Synopses & Reviews
Here is everything you need to know to make and repair your own metal tools, household items, hardware, or farm equipment. Simple and clear instructions, supplemented by step-by-step photography, show how to build a forge, make or acquire tools, and use those tools to create items of lasting beauty and durability.
Synopsis
Blacksmithing is one of the traditional lost arts deserving re-discovery by anyone interested in do-it-yourself building and crafting.
Charles McRaven discovered blacksmithing when he moved back to the land in the 1970s and shares his knowledge in The Blacksmithbs Craft. Creating one's own tools and instruments from metal enhances woodworking, stonework, building, and restoration work. In his readable and humorous style, McRaven tells readers all they need to know to begin blacksmithing.
Simple and clear instructions, supplemented by step-by-step photography, show how to build a forge, how to make and/or acquire tools, and how to use those tools to create items of lasting beauty and durability.
This book belongs in the reference library of everyone interested in traditional American building crafts and culture, as well as those practical folks who want to make and repair their own metal tools, household items, hardware, or farm equipment.
Synopsis
Get that metal hot and start hammering Setting up your own forge and crafting everyday items is easier than you might think. Charles McRaven guides you through the process of building a forge from recycled materials, acquiring tools, and learning basic blacksmithing techniques. With simple methods, easy-to-follow photographs, and insightful tips, McCraven opens up your smithing world to endless possibilities. You'll soon be creating items of lasting beauty and durability from iron and steel.
Synopsis
Get that metal hot and start hammering Setting up your own forge and crafting everyday items is easier than you might think. With simple methods, easy-to-follow photographs, and insightful tips, you'll soon be creating items of lasting beauty and durability from iron and steel.
About the Author
Charles McRaven is a stonemason and blacksmith who is nationally known for building and repairing dozens of stone structures, log homes and post-and-beam buildings since 1946. He has restored water-powered mills, covered bridges, hewn log houses, and stone and timber-frame projects within the United States. He has written several books on the subject of stone, including Storey's Building With Stone and Stonework, and has also written Building the Hewn Log House and Country Blacksmithing. Charles's articles have appeared in Country Journal, Fine Homebuilding, and many regional magazines. He lectures and conducts workshops through art, history and architecture departments of colleges and universities, as well as teaching private courses in log and stone construction and blacksmithing. He is a consultant to many organizations including Time-Life Books, National Geographic Society Books, Drury College, and Arkansas Folk Center, to name just a few. Charles lives in Free Union, Virginia.