Manual machining and forming for blacksmithing — Tools and materials

Introduction

Manual machining and forming for blacksmithing — Tools and materials is a vocational learning module for blacksmithing, artistic metalwork, architectural ironwork and related craft practice. It introduces the tools, stock materials, workshop controls and quality checks used when you prepare, cut, hold, heat, shape and finish metal by hand.

Selected jurisdiction: United Kingdom. This course keeps legal, training and standards information explicitly separated. Occupational health and safety law in this module is the Health and Safety Executive framework for Great Britain: England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland has a separate regulator and its law is not covered here. The vocational qualification example is labelled England only. British Standards Institution references are labelled as UK standards references. No cross-country or cross-jurisdiction qualification equivalence is claimed.

Official rules, your employer or college risk assessment, manufacturer instructions, local workshop rules and competent instructor directions take precedence over this learning material. Hot forging, fuel-gas work, abrasive-wheel work, drilling, powered machinery, heat treatment and other hazardous processes must not be undertaken unsupervised. You should only perform practical work after induction, authorisation and supervision appropriate to your workplace.

MOOCwiki metadata	Details
Course title	Manual machining and forming for blacksmithing — Tools and materials
Parent area	Manual machining and forming for blacksmithing
Module	Tools and materials
Intended learners	Vocational learners in Blacksmithing, Artistic metalwork and related craft or heritage-metalwork programmes
Selected jurisdiction	United Kingdom, with Great Britain safety law and an England-only apprenticeship reference clearly labelled below
Level	Introductory to intermediate vocational study, with extension tasks for advanced learners
Delivery	Classroom, workshop briefing, supervised practical demonstration and reflective project work
Safety principle	Hazardous practical activity is instructor-led and workplace-controlled
OER status	Course text intended for reuse under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International; embedded media retain their source licences or platform terms
Review status	Ready for review by a qualified blacksmithing instructor, vocational educator and workplace safety lead before local delivery

This open image shows a working collection of blacksmith's tools. As you study it, identify which items are for holding, striking, cutting, supporting and measuring. Tool layout varies by smith and job, but the functional groups remain useful for planning a safe workstation.

Wikimedia Commons source and licence for BLACKSMITH TOOLS.jpg

The video above is a practitioner overview of basic blacksmithing tools. Treat it as supplementary craft media, not as UK regulatory guidance. Your workplace instructions and HSE requirements take precedence.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module, you should be able to:

Tool selection: Select an appropriate hand tool, holding tool, support tool or measuring tool for a stated blacksmithing operation.
Material selection: Distinguish common forgeable stock from materials that need additional identification, controls or specialist procedures.
Tool inspection: Recognise common defects in hammer faces, handles, tongs, files, chisels, punches, vices and anvil tooling.
Risk control: Explain why elimination, substitution, engineering and organisational controls are considered before relying on personal protective equipment.
Workshop preparation: Plan a clear hot-metal route, tool layout, stock position and exclusion zone before supervised forging.
Quality assurance: Inspect a simple forged feature for dimensions, straightness, surface condition, symmetry and process defects.
Sustainable practice: Reduce material, fuel, abrasive and finishing waste while protecting material traceability and product quality.

Jurisdiction, Training and Standards

Great Britain: official safety framework

The Health and Safety Executive is the national regulator used for the Great Britain safety information in this course. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 is the principal occupational health and safety legislation for Great Britain. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers to identify hazards, assess risks and eliminate or control them.

For blacksmithing tools and workshop equipment, the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, usually called PUWER, are particularly important. HSE states that work equipment must be suitable for its intended use, safe and maintained, inspected where necessary, and used by people who have received adequate information, instruction and training.

Hazardous dusts, fumes, gases, liquids and process-generated contaminants may fall under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, usually called COSHH. Flammable gases such as LPG and other dangerous substances may also bring the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002, usually called DSEAR, into scope.

Noise and vibration from powered or impact processes require separate assessment. Under the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005, HSE identifies lower and upper daily or weekly exposure action values of 80 dB and 85 dB respectively, with an exposure limit value of 87 dB after accounting for hearing protection. Under the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005, the hand-arm vibration exposure action value is 2.5 m/s² A(8) and the exposure limit value is 5.0 m/s² A(8). These are employer assessment values, not do-it-yourself timing rules.

