Elementary Blacksmithing
From Brass Goggles
This section will be a guide to the very basics of Blacksmithing.
Materials
There are six basic tools that every blacksmith should have available, although two might be considered optional by the more burn resistant among us. They are: a forge, hammer, anvil, glove (singular, we'll get to that later), goggles, and tongs.
Forge
The word forge refers to both the brazier in which you heat your iron and the smith's work area in general. It is safe to assume for the remainder of this article that only the former definition will be used.
A forge can be either coal or propane/oxygen burning, depending on the space available and zoning requirements where you live (suburban fire depots tend to bristle at the clouds of yellow-ish black smoke a coal fire forge discharges.) A propane forge will likely be smaller, cheaper to operate, and not require the storage of solid fuel (coal usually being sold by the half-ton.) A coal forge will allow for work on large or oddly shaped pieces and will burn hotter.
Hammer
Blacksmiths use a wide variety of specialty hammers, but the most indispensable is the rounding hammer.
A good entry-level hammer can be bought here: http://www.centaurforge.com/prodinfo.asp?number=285
Anvil
A good quality anvil will have a flat, smooth top without any bumps or dings which may leave an impression in your work. Note, always make sure you anvil is securely anchored to it's stand, and the stand securely anchored to the ground. Anvil's are heavy and can easily cause a narrow stand to fall over if bumped into or tripped over.
Glove
A sturdy heat-resistant glove is good for your non-dominant hand. A glove on your hammer hand will just cause the hammer to slip, making it harder to aim your blows and tiring out your wrist.
Goggles
Sparks and fire scale fly with each hammer blow, safety goggles are a necessity. (Note, aviator goggles, welding goggles, etc. can restrict your peripheral vision. Since smithing is a task that requires you to be aware of your surroundings (which will often include explosive, hot, or sharp objects in close quarters,) you will need your full field of vision.)
Tongs
An alternative to a glove, a pair of proper tongs can be used to hold the metal. Since they will never spend much time in the forge, they will not get hot nearly as quickly, even so, you should remember to quench them often.
Safety
A few safety precautions for the forge.
Always work in pairs. The potential for injury while blacksmithing is very high, but working without another person nearby increases it exponentially. Without someone else around to extinguish fires, shut down machinery, or help you lift heavy things off of yourself a minor accident could become a very serious injury.
Wear no loose clothing. Keep your shirt tucked in and cuffs buttoned, avoid baggy pants, if you have long hair, tie it back and stick it under a cap, no neckties, no jewelry. A loose item of clothing can easily brush against the side of a forge or a hot piece of metal and catch on fire (or worse, and I speak from experience here, melt onto your skin.)
Keep you glove dry. No, seriously, keep your glove DRY. You'll be handling metal hot enough to boil any water soaked into your glove in an instant. A good kevlar glove will protect you from the heat from the metal, but the steam will go right through.
Don't lean over your anvil. It's tempting to treat an anvil like a work bench and lean over the thing you're working on to get a better look, but consider this: An anvil is a very dense, cool piece of metal, your hammer is, likewise, a very dense, cool piece of metal. If you miss your mark, and hammer strikes anvil with nothing in between, your hammer will bounce. You will miss rather frequently when starting out, and it's not unheard of for a hammer to bounce back into the face of the person swinging it. Minimize the risk of injuring yourself by keeping your back straight and just tilting your head to see what's going on with your piece. When you need to take a closer look, lift the piece up to you.
Just because it's not glowing doesn't mean it's cool! I can't stress that one enough. A good general rule is this: After you're done, turn off the forge, leave, come back in half an hour. At that point you can probably tough anything except the forge itself. Also, the back of your hand is much more sensitive to heat than the front, check to see if things are hot by holding the back of your hand an inch or so away from the object in question.
Use common sense. There are hundreds of things you should never do while blacksmithing, just as there are hundreds of things you shouldn't do while cooking, driving, or knitting. I've tried to list the ones people might not think of for themselves. But, in general, if you think before you act, you should be ok.
