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The
Contemporary Blacksmith
One of the must have books for
inspiration for blacksmiths.
This book 254 pages long is
packed with photos of current
work by blacksmiths. Sections
on architectural ,
sculptural, knifemaking,
functional blacksmithing. A
fine hard cover book full of
inspiration. It is one of my
main resources!
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Art Forms in the
Plant World
A book of black and white
close-up photos of many
plants. It gives blacksmiths a
detailed view of different
plant forms which can easily
be created in iron. This book
has nothing to do with metal
work except to provide
inspiration for any artisan
for organic form.
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Art Nouveau
Decorative Ironwork
Black and white photos of the
art nouveau style at the turn
of the last century. Most
examples are larger scale
architectural. Beautiful lines
and ideas. Economical book
with lots of ideas in ths art
form.
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Art Deco Ornamental
Ironwork
The art deco period follows on
the heals of art nouveau.
Characteristic of series of
straight lines with
interesting intersections.
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Art Nouveau Ironwork
of Austria and Hungary
240 pages with 500 photos.
Austria and Hungary were areas
that developed the art nouveau
style to its height. This book
details common uses of
ironwork in this style for
exteroir ornamentaion.
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The Back Yard
Blacksmith
I had the pleasure of meeting
Lorelei a few years back when
she did a demonstration for
our local blacksmithing
chapter. Knowledgeable and
entertaining. Her book is an
excellent starting place for
new blacksmiths. She covers
the basics well and is
insightful and provides a good
foundation for those that are
looking to start.
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Decorative Wrought
Iron Projects for Beginners
80 pages. Stuck for a gift
idea for your cousins? This
book gives you a whole series
of plans and ideas of easy to
make projects. Candle holders,
door knockers, flower pot
holders etc.....
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Forged Architectural
Metalwork
176 pages. 180 photos. Heavy
steel forged by hand and power
hammer to create gates,
railings, etc. Sections on
finishes and installation
which may be worth the price
of the book.
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The Complete
Metalsmith
312 pages 1600 illustrations.
Primarily directed to jewelry
makers many of the techniques
will translate to working with
steel. Sections on casting,
polishing, forming, soldering,
chasing, repouse. Precious
metals are fun to work with
but save every scrap as you
can reclaim it.
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Ironwork Today
256 pages. Another of the must
have inspirational blacksmith
books. Filled with pictures
(482 photos in all) that coax
you out to the shop to create
something beautiful. Beautiful
work of modern smiths.
Wonderful to read on cold
winters night!
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Ironwork Today 2
More inspirational forged
artwork from many artisans
around the world. I am
honoured to have some examples
of my work in this book. For
me the difficulty is in
photographing the piece so
that the quality of the photo
is high enough to print in a
book. 253 pages of
inspirational work.
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Ironwork Today 3
This is the next
in the on going series of
contemporary forged ironwork
books. This is an excellent
coffee table book that
contains many of the
artisans in the previous
books. This helps to show a
progression and
diversification in each
artists works. This is not a
"How To" book but more a
gallery of juried artists in
blacksmithing.
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Ironwork
Today 4
The fourth book in
the modern series dedicated
to showcasing the work of
modern artists blacksmiths.
256 pages of detaile
photographs of some of the
best blacksmiths of the 21st
century. Follow the further
development of the artists
and their craft.
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Ironwork: Dynamic
Details
160 pages, 251 photos. Many of
the other inspirational books
show the overall piece. This
book has all close up
photography of the texture and
assemble details that you want
to see in the full piece
photos. Pay close attention to
the photography details of
backdrop and lighting.
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Natural Art Forms
128 pages, 120 black and white
photos. Close up photos of
seed pod, stems and leaves.
Not directly related to
blacksmithing but is a good
reference for shapes of
floral-forms.
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Methods For Modern
Sculptors
Primarily concerned with
casting metal (bronze) to
create large sculpture pieces.
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Step by Step
Knifemaking.
This is an older book but has
detailed information about
grinding knives and adding
handles, guards and making
sheathes. Large section on
acid etching blades for
decorative appeal. He also has
a good reference section on
different steels to use for
knife making and how to heat
treat them. Good reference
without being too technical.