Manual handling must also be assessed. HSE states that there is no single universally safe lifting weight. The practical hierarchy is to avoid hazardous manual handling where reasonably practicable, assess what cannot be avoided, and reduce the remaining risk.

Official sources checked for this module:

England only: vocational training reference

Skills England's current Blacksmith occupational standard ST0378, version 1.1, is approved for delivery and set at Level 3. It describes blacksmithing as using craft, art or skill to design, shape and join metal components by hot forging and other metalworking processes. Its knowledge and skills include materials, hand tools, tongs, punches, chisels, hammers, anvil tools, drills, grinders, hot forging, machining, bench work, finishing, tool maintenance and safe working.

This aiMOOC is not the apprenticeship, does not award an apprenticeship certificate or End-Point Assessment result, and does not claim equivalence with Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish or non-UK training pathways.

Skills England: Blacksmith ST0378 version 1.1

United Kingdom: standards reference

The British Standards Institution lists BS EN ISO 16321-1:2022+A1:2025 as current for general occupational eye and face protection. It also lists BS EN ISO 11612:2015 as current and under review for protective clothing against heat and flame. A standard designation alone does not prove that a particular item is suitable for your blacksmithing task. Selection must follow the employer or college risk assessment, required performance level, compatibility with other PPE and manufacturer information.

Core Concepts

Five functions of blacksmithing tools

A practical way to understand a forge is to classify tools by what they do.

Supporting tools: Anvils, swage blocks, stakes and bottom tools provide controlled surfaces against which metal is formed.
Striking tools: Hand hammers and sledges deliver energy to deform hot or cold metal; hammer form and mass must suit the task and user.
Holding tools: Tongs, leg vices, bench vices, clamps and fixtures keep the work controlled without placing hands in hazardous positions.
Cutting and forming tools: Hot cuts, cold chisels, punches, drifts, fullers, set hammers and swages concentrate force or define shape.
Measuring and layout tools: Steel rules, dividers, squares, calipers, scribers, centre punches, templates and gauges support repeatability and quality.

A tool can serve more than one purpose, but you should always know its intended job before using it.

The anvil as a forming system

The anvil is not simply a heavy block. Its features provide different working surfaces:

Face: the main hardened working surface for forging and planishing.
Horn: a tapered form used to bend, curve and draw shapes.
Hardy hole: the square socket used for compatible bottom tools such as hardy tools.
Pritchel hole: a round clearance hole commonly used when punching holes through hot work.
Edges: used deliberately for shoulders, offsets and controlled local deformation; damaged or excessively sharp edges can mark or cut work.
Base and mounting: must be stable so the anvil cannot rock, shift or create an avoidable trip or crush hazard.

Wikimedia Commons source and CC0 licence for Anvil, labelled en.svg

The anvil video is useful for tool recognition and comparison. It does not replace supervised instruction, PUWER duties or local inspection requirements.

Hammers

A blacksmith's hammer must fit the operation, your approved training and your physical capability. Common practitioner terms include hand hammer, cross-pein hammer, straight-pein hammer, rounding hammer and sledgehammer. The face moves material broadly; a pein concentrates force in a direction.

Before use, inspect the hammer for a secure handle, sound eye, controlled handle condition and a face without dangerous mushrooming, severe chips or cracks. A loose head, split handle or damaged striking surface is a stop-work defect. Do not improvise repairs during production work unless you are authorised and competent to do so.

Wikimedia Commons source and licence for Blacksmith Hammer.jpg

Tongs and holding tools

Tongs should match the section and size of the workpiece closely enough to control it without constant excessive grip force. Common jaw styles include flat-jaw, box-jaw, bolt-jaw, pick-up and V-bit forms. Names vary between smiths and suppliers, so the important vocational skill is to identify how the jaw contacts and restrains the stock.

A good tong fit:

holds the stock on stable contact faces;
does not twist easily around the workpiece;
keeps reins clear of the hot zone;
allows a controlled transfer between forge, anvil and rack;
does not require you to compensate for poor fit by squeezing dangerously hard.

A blacksmith's leg vice is designed so impact loads travel down the leg to the floor rather than being carried only by a bench. A bench vice may be suitable for lighter bench work, but it is not automatically a substitute for a leg vice in heavy impact work.

Punches, drifts, chisels and fuller tools

A punch removes or displaces material to start a hole. A drift sizes, shapes or aligns an opening after punching. A hot chisel or hot-cut tool is shaped for hot stock; a cold chisel is intended for cold material. Using the wrong tool or using a heat-treated tool outside its intended temperature range can damage the tool and create fragments.

