Metalworking

How To: Use an anvil in blacksmithing

When getting started with metal work and blacksmithing, you may be confused as to what you can do with an anvil. In this video you will learn every aspect about the anvil and how to actually use each section of the anvil for cutting, shaping and more!

How To: Tailor your chain mail armor for the best fit

Tailoring isn't just for fabric! To have the best chainmail shirt, that doesn't pull or hang too losely, you'll want to tailor it. Tailor your shirt around curves by slightly altering the pattern of your weave, and this video demonstrates how.

How To: Make your own chainmail cube

This two part video will show you how to make the Japanese 8 in 2 patter, an important part of making a chainmail cube.

How To: Weave a suit of dragonscale style chain mail

No, it doesn't use actual dragonscales. This technique actually uses two different sizes of rings with the proper aspect ratio (at least three of the larger rings have to fit through the smaller ones). If you have enough rings, then just follow along to master this challenging technique.

How To: Weave a suit of elven chain mail

This tutorial shows you how to make an elven style of chainmail. This is an intricate style of chainmail that is nevertheless very sturdy and gives good coverage. Good for anyone looking to make their own armor for Renaissance Faires, larps, the SCA or other historial costuming events.

How To: Make a tin frame out of soda cans

How to Make a Tin Frame with Soda Cans You don't have to throw out your old soda cans anymore. Laura and Claiborne show how to recycle old cans into a craft project that creates a frame. You will need a wooden frame, soda cans, 5/8 of an inch nails, tin snipers, and a glue gun. While cutting the cans, make sure to be careful to avoid cutting your hands. Smaller square scissors tend to be more effective at cutting the cans. When cutting, try to cut the can in a rectangular shape. Try to avoid ...

How To: Run a bead in beginning MIG welding

Curious about the basics of metal inert gas welding? Watch this instructional welding video for some vital safety tips. A shielding gas tank contains 3,000 psi of pressure, so keep your welding equipment safe distance from your high pressure tanks. To run a bead, you need to set your wire feed speed and your voltage in order to begin welding with an average angle iron. This video provides all of the preliminary steps to running a short bead.

How To: Make the classic Roman lorica segmentata armor

Make an authentic piece of Roman armor! You will need quite a lot of metalworking tools, including hammers, drills and rivets. But if you have access to a workshop and the raw materials, you can make a replica of classic Roman armor, the lorica segmentata.

How To: Weave a suit of medieval scale mail

Scale mail is slightly superior to chain mail, since it has a greater ability to deflect blows. But it is a little trickier to make than chain mail - but not by much! This tutorial shows you how to make an excellent suit of scale mail.

How To: Make Chain Mail Armor from Start to Finish

This article is a guide for making Chainmail Armor from start (simple wire) to finish (a finished chainmail shirt). We will be using the European 4 in 1 weave, as this is the most common weave. This is the weave that you usually see in movies. There are several sections to this guide: Materials, Making the Rings, Weaving the Rings, and Making the shirt.

How To: Wire a candle holder into a lamp

Have a candle holder that would make a great lamp base? You can wire that candle holder and turn it into a working lamp for your living room's newest decorative piece. This video takes you through the process of how to do so... However, with no narration, this how-to tutorial falls a tad short of being helpful. Wire a candle holder into a lamp.

How To: Make an aluminum flower bouquet out of soda cans

Watch and learn with the GOMI crew. This instructional arts and crafts video shows you how to turn your empty cans into cool, beautiful flower bouquets. Recycle cans and make a fun flower design for your bedroom, dorm room or front porch. Place the aluminum flowers in a recycled glass bottle to use as a vase for your beautiful bouquet.

How To: Blacksmith steel leaves

Watch this instructional blacksmithing video to forge different types of steel leaves. You can use these techniques to forge fence posts and other decorative metal designs. Forge steel leaves by hand or with an air hammer. Follow these clear instructions to begin the craft of metalsmithing and add a creative flare to your blacksmithing projects.

How To: Make chainmail quickly

Like A Flint demonstrates how to quickly make chainmail. First, find heavy gauge wire at a construction site or a craft store. Then, wrap the wire around a dowel or a tube until it forms a coiled spring. Remove the coiled spring from the tube and clip the spring into rings with a pair of wire cutters. Using two pairs of pliers, open up the ring and thread four rings inside of it. Close up the ring. Keep adding rings on top of rings until you achieve a chainmail like design. The process of mak...

How To: Forge texture on steel for blacksmithing

Watch this instructional blacksmithing video to use hammering and punch techniques to create different textures on the hot steel. You can use these techniques to forge textured metal gates and smaller decorative metal designs. Forge steel texture by hand or with an air hammer. Follow these clear instructions to begin the craft of metalsmithing and add a creative flare to your blacksmithing projects.

How To: Create a blacksmith forge in your backyard easily

Have a passion for metal working and metalsmithing? Want to get into the art without having to go to an expensive shop to set up a forge? Well this video has all the tips and tricks you will need! In it, you will learn what parts you will need and what steps you will need to take to create your own backyard forge easily!

News: Artist Burns Chairs into Decorative, Fragile Steel Ring Seats with Fire

For his thesis at Design Academy Eindhoven, artist/designer Tuomas Markunpoika Tolvanen created this incredible chair using tubular steel cut into thin rings. How did he get them to stay that way? He burned them. His project is called Engineering Temporality, and the inspiration came from his grandmother whose Alzheimer's disease is deteriorating her health and memories. Once he cut the rings, he laid them over an existing chair, only partially covering it. The fire acted as a varnish, creati...

