Blacksmithing tools: names, pictures and what each one is used for

You need four things, then you make the rest

Blacksmithing has the lowest genuine entry cost of any craft on this site, because a smith's traditional answer to needing a tool is to forge it.

The four things you cannot make are a heat source, something to hammer on, something to hammer with, and something to hold hot steel. A forge, an anvil, a hammer and a pair of tongs. With those you can make more tongs, punches, chisels, drifts and most of the specialist tools on this page.

That is also the recommended learning path, because making your own tongs teaches drawing out, tapering and riveting all at once, and if they come out badly you have lost a bit of scrap.

Forge, anvil, hammer, tongs

Everything else on this page can be forged with those four, and most of it traditionally was.

Mass matters more than shape in an anvil

A heavy lump of steel with a flat face beats a light anvil with a pretty horn. Rebound comes from mass.

One hammer, and learn it

Around a kilogram to start. Heavier tires you and lighter takes forever, and control beats force.

Tongs must fit the stock

Loose tongs drop hot steel. Make or buy a pair that grip your usual bar size properly.

Make your own tools as practice

Tongs, punches and chisels are the classic first projects, and the scrap cost of failure is nothing.

A solid stand, not a wobbly one

The anvil must not move or bounce. Bolted or strapped to a stump or a stand at knuckle height.

Reading the heat, which is the actual skill

Steel is worked at a colour, not a temperature reading. Learning to see those colours is the central skill, and it takes a while because the workshop light changes what you see.

Broadly, bright yellow to orange is the working range for most forging. Red is too cold for heavy moving and it is where you finish detail. Cross into white and sparking and you are burning the steel, which destroys it permanently. And working steel that has gone below red causes cracking, because you are trying to move metal that no longer wants to move.

This is why smiths work in dim light. In bright sunlight you cannot judge the colour and you will burn or crack the work.

Yellow to orange for heavy moving

That is the range where steel is genuinely plastic. Work fast and return it to the fire often.

Stop when it drops below red

Hammering cold steel work hardens and cracks it. Reheat rather than getting the last blows in.

Sparks mean you have burned it

White heat and sparking destroys the steel structure and it cannot be recovered. Back it out of the fire.

Work in dim light

You judge heat by colour, and daylight washes the colour out. This is why forges are dark.

Heat only the part you are working

A local heat lets you move one area without distorting the rest of the piece.

Many short heats beat one long one

A long soak scales and decarburises the surface. In and out, and keep the fire clean.

Hardening and tempering, and why both are needed

If you make a tool, you have to heat treat it or it will not hold an edge. There are three steps and skipping the last one is how tools shatter.

Annealing softens steel so it can be worked and filed. Hardening means heating to critical, when it stops being magnetic, then quenching it fast: that gives maximum hardness and makes the steel brittle enough to break like glass. Tempering then reheats it gently to trade a little hardness for a lot of toughness, and it is not optional.

A hardened untempered chisel will snap on the first blow. It is the most common mistake in tool making.

Harden, then always temper

Hardened untempered steel is brittle and will shatter. Temper straight after quenching, while it is still warm.

Use a magnet to find critical

Steel loses its magnetism right around the hardening temperature, which is far more reliable than judging the colour.

Match the quench to the steel

Water for some, oil for most tool steels. The wrong quench cracks the piece as it cools.

Temper by the oxide colours

Straw for a hard cutting edge, deeper brown and purple for tools taking impact. An oven works too.

Normalise before hardening

A couple of heats and slow air cools relieve the stress from forging, so the piece does not warp in the quench.

Know what steel you have

Mystery steel from a scrapyard may not harden at all. A spark test and a test quench on an offcut tell you.

What to buy first, in order

Stage one: the four essentials

A forge, an anvil, a cross pein hammer around a kilogram, and a pair of tongs that fit your stock. Plus a bucket of water, leather gloves and eye protection.

Stage two: holding and cutting

A blacksmith's leg vice or a heavy engineer's vice, a hot cut chisel, a cold chisel, a hacksaw and an angle grinder.

Stage three: shaping

Punches and drifts, a hardy tool or two, a swage block or bolster, a bending fork and a set of dividers and soapstone for marking.

Stage four: heat treatment and finishing

A quench tank, a magnet, a wire brush, files, a belt sander, and a small kiln or oven for accurate tempering.