A fuller creates a local reduction or groove and helps spread material. A set hammer refines shoulders and flats. A swage supports or finishes a defined section. These tools concentrate load, so striking surfaces and edges must be maintained to an approved condition.

Bench-work and manual machining tools

For cold preparation and fitting, blacksmiths commonly use:

Hacksaw: for controlled hand cutting of stock with a blade suited to the section and material.
File: for sizing, deburring, fitting and finishing; a file with an exposed tang must not be used as though the tang were a handle.
Cold chisel: for approved cold-cutting work where the material, support and striking setup are suitable.
Centre punch: for marking hole centres or layout points.
Scriber: for fine layout lines on prepared surfaces.
Engineer's square: for checking right angles and layout.
Steel rule: for basic linear measurement.
Calipers: for comparing thicknesses, diameters or dimensions where the task allows.
Dividers: for transferring dimensions and laying out arcs or repeated spacing.

Hand-held drills, angle grinders, linishers and fixed drills are powered work equipment rather than ordinary hand tools. They require separate training, guarding, abrasive-wheel or tooling controls, dust and noise assessment, and authorisation under the workplace system.

Materials

Low-carbon steel

For many training and artistic-forging exercises, low-carbon steel, commonly called mild steel, is useful because it is readily forgeable, available in standard sections and forgiving compared with many higher-carbon steels. Common supply forms include round bar, square bar, flat bar, angle, sheet, plate and section.

In UK workshops, you may also hear black bar for hot-rolled stock with mill scale. Do not assume a bar is mild steel solely because it looks like ordinary black steel. Retain supplier information and material identification where the job depends on grade.

Authentic examples include:

a forged hook from round or square mild-steel bar;
a gate scroll from square bar;
a riveted strap or hinge component from flat bar;
tong reins or simple training tongs made from an approved suitable stock;
a decorative leaf or finial made from identified mild steel.

Medium-carbon and tool steels

Punches, chisels, springs, blades and other high-duty tools may require a known medium-carbon or alloy tool steel. These steels can harden significantly and may crack, chip or behave unpredictably if forged or heat treated incorrectly.

Do not treat unidentified vehicle springs, files, bearings or other scrap as a guaranteed tool-steel grade. If a tool requires heat treatment, use a documented material grade and an approved procedure under competent supervision.

Wrought iron, cast iron and heritage material

Wrought iron is a forgeable historic ferrous material with a characteristic slag-bearing structure. Genuine wrought iron is valuable in conservation work and should not be confused with modern mild steel merely because decorative ironwork is casually called wrought iron.

Cast iron is a different material family and is generally brittle under ordinary blacksmithing impact. It is not a normal substitute for forgeable bar stock. Repair of cast components is a specialist process and is outside this module.

Heritage work may require material conservation, matching historic technique and minimum intervention rather than simply replacing old work with modern steel.

Stainless and non-ferrous metals

Stainless steels, copper, bronze and brass can all appear in artistic metalwork, but they have different working ranges, oxidation behaviour, contamination risks and finishing needs. Zinc-containing materials can generate hazardous fumes when overheated. Stainless processing can produce hazardous metal-containing dust or fume during some operations.

Only work these materials under a process-specific method statement, material identification, suitable ventilation or extraction, and competent instruction.

Coated, plated and mystery stock

Never heat unknown, painted, plated, galvanised, oily or contaminated stock simply to see what happens. First identify the material and coating and follow the workplace assessment. Heating coatings can generate toxic or irritating fumes, and unknown stock can fail in ways that are not obvious from appearance.

Material traceability is therefore a safety control as well as a quality control.

Matching Tools to Materials and Processes

Task	Typical tool or support	Typical material choice	Main quality question
Draw a simple taper	Hand hammer, anvil, suitable tongs	Identified low-carbon steel	Is the taper straight, even and free of folds or cold shuts?
Bend a hook	Anvil horn or approved bending former	Identified low-carbon steel	Is the curve smooth and does it match the template?
Punch a hole	Punch, anvil support and clearance such as pritchel hole when suitable	Identified forgeable steel	Is the opening correctly placed, clean and free from tearing?
Fit a riveted strap	Vice, hammer, punches, measuring tools	Mild-steel flat bar and approved rivet stock	Does the joint close correctly without distortion?
Prepare a cold-cut end	Hacksaw and file	Suitable identified bar stock	Is the end square, deburred and to length?
Make or maintain a punch	Approved forging and grinding setup, measuring tools	Known tool steel where specified	Are geometry, surface condition and heat treatment correct for the intended use?

