[TheForge] Book Recommendations

[Christopher Warnock]

I am also relatively new to blacksmithing, and have built an 
extensive library. The Books that I keep coming back to over and over 
again are:

If you are looking for projects/ideas as well as techniques, Jerry 
Hoffman's "The Blacksmith's Journal", is perhaps the best for 
inspiration.  http://www.blacksmithsjournal.com/

The Contemporary Blacksmith is great.

As is the Artist Blacksmith.

 From a tool building perspective, the Complete Modern Blacksmith is 
perhaps best, especially if you are not equipped, as it shows you how 
to build the tools that you will need to get going.

The Backyard Blacksmith, although relatively new, it is really a 
great book for someone that is equipped but just getting started.. In 
many aspects I could say that it is the best beginner book that I 
own. But I fear I am being overly influenced by color pictures and 
decent projects, when comparing this book to:

A Blacksmith's Craft: The Legacy of Francis Whitaker, A Compendium of 
Processes, Tools, Patterns and Tips. Which is a great book that 
focuses more on technique. This is published by Blue Moon Press. 
http://www.bluemoonpress.org/

cheers,

Christopher Warnock


At 10:47 PM -0600 2/28/07, J Keller wrote:
>As I'm still fairly new to blacksmithing, I've been ordering in 
>books from the library and reading through them.  Parts of them are 
>a bit too advanced for me, but I think I'm getting a basic idea of 
>how different things work.
>
>These are the books I've read so far:
>
>The Art of Blacksmithing Revised Edition (1995) - Alex W. Bealer
>The Blacksmith's Craft (2005) - Charles McRaven
>American Blacksmithing (1982) - Holstrom and Holford
>The Complete Modern Blacksmith (1997) - Alexander G Weygers
>
>Does anyone have any comments on any of these?  Are they good or bad 
>references?  (I'm ignoring the parts that recommend using molten 
>lead and asbestos for various things).
>
>Also, are there books that I should be looking for that are better 
>for beginners and/or better overall?
>
>Thanks,
>Justin
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