Are you planning on starting blacksmithing and don’t know where to begin? Are you a more advanced smith looking for ideas, inspiration or wanting to learn new blacksmithing skills? If you are searching for the best blacksmithing books or blacksmithing videos available, you have come to the right place! Looking to learn to blacksmith? Artisan Ideas has the book for you! Already an experienced smith? Want to add some new blacksmithing skills to your skill set? We’ve got you covered! Whether it’s blacksmithing for beginners or pros, we have interesting books and DVDs for you.
Explore our famous Artisan Ideas online bookstore. It features a large selection of books and DVDs. Subjects include anvils, anvil tools, forges, forge welding, chasing, damascus steel, and much more. Artisan Ideas also has many books and DVDs with interesting – and fun – blacksmithing projects, at all levels.
Just starting blacksmithing? Learn to blacksmith with Randy McDaniel’s great blacksmithing for beginners book – A Blacksmithing Primer. Then practice important blacksmithing skills you will learn from Mark Aspery’s books on leafwork and traditional joinery. Francis Whitaker, Max Metzger and other great artist blacksmith masters will also teach you the secrets of their craft through their classic books.
Are you interested in forging animals or perhaps a human hand or head? Or maybe perfecting metal-moving techniques, or mastering chasing and repousse? Artisan Ideas has what you need. Our collection is for blacksmiths of all skill levels. There’s something valuable here for everyone.
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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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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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Secrets of the Forge plus The Blacksmith’s Project Book (Two Book Set)
0Original price was: $89.95.$80.95Current price is: $80.95.Two hardcover books, 500+ pages and 1700 color photos combined
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Mark Aspery 3 Vol Set: Mastering the Fundamentals of Blacksmithing, Leafwork, and Traditional Joinery
0Original price was: $177.00.$171.00Current price is: $171.00.This three volume set by Mark Aspery contains all the books in the Skills of a Blacksmith series. With over three decades of professional forging experience, Mark Aspery has emerged as a highly respected teacher in the craft. Reading and practicing the skills, techniques and advice presented in these three volumes, will undoubtedly increase your blacksmithing skills and knowledge exponetially.
3 Hardcover books, over 1000 pages and 4000 photos combined!
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THE BLACKSMITH’S COOKBOOK: RECIPES IN IRON BY FRANCIS WHITAKER
0$40.00The Blacksmith’s cookbook by Francis Whitaker is an essential blacksmith book for learning traditional blacksmithing skills and techniques! It delves into the significance of the firepot as the forge’s heart, crucial for achieving the right heat. The author provides lists covering forge equipment, Smithy tools, techniques, projects, and the necessary ingredients for success.
Softcover, 153 pages, fully illustrated
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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.
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564 pages, Hardcover binding, over 700 illustrations