Risk Controls

Control hierarchy in the forge

The first question is not "Which PPE should I wear?" but "Can the hazard be removed or better controlled?" HSE describes a hierarchy in which elimination and substitution come before engineering controls, organisational controls and PPE.

Examples:

Eliminate: do not heat coated mystery scrap when clean identified stock is available.
Substitute: select a less hazardous coating or finishing process where the specification allows.
Engineer: use guarding, extraction, stable tool mounting, barriers and suitable workholding.
Organise: establish hot-metal zones, training, supervision, maintenance schedules, exclusion areas and work-rest planning.
PPE: use eye, face, hearing, hand, foot and body protection selected by the employer or college risk assessment for the remaining risk.

PPE is essential where specified, but it does not make an uncontrolled process safe.

Practical hazard-control table

Hazard	Typical blacksmithing source	Control approach
Burns and radiant heat	Forge, hot stock, scale, recently worked tools	Mark hot-metal zones, use suitable tongs and racks, control travel routes, provide supervision, use task-selected PPE, and never assume dark metal is cold.
Flying scale or fragments	Hammering, cutting, damaged tools, grinding	Maintain tool faces, use screens or separation where suitable, control bystanders, and wear employer-specified eye or face protection.
Loss of workpiece	Poor tong fit, unstable anvil work, awkward stock	Test tong fit on cold stock, use the right holding tool, keep clear travel routes and stop if the work cannot be held securely.
Impact injury	Hammering, sledge work, struck tools	Use competent striking technique, sound tools, agreed communication for team striking and exclusion space around the swing path.
Noise	Hammering, grinders, power hammers and fabrication work	Assess exposure, reduce noise at source, maintain equipment, limit exposure as part of the employer plan, and use hearing protection where specified.
Hand-arm vibration	Grinders, powered hand tools and some impact equipment	Use suitable low-vibration equipment where practicable, maintain tools, assess exposure and organise work so legal action and limit values are controlled.
Fume, dust and gas	Fuel combustion, grinding, heated coatings, welding or finishing	Prevent hazardous processes where possible, identify substances, provide effective ventilation or local extraction where required, and follow COSHH controls.
Fire or explosion	LPG, solid fuel, sparks, hot scale, flammables	Follow DSEAR assessment and workplace fuel procedures, separate combustibles, maintain fuel systems and use authorised ignition and shutdown procedures.
Sharp edges	Cut stock, scale, burrs, sheet and unfinished work	Deburr as required, store safely, use suitable handling methods and keep benches orderly.
Manual handling	Anvils, stock, tooling, gas cylinders, heavy workpieces	Avoid hazardous lifts where possible, use mechanical aids, assess unavoidable handling and plan team moves under competent supervision.
Heat stress	Prolonged work near forge or furnace	Assess workload and environment, use engineering controls and work-rest arrangements, provide hydration and monitor workers according to workplace controls.

PPE principles

Do not copy a generic blacksmithing costume from a video. Your required PPE must come from the local risk assessment and equipment instructions. Depending on the work, this may include suitable occupational eye or face protection, hearing protection, protective footwear, suitable work clothing and task-specific gloves.

Gloves are not a substitute for correct tongs. A glove choice that is appropriate for one handling task may be unsuitable for another because of grip, entanglement, heat transfer or loss of dexterity. Follow the site-specific instruction.

Long hair, loose clothing, hanging jewellery and unsecured personal items can create additional hazards around rotating or moving equipment and should be controlled according to workshop rules.

Tool Inspection and Maintenance

Pre-use inspection

Before practical work, check:

the hammer head is secure and the handle is not split;
struck-tool heads are not dangerously mushroomed, cracked or chipped;
tong rivets or joints move correctly and jaws suit the stock;
anvil and tooling are stable and free from defects that create an immediate hazard;
files have suitable handles and are not used with exposed tangs as handgrips;
vice jaws and mounting are secure;
cutting tools have suitable edge geometry and are not damaged;
guards, extraction and emergency controls on powered equipment are in place and functional where applicable;
measuring tools are readable and fit for the accuracy required;
the floor, hot-metal route and cooling area are clear.

