The Beginner's Guide to Blacksmithing is a beginner friendly guide to metalworking with tutorials by Lorelei Sims. Due out 9th Aug 2022 from Quarto on their New Shoe Press imprint it's 144 pages and will be available in paperback format.
This is a basic manual for getting started with metalworking in a home/hobby forge. The book's intro is thorough and step-by-step and includes shop setup, tool acquisition, and safety. The author has an accessible and easy to understand style of writing. In fact much of the book reads like a well organized one-on-one workshop. Safety is paramount throughout and the author emphasizes methods, attention to detail, and a good and well organized workspace at every step.
Equipment is explained in detail along with abundant photography of both the necessary gear and the processes. I really liked that the action tutorial photos are taken without hands or other tools obscuring the shot (not a trivial detail - as most of the action in smithy occurs with hands and tools in the way). Special tips and tricks for processes are located throughout the book in highlighted text boxes called "tricks of the trade". These provide short and digestible tips for getting the best results.
This is a very good short but comprehensive manual which will get the absolute beginning metalworker some competence and familiarity with the basic processes.
Five stars. This would be a good choice for public and school library acquisition, as well as for the home DIYer, activity groups and makers' spaces, and smallholders. The tasks and tutorials in this manual aren't specifically slanted toward any particular group, but there is a wealth of relevant info and lots of inspiration to be found here.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
No comments:
Post a Comment