The Art of Blacksmithing
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Spotlight Customer Reviews:
Summary:
Good and informative but not about what I originally thought it was about.
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Comment:
Ever since Mort Downey Jr. played a white guy who underwent surgery so he could convincingly play a black guy in that movie TROPIC THUNDER I have wanted to be a black guy sometimes too. So it's been a long time dream of mine. When I saw this book title "The Art of Blacksmithing" I thought my dreams were answered. "Here", I thought," Is a book that will teach me to be like Will Smith JUST LIKE WILL SMITH, as in cool and black.
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Summary:
good read - techniques and tooling
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Comment:
I'm still reading this book. The first few chapters are a bit dry, but do set the scene for the rest of the book. I had to laugh when the author said blacksmithing is on the rise.. around here any blacksmithing gear is bought up by yuppies who hang the tools on their wall and call it period art... it means the demand is high, but it doesn't mean the yuppies know which end of the hammer to hold, just that it suits the dining room better than the kitchen decor.
The book... once in the real meat of the book (chapter 4 on) there is good instructional material, and more than adequate diagrams (single line and monochrome sketches) to assist the reader in learning the techniques and methods. There is a strong focus on the older techniques, but some mention of the newer technologies being used by modern hobbiests and adherents. There is enough diversity in the content to appeal to bladesmiths, farriers, armourers (SCA), and wrought iron workers, although the focus is definitely on wrought work, and general techniques.
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Summary:
Adequate overview
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Comment:
This text is an excellent OVERVIEW of the history, context, and general techniques of blacksmithing. If you are looking for a general understanding of the art, this is the perfect text, and on that basis I recommend it very highly.
I do NOT recommend this text for the serious student of the subject. The discussion is generally shallow and has a tendency toward casual errors. It also presents blacksmithing traditions as fact despite modern dispute (E.g., Edge packing, pp 168-169, is now generally considered nonsense by reputable blacksmiths). If you want to learn about practical blacksmithing techniques, Jack Andrew's "New Edge of the Anvil" is much, much better. If you want to learn to make weapons, Dr. Jim Hrisoulas' several books ("The Complete Bladesmith," "Master Bladesmith," etc.) are much better, but very specialized.
Summary: highly recommended as a general overview. Insufficient depth for specialized study.
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Summary:
My Second Favorite
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Comment:
This is a very good book, it's my second favorite to learn from.
This is my favorite:Blacksmithing Primer: A Course in Basic and Intermediate Blacksmithing (Paperback) by Randy McDaniel.
If you are learning by yourself it's a much more complete set of lessons, including exactly how to position teh hammer to get each set of results. No other books teaches this.
The DVD set is excellent too, but expensive.
(Note, I know the guy who publishes the videos, but I didn't know he did until after I'd bought them, watched them, and recommended them to somone else...)
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Summary:
Not for the visual learner
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Comment:
This is not so much a "how to" Book, but it would be great for anyone simply researching the subject.
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