A defect that affects safe use should be tagged, isolated or reported under the workplace procedure. Do not continue simply because the tool "has always been like that."

Step-by-Step Demonstration

Instructor-led demonstration: selecting tools and forging a simple taper

Purpose: demonstrate how tool selection, material identification, workholding and quality checks interact during a basic forging operation.

Safety boundary: the instructor controls the forge and authorises each practical step. A learner may only strike or handle hot stock after induction and under the level of supervision required by the workshop. This procedure intentionally does not give fuel-lighting instructions or a stand-alone heat-treatment recipe.

Review the drawing or sample and identify the required taper length, starting section and finished section.
Confirm that the stock is identified, clean, uncoated low-carbon steel approved for the exercise.
Inspect the anvil, hammer and tongs, and test the tong fit on the cold stock before heating.
Establish the hot-metal route from forge to anvil to cooling rack, and confirm that bystanders are outside the working zone.
The instructor heats the working end using the authorised forge procedure to the workshop-specified forging heat.
Transfer the work with suitable tongs and place the heated section on the correct part of the anvil face.
Apply controlled hammer blows to lengthen the end and reduce its cross-section, rotating the work as required to keep the taper symmetrical.
Reheat under instructor control before the material becomes too cool for the intended deformation; do not continue heavy forging on inadequately hot stock.
Straighten and refine the taper with controlled blows, checking alignment against the parent bar.
Place the work in the designated hot-metal area or cooling rack and communicate clearly that it remains hot.
When the instructor confirms the work is safe to handle, measure the taper and inspect for excessive scale, folds, cold shuts, cracking, twist and uneven section.
Record the material, tools used, dimensions achieved, defects observed and one improvement for the next attempt.

The image above shows hot metal being worked on an anvil. Notice the relationship between hammer, workpiece and support surface rather than treating forging as random striking.

Wikimedia Commons source and licence for Blacksmith working.jpg

This CC0 image gives a close view of hammer contact with hot stock and the anvil. In a supervised demonstration, an instructor can use a similar view to discuss blow placement, stock support and scale control.

Wikimedia Commons source and CC0 licence for Blacksmith's hammer on hot metal and anvil

Common Errors and Corrective Thinking

Common error	Why it matters	Better practice
Choosing tongs by appearance rather than fit	The stock can twist, slip or eject.	Test the jaw contact on cold stock and select or adjust the correct tong pattern under supervision.
Striking harder to compensate for poor heat	It increases effort and can produce poor deformation or defects.	Return the work to the authorised heating process and continue only at the correct workshop-specified forging condition.
Continuing with a loose hammer head	The head can move or detach.	Stop, isolate the hammer and repair or replace it through the approved maintenance system.
Using the anvil face as a cutting surface	Cutting can damage the face and cutting edge.	Use the approved cutting support, hardy setup or other designated method.
Treating all dark bar as mild steel	Unknown grades or coatings can change forging behaviour and create health hazards.	Retain material identity and quarantine mystery stock until assessed.
Measuring only at the end	Dimensional drift becomes harder to correct.	Use templates, gauges and staged checks during the process when safe to do so.
Grinding away forging defects without deciding what caused them	The defect may remain structural and the root cause repeats.	Identify whether the issue is a fold, cold shut, crack, scale pit, tool mark or dimensional error before deciding on disposition.
Relying on PPE as the first control	PPE does not remove the hazard.	Apply the control hierarchy and use PPE for residual risk as specified.

Quality Criteria

A vocationally acceptable result is not judged only by whether it "looks forged." For a simple component, quality can include:

Correct material: stock grade, section and surface condition match the job specification.
Dimensional accuracy: length, section, hole position, bend radius or taper meets the drawing or approved sample.
Straightness and alignment: features are true where they are intended to be true and deliberately curved where specified.
Surface quality: no unacceptable cracks, cold shuts, laps, gouges, severe scale pits or uncontrolled tool marks.
Consistent transitions: shoulders, tapers and curves change smoothly unless a sharp transition is specified.
Repeatability: paired or batch components match templates and each other within the agreed tolerance.
Function: tongs grip, hinges move, hooks carry their intended load and decorative assemblies fit correctly.
Finish readiness: scale, burrs, contamination and sharp edges are controlled for the specified finish.
Documentation: material, dimensions, deviations and repair decisions are recorded where the workplace system requires them.

