No Bullshit Guide To Buying The Best Arbor Press Possible
What Is An Arbor Press? An arbour press is a convenient and (relatively) cheap tool that allows a person to press with incredible force. These tools are great for at home hobbyists as they are compact and not too expensive. This means that they will fit in your home or your garage, and you can […] Read More
Review of The Best 4 Needle Scaler Guns For Quick Cleaning, Best Practices, and More
As a blacksmith, I often find myself needing to clear away scale or rust on a piece of work. There are a lot of options when it comes to removing this scale, for larger projects, I tend to use a good needle scaler gun. These tools are great for quickly removing large flakey chunks of […] Read More
8 Items For Building A Beginners Blacksmithing Tool Kit Quickly
Blacksmithing is a rare hobby in that you can get by without really purchasing anything but your steel stock. You can make your own tools! The techniques are timeless as well, meaning the techniques you learned 10 years ago will work just as well today. But how do you begin forging if you have no […] Read More
No Bullshit Guide To Optimal Blacksmith Clothing (Gloves,Aprons, And More)
People interested in blacksmithing tend to have colorful personalities that are contained within a unique worldview. As such, you will see a tremendous amount of variability in what people wear while smithing. Some people are very practical, and will wear a long sleeve shirt with hearing + eye protection in addition to boots. Other people […] Read More
No Bullshit Guide To The Best 3 Refractory Bricks For Forging & Casting
Refractory materials are non-metallic (ceramic) materials that can withstand high temperatures. They are often used in a number of industrial applications such as furnaces, kilns, foundries incinerators, and reactors. As such, they are extremely useful to hobbyist blacksmiths and machinists who wish to build their own forge or foundry. So which fire bricks should you […] Read More
No Bullshit Guide to the Best 10 Anvils For Sale (Blacksmith,Bladesmith,Jewelry)
A blacksmith anvil is one of the most important and expensive purchases a blacksmith will make. The blacksmithing anvil is central to almost everything that happens in a blacksmith’s workshop. Whether you are crafting a sword, a knife, armor, tools, decorative scroll-work, or tools for your own use, you will need to use an this […] Read More
Best 16 Books For Blacksmiths & Bladesmiths – Become a Master
While it’s possible to learn a great deal about blacksmithing from online articles, YouTube videos, and personal experience, these things really can’t replace a compact reference written by an expert with decades of experience. It’s also incredibly useful to have a reference book nearby. I know I often find myself forgetting things that I once […] Read More
No Bullshit Guide To The Best Blacksmithing Tongs
Tongs are one of the most fundamental tools in the blacksmith’s workshop. A good set of tongs will effortlessly grip your stock and thus become an extension of your will. Experienced smiths will often hand craft tongs that are perfectly fitted for each project. They will bring years of expertise into the creation of each […] Read More
No Bullshit Guide To The Top 10 Blacksmithing Hammers
Technically you can smack your stock with just about anything. Hell, an old carpenter’s hammer will get the job done. However, using a sub par blacksmith hammer is tedious and it’s hard on your elbows. There is nothing fun or creative about elbow pain! So which hammer should you buy? There are a lot of […] Read More
What is a Woodworking Vise?
A woodworking vise is a mechanical device used to clamp wood in place while it is worked on. I suppose that’s not a very interesting answer is it? A more illuminating questions might be: how is a woodworking vise different from other vises (sometimes spelled vices)? To answer that, we must first describe a woodworking […] Read More
Why do some anvils have numbers on them?
These numbers represent the weight of the anvil. Anvils made in more modern times are marked in lbs or kg. Not too exciting right? Well, it gets more interesting when you start looking at older anvils, particularly in America. For a good portion of American history, we imported our wrought iron anvils from England. These […] Read More
How to replace the jaws on a metalworking vise
The vise jaws on most metalworking vises (sometimes spelled vices) is made of hardened serrated steel. This increases it’s durability and allows it to handle most metals with ease. Despite this, vise jaws wear out over time, especially if you are working with materials harder than the materials of your vise jaws (hard scratches soft). […] Read More
How to mount a metalworking vise
Selecting your shop table The first step to mounting a metalworking vise (sometimes spelled vice) is to pick the right table to mount it on. A good mid range vise will weigh up to 50 or 60 pounds, with more expensive models weighing even more. You will want a heavy table with a wide sturdy […] Read More
How to use a table vise
It’s very simple to use a table vise (sometimes spelled vice). I will go through the steps below: Clamp the vise to the Table Most models of table vise will have a c clamp on the underside of the vise. Turn the clamp screw counter clockwise until the clamp opening is slightly larger than the […] Read More
What table vice sizes are available?
Compared to an engineer’s vise, a table vise (sometimes spelled vice) tends to be smaller. but how much smaller? It can vary quite a lot! I will try and go over the different table vise sizes in this article. Weight Table vises are small tools, they must be in order to be portable. It’s not […] Read More
What are the different types of table vise?
As with all articles of this type, I must start by stressing that vise names do not have enforced standards. Retailers and resellers will slap whatever name they want on a vise; usually this is a name that they think will sell well. There is also a tremendous variation in what people call certain vises […] Read More
What is a table vise?
Before I begin, I should stress that I’m not aware of any standards when it comes to vise (sometimes spelled vice) names. Manufacturers build the vise to spec, and then retailers and resellers give a name to the vise that they think will sell. This means you will find many different vise models under the […] Read More
How to reverse the jaws on a reversible vise
A reversible vise (sometimes spelled vice) is a great way to increase the jaw opening length at the expense of vise throat depth (most reversible vise models have a little anvil that gets in the way when the vise is reversed). Using the reverse capabilities of your vise is straightforward, and I will go over […] Read More
