Meant more as a quick reference and historical methods of forging tools, plowshares, wagon tires, etc. ( )

If you have any practical experience with blacksmithing you can learn a lot from this book. It shows through illustrations a lot of common projects that were done by hand during the 19th and early 20th century as daily tasks which for the most part are no longer performed. It covers an impressive amount of work done on wagons, households, and daily materials in use. information of the different types of iron are discussed including what jobs the iron is best used for fabrication. Will it help you earn a living? Maybe, but if you just enjoy learning about the different fabrication projects that can still be attempted for your enjoyment, this is for you. ( )

Begins with an accout of the early history of blacksmithing and goes on to describe the tools used from ancient days through to the time the book was written. There are descriptions of all the important smithing processes: welding, brazing, soldering, cutting, bending, setting, tempering, fullering and swaging, forging and drilling. Illustrations include: drawings of blacksmithing, best methods of building chimneys and contructing forges and making several types of work benches. Diagrams demonstrate the various methods of working with steel and iron.

From the website [http://www.piehtoolco.com/en-us/dept_1110.html]
Practical Blacksmithing, Part One begins with an account of the tools and equipment of blacksmithing and continues with shop plans, diagrams demonstrating various smithing techniques, and discussions of iron and steel. Finally, there are the detailed, yet simple, practical descriptions of smithing's central processes, including drilling, fullering and swaging. Together with Practical Blacksmithing, Part Two, this book provides an invaluable basic resource for the modern day practitioner of this ancient craft. The carriage owner or restorer can, with Richardson's help, understand how pieces were originally made and fitted together, and how they can be replicated today. The tool user and collector will relish the discovery of old tools and equipment, some no longer available commercially, or even in current use. Historians and Americana enthusiasts will be able to glimpse the past with a better understanding of the mindset and aesthetics of an earlier time. And the blacksmith, through Richardson's emphasis on technique and craftsmanship, and his straightforward prose and illustrations, will be better able to understand smithing's central processes. Four 1890 handbooks are here reprinted in two paperback volumes. This information has weathered the test of time. The whole of the smith's art is covered, with many line engravings.