A complete guide to the fundamentals of the smithy, John Lord Bacon's Forge-Practice takes students and apprentices from the forge and its tools through welding, upsetting, drawing out, and bending, to steam-hammer work and the forging of tool steel.
Alongside the core techniques, Bacon explains how to calculate the stock needed for bent shapes and general forgings, progressing from simple forged work to the making of more complex pieces and the production of duplicate work. A chapter on the metallurgy of iron and steel gives the reader a grounding in the materials themselves, while the closing sections turn to the specialist demands of tool-steel work.
Ideal for beginners, Forge-Practice will be of considerable use to students, apprentices, and hobbyists, as well as anyone thinking of setting up as a working smith.