Mistakes that ruin work or hurt people

Hardening without tempering

The tool shatters on first use. Temper immediately after quenching, every time.

Working steel below red heat

It work hardens and cracks, usually invisibly, and the crack appears later under load.

Burning the steel

White heat and sparks destroy the grain structure permanently. There is no way back from it.

Quenching hot steel in a small bucket

It boils, steams violently and can spit. A generous tank of water or oil, and never near your face.

Galvanised steel in the forge

Zinc fume causes metal fume fever and it is genuinely unpleasant. Never heat galvanised or plated steel.

Loose or wrong sized tongs

Dropped hot steel goes onto your boot or the floor. Tongs must actually grip the stock they are used on.

An anvil that moves

Wasted energy and unpredictable rebound. It must be solidly mounted at knuckle height.

Working in bright light

You cannot read the heat colour, so you will either burn the steel or work it too cold.

Synthetic clothing near the forge

It melts onto skin. Cotton, wool or leather only, and no loose sleeves near the fire.

Looking after blacksmithing tools

Never hammer directly on the anvil face

Hammer on steel, not on the anvil. Missing the work chips the hardened face and that damage prints into future work.

Keep the anvil face clean and lightly oiled

Scale on the face prints into the work, and bare steel rusts overnight in a damp shop.

Dress hammer and punch heads

A mushroomed head throws fragments when struck. File the burr off before it spreads.

Do not quench tools you hammer with

Hardening a hammer face makes it brittle. Hammers are meant to be tough rather than hard.

Keep the quench tank covered

Water evaporates and oil collects scale and dust. Both need to be clean when you actually need them.

Clean the fire and the tuyere

Clinker builds up and strangles the air supply, and then the fire will not reach forging heat at all.

Frequently asked questions

What blacksmithing tools do I need to start?

Four things: a forge, an anvil, a hammer of around a kilogram and a pair of tongs that fit your stock. Add a bucket of water, leather gloves and eye protection. You can forge most of the other tools on this page yourself.

What size anvil do I need?

Mass matters more than shape or size. Anything from around 50 kilograms upwards works well, and a heavy flat block of steel beats a light decorative anvil, because the rebound that does the work comes from mass underneath the blow.

Can I use a piece of railway track as an anvil?

Yes, and it is a common start. Stood on end it gives good mass under the blow, which is far better than laid flat. A flat face ground on top and a solid mounting matter more than owning a traditional shape.

What colour should the steel be when I forge it?

Bright yellow to orange for heavy moving, and red for finishing detail. Below red you are work hardening and cracking it, and at white heat with sparks you have burned the steel and it cannot be recovered.

Why do blacksmiths work in dim light?

Because heat is judged by colour, and daylight washes the colour out of hot steel. In bright sunlight you cannot tell forging heat from burning heat, so you will either destroy the steel or work it too cold.

What is the difference between hardening and tempering?

Hardening means heating to critical then quenching fast, which gives maximum hardness and leaves the steel brittle enough to shatter. Tempering then reheats it gently to trade a little hardness for a lot of toughness. Both are needed.

How do I know when steel is hot enough to harden?

Use a magnet. Steel loses its magnetism at almost exactly the hardening temperature, so when a magnet stops sticking you are at critical. It is far more reliable than judging the colour, especially in changing light.

What is a hardy hole for?

The square hole in the anvil face that takes hardy tools: hot cuts, bending forks, swages and bending jigs with a matching square shank. It turns the anvil into a holder for whatever shaped tool the job needs.

What is the difference between a punch and a drift?

A punch makes the initial hole by displacing metal. A drift is then driven through to shape and size that hole accurately. Punching alone gives a rough undersized hole, so both are used in sequence.

Can I use a coal forge indoors?

Only with proper extraction, because coal and coke produce carbon monoxide. A gas forge is cleaner and easier to ventilate but still needs real airflow. This is not a craft to do in a closed garage.

Why must I never heat galvanised steel?

The zinc coating vaporises and zinc fume causes metal fume fever, which produces genuine flu symptoms and lands people in bed. Grind the coating off well beyond the heated area first, or use uncoated steel.

What steel should I use for making tools?

A known tool steel with a specification, so you know how to harden it. Scrapyard steel may not harden at all. Old files, leaf springs and coil springs are traditional sources, and a test quench on an offcut tells you what you have.