As more and more people join the do-it-yourself revolution, they are breathing new life into many time-honored skills and crafts. Blacksmithing is among the trades enjoying a resurgence for practical and artistic uses. Yet, there is not an abundance of readily accessible information available to beginning blacksmiths to help them get started and understand the craft.

Author Ryan Ridgway, a veterinarian, and blacksmith with more than 15 years of metalworking experience, hopes to fill that void with this comprehensive volume geared toward answering the many questions that new blacksmiths often have. Ridgway sets his book apart from less-detailed volumes by explaining the physics of moving metal, the different styles of anvils and forges, and alternative fuel sources. He presents 40 practical, easy-to-follow projects, showing aspiring blacksmiths how to make tools (such as hammers and chisels), farm implements (such as gate latches and hoof picks), and items for home use (including drawer pulls and candleholders).

Inside The Home Blacksmith:

• The evolution of blacksmithing around the world and the differences between the tools specific to each region
• The behavior of heated metal and the science of metalworking
• Setting up a shop safely and economically
• The heart of your shop, the anvil and forge, and the other essential tools
• Working with different types of steel, including how to salvage steel for different uses
• Techniques from beginning to advanced
• Step-by-step instructions for 40 blacksmithing projects: tools and other implements, as well as decorative pieces for personal use or sale

Take a trip to a simpler era, when inventors crafted solutions that required neither chips nor circuit boards – just plain old American ingenuity. This collection features a variety of tools, presented with original photos and text. Can you identify these mystery items without looking at the descriptions?

All of the tools come from the pages of Farm Collector, a magazine for collectors of vintage farm equipment. In the monthly What Is It? feature, readers contribute photos of objects and others pitch in to identify the items (often sharing memories of personal experiences with long-forgotten tools). The popular articles have been running for 12 years, and this collection draws from that rich archive to present some of the most inventive of inventions and most curious of curiosities.