Welcome!
Welcome to Artisan Ideas Publishing. Here you will find truly excellent books written by some of the world’s best teachers and experts in their fields.
Our Subject Areas
At Artisan Ideas you’ll find jewelry books, blacksmith books, books for knifemakers, and books for lock collectors and locksmiths. We also have books on popular science.
Our Objectives
Artisan Ideas publishes books that are intended to last – in more ways than one. Our subject areas: blacksmithing, jewelry-making, lock-making, knifemaking, etc. are traditional crafts. The information in our books will be just as useful years from now as it is today. Our physical books are also meant to last. They are all hardcovers with lay-flat binding so that readers and students can keep them open to any page.
Authors, Libraries, Bookstores
Whether you are an author, librarian or bookstore buyer, we are glad you are here. Whatever your interest may be in jewelry books, blacksmith books, books for knifemakers, books for metallurgists, books for lock collectors, etc., we would love to hear from you! Email us at: Info@ArtisanIdeas.com.
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CREATING STEEL JEWELRY: ETCHING, FUSING, KEUM BOO, ENAMELING, STAINLESS AND MORE, BY BETTE BARNETT
0Original price was: $34.50.$29.50Current price is: $29.50.Scroll down page for complete description.
For clients outside of North America, please click here to order: The Mare Nostrum Group.
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A BLACKSMITHING PRIMER: A COURSE IN BASIC AND INTERMEDIATE BLACKSMITHING BY RANDY MCDANIEL
0$25.00A Blacksmithing Primer is a critically acclaimed book that has sold over 35,000 copies and has helped tens of thousands of smiths all over the world to learn and to improve their craft. It is a must-have for anyone wielding a hammer to shape hot metal. Randy McDaniel wrote this book for beginner level and also intermediate level blacksmiths. It serves as both an excellent introduction to the craft and a valuable resource for advancing your knowledge, honing your skills, and expanding your vision in the art of blacksmithing.
Hardcover, 174 pages, over 400 drawings.
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ANTIQUE LOCKS AND KEYS: THEIR HISTORY, USES AND MECHANISMS
0$58.952024 GOLD MEDAL WINNER IN HOBBIES AND CRAFTS – INDEPENDENT BOOK PUBLISHERS 2024 BOOK AWARDS CONTEST!!
Antique Locks and Keys covers the history of locks and keys, how their mechanisms developed over the centuries, and how each major art period affected their shape and decoration. Not only are there over one-thousand stunning high-resolution photos of European locks and keys from Roman times through the Industrial Revolution, all with dates, dimensions, and provenance, but the detailed photos and the author’s notes also allow us to examine and understand the workings of the locks’ internal mechanisms.
Hardcover, 290 pages, over 1,000 high-quality color photos, 12-1/4-in. x 9-1/4-in.
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MARVELOUS MAGNETIC MACHINES: BUILDING MODEL ELECTRIC MOTORS FROM SCRAP
0Original price was: $29.95.$22.46Current price is: $22.46.2021 GOLD MEDAL WINNER FOR HOBBIES AND CRAFTS, IBPA BOOK AWARDS!
Hardcover, 160 pages,177 photos and illustrations.
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SECRETS OF THE FORGE: BEGINNING AND INTERMEDIATE PROJECTS FOR BLACKSMITHS
0$39.95This large 224-page hardcover book contains 48 different blacksmithing projects.The individual steps of each job are clearly illustrated with high quality close-up color photos.
Hardcover, 225 pages, over 800 high-quality color photos, 9-½-inches x 11-¼-inches.
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THE BLACKSMITH’S PROJECT BOOK: INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCED PROJECTS FROM EUROPEAN MASTERS
0$49.95Hardcover, 248 pages, over 900 color photos.
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THE NEW SPRUCE FORGE MANUAL OF LOCKSMITHING: A BLACKSMITH’S GUIDE TO SIMPLE LOCK MECHANISMS (REVISED AND EXPANDED)
2$44.95Silver Medal Winner in the HOBBY and CRAFT BOOKS category, 2023 IBPA Book Awards.
Hardcover, 304 pages, full color photos and illustrations.
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LOCKS AND KEYS THROUGHOUT THE AGES
0$32.50In this fascinating book, author Vincent Eras brings us on a grand tour of the development of locks from pre-historic to modern times and he also explains to us, in words and illustrations, how their mechanisms work.
Hardcover, 186 pages, over 280 b/w photos and designs
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ANTLER KNIFE: MAKING A SAMI-STYLE KNIFE HANDLE AND SHEATH
0$25.95Hardcover, 112 pages, 208 color photos and drawings, 10-in. x 7-in x .5-in.
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ANVILS IN AMERICA BY RICHARD POSTMAN (Will Soon Be Available Again!)
0Original price was: $95.00.$76.00Current price is: $76.00.Artisan Ideas is happy and proud to announce that, with the kind collaboration of Richard Postman’s family, we are reprinting Anvils in America (AIA). The new printing will be available the week after Christmas, 2025. Despite higher printing costs, we are keeping the retail price at $95.00 — the same as four years ago. For a very limited time, we are offering AIA at a special pre-publication price of only $76.00! Your copy will be reserved and shipped to you after Christmas.
For UK and other European orders: Artisan Ideas will have European distribution starting in January 2026. Anvils in America and our other books will be warehoused in the UK and stocked in select European bookstores. Ordering information will be posted here in December. This special pre-publication offer is available only in North America.
PLEASE NOTE!!!!! We will probably not have stock of Anvils in America until the week AFTER Christmas. If you pay extra for Priority Shipping, this will not get the book to you before Christmas. It will get the book to you quickly, but not before Christmas.
Scroll down this page for a complete description of the book.
564 pages, Hardcover binding, over 700 illustrations
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BASIC WAX MODELING: AN ADVENTURE IN CREATIVITY
0$32.50Hardcover, 112 pages, 283 b&w photos and illustrations