Sustainability and Resource Efficiency

Blacksmithing can be materially efficient when planning is deliberate. Sustainability in a vocational forge includes:

selecting stock close to the required starting section so unnecessary material is not heated or removed;
retaining traceability so useful offcuts of known grade can be reused safely;
separating ferrous, stainless and non-ferrous scrap for appropriate recycling streams;
planning sequences so repeated heating is reduced where quality and safety allow;
maintaining forge insulation, burners, air supply and tooling so energy is not wasted through poor equipment condition;
repairing serviceable hand tools instead of discarding them when repair is safe, authorised and economical;
choosing finishes and cleaning methods with lower health and environmental burden where the product specification permits;
controlling oils, solvents, coatings, abrasive waste and contaminated residues through the workplace waste system;
preserving genuine wrought iron and heritage material where conservation requirements favour repair over replacement;
designing durable components that can be maintained, repaired or disassembled rather than prematurely discarded.

Sustainability never justifies heating unknown scrap, bypassing extraction, reducing required PPE or accepting unsafe defects.

Authentic Workshop Examples

Example: decorative gate scroll

A smith making a gate scroll may begin with identified square mild-steel bar, mark a repeatable length, taper the end, form the scroll around the anvil horn or a jig, and compare the result with a template. Tool choice affects both shape and repeatability. Material identification matters because different grades can respond differently to heat and deformation.

Example: riveted strap hinge

A strap hinge combines bench work and forging. The learner may cut stock to length, deburr it, mark hole centres, punch or drill according to the approved process, forge the strap end, and fit a rivet. The quality test includes alignment, free movement, joint closure and conformity to the drawing.

Example: making a punch

A punch is a tool, not just a shaped piece of steel. The material grade, body size, working-end geometry, struck-end condition and any required heat treatment must be specified. "Mystery steel" is unsuitable where a predictable heat-treated tool is required. Toolmaking therefore combines metallurgy, geometry, heat control and inspection.

This practitioner video includes discussion of tongs and making basic tools. Use it for observation and terminology. Do not copy hazardous actions without your own authorised training, guarding, PPE, extraction and supervision.

Glossary

Term	Practitioner meaning
Anvil	A heavy support tool with defined working surfaces used to forge, bend, punch and shape metal.
Black bar	Common UK workshop term for hot-rolled steel bar carrying mill scale; it does not by itself prove a specific grade.
Cold shut	A defect where metal folds onto itself without properly consolidating, leaving an unbonded seam.
Drift	A tool used to size, shape or align a punched opening.
Drawing out	Lengthening metal while reducing its cross-sectional area.
Fuller	A tool or anvil feature used to create a local reduction or spread material.
Hardy hole	The square socket in an anvil used to locate compatible bottom tools.
Hot cut	A cutting tool intended for hot metal.
Leg vice	A heavy blacksmith's vice with a leg that transfers impact load toward the floor.
Mild steel	Common term for low-carbon steel used for many general forging and fabrication tasks.
Pein	The narrower shaped part of a hammer head used to concentrate force.
Pritchel hole	The round hole in an anvil used as clearance in operations such as punching.
Punch	A tool used to start or create an opening by displacing material.
Scale	Iron oxide that forms on the surface of hot steel exposed to oxygen.
Set hammer	A struck tool used to refine flats, shoulders or defined transitions.
Swage	A forming tool that supports or produces a specified section or surface.
Tongs	Long-handled gripping tools designed to hold and manipulate hot or awkward stock.
Upsetting	Shortening a heated section while increasing its cross-sectional area.

Reflection

Consider these questions before your next supervised workshop session:

Which tool in your current forge is most often used for a job it was not designed to do, and what safer or more accurate alternative exists?
How does material traceability influence both safety and quality when you make a tool rather than a decorative object?
Which stage of the control hierarchy is strongest in your current workshop for hot-metal movement, and which stage could be improved?
What quality defect in forging is easiest to prevent through better tool selection rather than later grinding or filing?
Where could your workshop reduce material or energy waste without increasing risk or reducing product quality?