There is not much about
forgeing knife blades, but
good grinding tips.
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The New Edge of The
Anvil
One of the books I recommend
to my students as a great
reference book to start with.
Clear and well laid out and
affordable. It makes
blacksmithing within the reach
of everyone. I refer to it
often. The older edition
(1991) is one of the books
that aided the wide spread
revival of smithing as a
hobby.
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Decorative and
Sculptural Ironwork
This book was originaly
published in 1977 the second
edition was updated in 1998.
This is an informative book
and is a step into our recent
past when smithing was just
getting going again. Many
wonderful photos of good solid
work. Much of the work is not
complex but does show what our
current work (see the must
have books) is based upon.
Many smiths I know used this
book when they were starting
out as inspiration and
reassurance that we were on
the right path.
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Wrought Iron by Fritz
Kuhn
Detailed black and white
photos of various elements
used in blacksmithing. Short
English descriptions. Not a
how too book the pictures are
clear enough to see
construction details.
Traditional joinery and
techniques. Birds,
plants, and animals are all
clearly detailed.
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The Smithy's Craft
and Tools
128 pages. Many pictures of
close up detailed iron work
and tools. The book is based
around hand working of steel
in a traditional German shop.
Photos are given of finished
product then water color
sketches show the tools used
to make each form and the
sequence. It is a book of
"This is the shape I made, and
this is the tools I used, and
this is what you do with
them". Techniques could be
adapted to power hammer use,
but this is not really covered
in the book. Very informative
book. English, German and
French text.
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The Complete
Bladesmith
This book is written by a
master of forged blades. This
is THE how to book of forged
blades. Jim has done extensive
pattern welding on his blades
and has heat treatment down to
an art.
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The Complete Modern
Blacksmith
This book is a good start
point in the smithing craft.
It has basic projects based
around tool production for the
smith. Primarily devoted to
coal fired forge work.
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Basic Knife Making
By Siebeneicher-Helwig and
Rosinski.
Schiffer Publishing asked me
to review this book. This is a
bit tricky as I do have mixed
feelings about it. First it is
beautifully illustrated. The
photography is stunning. There
is good information on forging
and heat treating a basic
knife. A couple of problems.
Many of the pictures are of
excellent Damascus knives.
These are by no means beginner
projects. Several of the
techniques they discuss are
the hard way of doing things.
It will work but there are
easier ways. If you choose to
build a forge look around on
the internet as there are
easier and better ways of
doing it.
Is it worth the Amazon price?
I would say that it is, but do
buy other knife making books
as well for a more complete
picture of the process.
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The Lockback Folding
Knife
From Design to Completion
By Fronteddu and
Steigerwald
This book is
very well illustrated. It
deals only with the
machining aspect
of folding knives. If
you want to do any forge
work you will need to get
the information else
where. Very clear
information on how to make
lockback folding knives. I
do recommend this book if
you wish to make folders.
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Striking
Women: Mild as Steel
This is a
collection of work by top
level female blacksmiths
from all over the world. We
often think of this trade as
being male dominated. This
book clearly shows that
women are producing work on
par with any of their
counter parts.
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Art and Design
in Modern Custom Fixed Blade
Knives
This is
2007 edition that gives
many inspiring
photographs of both
classic and fantasy
styled knives. This book
does give a few hints on
construction techniques
but it is primarily just
a photo collection of
what some of the makers
were doing in 2007.
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Damascus Steel
Theory and Practice
This has
become my primary resource
book when I have questions
on Damascus steel especially
pattern development. This
book takes you throught the
basics to very complicated
pattern construction. It is
clearly presented with lots
of pictures and
illustrations of the
process. Excellent if you
want to learn how to make
Damascus steel.
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Artist
Blacksmith Sculpture by
British blacksmith David
Freedman.
This is
not a "How To" book but more
a photo essay of the
sculptural work and
inspiration of David
Freedman. He creates a
number of realistic to
whimsical plant and animal
representations. Image
quality is quite good and
shows enough detail to
provide inspiration for your
own work. |
