MASSIVELY more helpful. The "DIY Blacksmithing Book" was a complete waste of money.

u/CapitanBanhammer · 1 pointr/Blacksmith

Read everything you can. Books are one of the best tools a smith can have IMHO. A good book to start with is backyard blacksmith by Lorelei Sims. It is filled with pictures and has good ideas and techniques.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Backyard-Blacksmith-Lorelei-Sims/dp/0785825673

u/FreedomFlinch · 1 pointr/Blacksmith

Spike knives are great to practice knifemaking on. They will be decorative however since, as you pointed out, they do not contain enough carbon to heat treat or keep an edge. But do work with them; it's free steel and you can practice how to go about profiling a knife on them.

As far as hammers go, I have known accomplished smiths who are happy with the hammer they picked up at a flea market. I've also known those who have made their own, or those that have bought from Centaur Forge or from other smiths.

It seems everyone has their own idea of what works for them. Quality of steel, balance, and ergonomics are obviously the main priorities, but the rest is up to you.
At this stage, just use what's economical until you start refining your smithing style.

Pick up The Backyard Blacksmith and The $50 Knife Shop. If you've got time, I would also invest in The Art of Blacksmithing, mainly for it's ideas on projects and moving metal.

As for your forge questions, I'm not sure what the best answer is as I primarily work with coal and only occasionally work with gas. The gas forges I use are pretty big, so I don't have experience in your model. Maybe try to stick a RR spike in there, close the doors, and see how it does? You can make small knives for now until you figure out the direction you want to take. Hope this all helped, good luck!

u/kenish25 · 1 pointr/Blacksmith

As for books I can wholly vouch for this one.

u/JoeDaddio · 1 pointr/blacksmithing

There is a local heritage museum near me that teaches blacksmithing to the community (I haven't started yet, but have a space reserved for March to get started). I never would have thought to look at a museum for something like this, so I thought it would be worth mentioning in the off chance you have something similar near by.

In preparation for the class I bought this book as it seems to be highly recommended by many people on the smithing forums I have looked at. It is full of lots of great information and I think has given be a decent idea of what I might be getting myself in to while also explaining the types of tools and terminology that'll be necessary to learning the trade/art.