Interactive Tasks

Quiz: Test Your Knowledge

Which material is commonly suitable for introductory decorative forging when its grade and condition are known? (Low-carbon mild steel) (!Unidentified plated scrap) (!Cast iron drain cover) (!Unknown vehicle spring)

What is the main purpose of blacksmithing tongs? (To hold and control the workpiece) (!To measure bar thickness) (!To harden tool steel) (!To test electrical continuity)

What is the hardy hole on a typical anvil used for? (To locate compatible bottom tools) (!To store cooling water) (!To measure stock diameter) (!To sharpen a file)

What should you do with a hammer that has a loose head? (Stop using it and report or repair it through the approved system) (!Strike more lightly and continue) (!Cool the handle in water) (!Wrap the head with wire and continue)

Why should an unidentified galvanised or painted bar not be heated without assessment? (Heating coatings can create hazardous fumes) (!The bar will always become nonmagnetic) (!The anvil will lose its hardness) (!The hammer handle will become brittle)

Which control is considered before relying on PPE? (Engineering control) (!Decorative finishing) (!Product photography) (!Packaging)

Which tool is normally used to size and shape a punched opening? (Drift) (!Scriber) (!Steel rule) (!Wire brush)

Which statement about cast iron is most appropriate for this module? (It is generally brittle and not a normal substitute for forgeable bar) (!It is the preferred steel for forging chisels) (!It is identical to wrought iron) (!It can always be forged like mild steel)

Which quality feature best describes a well-forged simple taper? (Straight even transition without folds or cracks) (!Maximum scale left on the surface) (!Random changes in cross-section) (!Visible cold shuts along the edge)

What does PUWER require for work equipment used at work? (It must be suitable safe maintained and used by adequately trained people) (!It only needs to be inexpensive) (!It may be used without inspection if it is old) (!It is exempt when owned by the worker)

Memory Game

Hardy hole	Square anvil socket for compatible bottom tools
Pritchel hole	Round anvil opening used as punching clearance
Cross-pein hammer	Hammer with a narrow pein for directional spreading
Leg vice	Heavy vice designed to transmit impact toward the floor
Hot cut	Cutting tool intended for heated stock
Drift	Tool used to size or shape an opening
Scale	Oxide layer formed on heated steel

Drag and Drop

Match the correct terms.	Topic
Lengthens stock while reducing section	Drawing out
Shortens stock while increasing section	Upsetting
Controls hot stock during transfer	Tongs
Checks a right angle	Engineer's square
Shapes a punched opening	Drift

Crossword Puzzle

Anvil	Which heavy support tool has a face and horn for forging?
Tongs	Which long-handled tools grip and control hot stock?
Pritchel	What is the name of the round clearance hole in a typical anvil?
Hardy	What name is given to the square tool socket in a typical anvil?
Fuller	Which tool creates a local reduction and helps spread material?
Refractory	What one-word term describes heat-resistant lining material used in many forges?

LearningApps

Cloze Text

Before hot work begins, the stock should have a known

identity. A suitable pair of

should control the work without forcing your hand into the hot zone. The main flat working surface of an anvil is its

. A square anvil socket for bottom tooling is the

hole. A tool used to size a punched opening is called a

. Under PUWER, work equipment should be suitable, maintained and used by adequately

people. Hazardous dusts and fumes may require controls under

. PPE is used after stronger controls have reduced the

as far as required. A well-forged taper should be checked for dimensions, alignment and surface

. Reusing known-grade offcuts can improve material

without sacrificing traceability.

Open-Ended Tasks

Easy

Forge tool photo audit: Photograph or sketch a supervised workshop tool board without interrupting work, label at least eight tools, and state each tool's main function and one pre-use check.
Material identification card: Create a one-page identification card comparing mild steel, tool steel, wrought iron and cast iron, including one appropriate use and one caution for each.
Anvil annotation: Produce an annotated image or drawing of an anvil showing face, horn, hardy hole, pritchel hole, edge and base, then explain where a simple taper would normally be supported.
Workshop terminology interview: Interview a qualified blacksmith, technician or instructor about five tool names used in their workplace and record any local variations in terminology.

Standard

Tong fit investigation: Under instructor supervision and using only cold stock, compare several tong jaw patterns on round, square and flat bar, photograph or sketch the contact areas, and justify the safest fit for each section.
Measurement and tolerance exercise: Measure a set of cooled sample tapers or bends, compare them with a drawing or template, calculate deviations, and propose process changes that would improve repeatability.
Supervised process video: In a controlled college or workplace session, produce a short narrated video showing the pre-use tool inspection and hot-metal route for a simple instructor-led forging demonstration without giving stand-alone forge-lighting instructions.
Craft workshop visit: Visit a blacksmithing, artistic metalwork or heritage-forge workplace by prior arrangement and produce a structured report on tool layout, material storage, hot-metal control and waste segregation.

