Blacksmith Tools Overview

Blacksmithing is one of the few trades, if any; where the artisan can make the basic tools he requires using the very same blacksmithing process for which he will be using the tools. Indeed, for many years, a blacksmith had to either go to another blacksmith to get his tools made (not always a good idea – after all, who wants to provide the competition with good equipment?) or make them himself.

Today’s blacksmith has a huge variety of tools and equipment available. But the basics are few and have remained substantively unchanged over the centuries from the time when metal working began.

At the heart of the blacksmiths shop is the forge. This is the fireplace where the metal to be worked on is heated to a temperature where it becomes malleable. The traditional forge was just a charcoal fired hearth with bellows to provide forced air to control the heat. Today’s blacksmiths still use the same system, although many of them now use modern electric or multi fuel furnaces.

Then there are the tongs which are used to lift the metal out of the forge and hold it while it is being worked on. A blacksmith’s shop will have a ranges of tongs in various sizes and shapes. The size of the tong will depend on the size of the metal being worked on and the shape of the gripping end will vary depending on how the material is to be held and whether it is to be hammered, bent or twisted.

The anvil is the blacksmiths workbench. It is made out of a large block or iron or steel and is where the heated metal is placed so it can be worked on. Accessories that are used with the anvil consist of dies called swages and fullers. The swage is like a stencil made of iron or steel and is placed between the anvil and the heated metal. The metal, when hammered, will be forced in to the cutouts in the swage and take their shape. The fuller is the opposite of the swage and is placed on top of the metal and hammered into it so that a concave depression in the shape of the fuller is achieved. Swages and fuller are often used together. An example of this could be to create a small shallow dish with the fuller forcing the metal into the shape of the swage. Blacksmith shops have many standard swages and fullers ready to use but many often need to make special ones for projects that require complex shapes to be created.

A blacksmith shop will have a variety of hammers of different weights and sizes. The size of the hammer head will vary depending on the shape that is to be created with the largest ones being used for hammering the metal into shape and the smaller ones for doing the finishing.

Besides these basic tools, a blacksmith doing artistic work will have tools for embossing or etching on the metal.

There are many more tools that modern technology has provided the blacksmith, some using state of the art metal working technology. But if a blacksmith has the basic tools mentioned above, he is in business.