Advanced

Tool maintenance plan: Develop a preventive-maintenance schedule for hammers, tongs, struck tools, anvil tooling, vices and measuring equipment, including defect criteria, inspection frequency and escalation routes for expert review.
Material traceability project: Design a practical stock-identification and offcut-reuse system for a small forge that distinguishes low-carbon steel, known tool steels, stainless grades and non-ferrous stock without relying on appearance alone.
Risk-control redesign: Analyse a hypothetical forge layout and redesign the tool positions, hot-metal route, exclusion zones, ventilation strategy and storage so that hazards are reduced through the control hierarchy before PPE is considered.
Sustainable forged product proposal: Design a small artistic or functional forged product for supervised manufacture, justify the stock section and process sequence, estimate material yield, identify likely waste streams, and explain how the product could be maintained or repaired through its service life.

Learning Assessment

Tool choice justification: Given a drawing for a forged hook with a punched eye, select the required support, striking, holding, cutting and measuring tools and justify each choice in relation to quality and risk.
Material decision case study: Compare clean identified mild steel with an unknown painted scrap bar for a training exercise and explain the technical, health, traceability and sustainability reasons for your selection.
Defect diagnosis: Examine photographs or instructor-provided samples showing a cold shut, crack, excessive scale, twisted taper and poor tong mark, then infer the likely process cause and propose a preventive action.
Safety control plan: Build a control hierarchy for a supervised forging task involving heat, impact, noise and scale, and explain why each control is placed before or after PPE.
Quality transfer task: Use the same quality criteria to compare a decorative scroll and a functional tong jaw, identifying which criteria remain constant and which become more important because of function.
Workshop improvement review: Evaluate a real or simulated tool-storage area against PUWER-informed principles of suitability, condition, training and safe use, then prioritise three improvements and justify their order.

Evidence of Learning

Evidence type	What demonstrates achievement
Knowledge	Correct explanation of tool functions, material families, common forging defects, control hierarchy, PUWER principles and material traceability.
Practical planning	A safe tool list, inspected holding method, clear hot-metal route, suitable material choice and sequence for an instructor-led task.
Measurement skill	Accurate dimensional checks with rules, squares, calipers, templates or gauges appropriate to the component.
Quality judgement	Recognition and explanation of cracks, cold shuts, scale damage, misalignment, poor transitions and fit problems.
Product evidence	A supervised training component or cold-worked sample that meets agreed dimensions, finish and functional criteria.
Communication	Clear workshop vocabulary, defect reporting, interview notes, annotated images, process records or presentation evidence.
Safety transfer	Ability to apply the control hierarchy to a new tool, material or workshop layout rather than repeating a memorised PPE list.
Sustainability transfer	A justified plan to reduce offcuts, energy use, unnecessary grinding and hazardous finishing while preserving safety and traceability.

Media and OER Licensing Notes

The course text is intended for open educational reuse under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International unless a platform or page states otherwise. Wikimedia Commons media retain their individual licences:

Anvil, labelled en.svg is available under CC0.
BLACKSMITH TOOLS.jpg is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Blacksmith Hammer.jpg is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Blacksmith working.jpg is licensed CC BY-SA 2.0.
Blacksmith's hammer on hot metal and anvil is available under CC0.

Embedded YouTube videos are included as supplementary learning media and remain subject to their creators' and YouTube's terms. They are not represented here as open-licensed course text and are not substitutes for UK safety guidance or supervised vocational instruction.

OERs on the Topic

Useful open or official resources:

Expert Review Checklist

Before local delivery, an expert reviewer should confirm:

the terminology matches the tools and stock actually used in the learner's workshop;
practical tasks fit local equipment, guarding, extraction and supervision;
PPE examples match the site risk assessment and current product specifications;
local emergency, first-aid, fire, gas-cylinder and hot-metal procedures are correctly taught;
qualification references remain current and are not presented outside their stated jurisdiction;
standards references remain current and the correct performance classes are selected locally;
materials and finishes used in demonstrations have current safety data and process controls;
accessibility needs are considered, including adapted grips, work heights, communication methods and alternative evidence formats;
no learner is asked to carry out hazardous work without appropriate induction, competence and supervision.