How To: Make a cool recycled license plate mail box

Laura and Charles are a thrifty couple to have around in this time of recession. Using old license plates, some rivets and lots of love, they will teach you how to make a license plate mailbox. A simple and easy craft project that could be fun for the whole family, imagine the look on the mailman's face when he sees your new creation sitting in the front of your house. Your mailbox will be the talk of the neighborhood and who knows you just might start a trend! A friendly video with simple in...

How To: Draw out metal in blacksmithing

When getting into blacksmithing, learning proper hammer strikes and heat levels for your metal and forge are good to know, but one of the most important techniques to know when hammering your metal is "Drawing Out", which is a method that you use to make your metal thinner and longer or thinner and flatter. In this video you will get a full tutorial on how to implement this basic, yet important, technique.

How To: Attach a chain sleeve to a chainmail shirt

It can sometimes be confusing for new armorsmiths to figure out the best way to attach a sleeve to a chainmail vest. However, the technique is actually quite easy, and this tutorial demonstrates how you can add a sleeve to a four in one style chainmail shirt.

How To: Frame things cheaply by soldering picture frames

This video will teach you how to frame anything two-dimensional using inexpensive materials and a soldering iron. The technique used is called tinning, using beveled glass, copper foil, solder, and flux. Tinning is great for framing dried flowers and leaves and only takes about ten minutes to finish your professional looking frame.

How To: Forge blacksmith tools for working on an anvil

Watch this instructional blacksmithing video to make hold down tools on an anvil for securing work. Forge a mushroom cap hold down, a bicycle chain hold down, and a spring hold down. Follow these clear instructions to begin the craft of metalsmithing and forge some useful tools.

How To: Mimic the look of antique brass

You can easily copy the aged look on old brass jewelry and hardware. Brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, oxides naturally. But you can encourage the process to go faster by using vinegar and salt water, or a rag soaked in ammonia. Use these techniques to mimic an antique patina.

How To: Make a chain mail suit or shirt

For all your jousting and costume needs, finally, an instructional video guide to building a chain mail suit of armor. While periodically inaccurate for Renaissance Fairs, Medieval Times employees or reenactment actors might be curious to either learn how to make the suit or at least witness the process. Chain mail was used as a protective armor in Medieval times, and was nearly impervious to arms of the period, but new advances in weaponry caused it to become obsolete. Chain mail is essentia...

How To: Forge a medieval arrowhead, or long bodkin

Watch this video demonstration on how to forge a medieval arrowhead, or long bodkin, by Paul Selby at an English Heritage Living History event at Kenilworth Castle. This type of arrow head was commonly used during the War of the Roses. This arrow is a professional craft, but a blacksmith in training can also learn how to forge arrows like this. These long thin arrow tips are designed for penetrating chain mail.

How To: Craft a "Harry Potter" style wand that lights up

With the first installment of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" out, don't be surprised if you find yourself more than ever wanting to whip out a twelve inch phoenix feather wand and wrist twirl your way to defeating your own personal Voldemort. While this video won't teach you how to do magic (so sad), it will teach you how to craft a very cool-looking "Harry Potter" wand that can do the "lumos" spell.

How To: Use a hardy tool and how to curve and form metal on an anvil

If you're looking to create curves and various shapes with metal, one way of doing it is using a hardy tool with your anvil. In this video you will learn what exactly a hardy tool is and also how to create your own curved S shapes out of metal.

How To: Weave Byzantine chainmail

This metalsmithing video segment shows how to speed weave Byzantine chainmail.The Byzantine chain is a popular metal weave pattern for supple and flexible necklaces, bracelets, and other pieces of jewelry. This video assumes you know how to construct 2x2 chainmail units.

How To: Blacksmith decorative steel scrolls

Watch this instructional blacksmithing video to forge three different types of steel scrolls. You can use these techniques to forge fence posts and other decorative metal designs. Follow these clear instructions to begin the craft of metalsmithing and add a creative flare to your blacksmithing projects.

News: Make DIY Earphones Out of Bullet Shells

It's 2017—new year, same us. We vow to keep scouring the net for the best how-tos and feature the makers and doers who create mind-blowing projects.

How To: Join the front and back pieces when building a chain mail shirt

If you're halfway through making a chainmail shirt, and confused on how you can join the front and back pieces together (or any two large pieces of chainmail), this tutorial gives you a few hints on how you can seamlessly bring two pieces together.

How To: Make chainmail jewelry using the Byzantine chain pattern

The Byzantine pattern is a variation on the box chain pattern, it just has two extra links per unit. This tutorial shows you how you can make a string of chainmail using this beautiful pattern, that you can eventually turn into jewelry.

How To: Chainmail a 4 in 1 European pattern

It's as easy as 2,3,4,5,6,7...what happened to step 1? This is Chthonic chainmail at its finest. This instructional metalsmithing video will help you in making your very own chain mail vest using a four in one European chainmail pattern. After going through the basic process of chainmailing a four in one pattern, you can troubleshoot to see how you can improve your metal working process.

How To: Blacksmith a steel rose

Watch this instructional blacksmithing video to forge and sculpt a steel rose. This blacksmith demonstrates the techniques involved in making an ornamental metal rose as well as other organic shapes. Follow these clear instructions to begin the craft of metalsmithing and forge a decorative flower.

How To: Forge blacksmithing tongs

Watch this instructional blacksmithing video to forge a pair of tongs for a small blacksmithing workshop. You can use this technique to make other tools for metalworking. Follow these clear instructions to begin the craft of metalsmithing and forge a useful tool.

How To: Weld figurines

Watch this instructional metalsmithing video to weld a set of figurines out of sheet metal, nails, and a coat hanger. Oxy-acetylene welding is the only gas flame type of welding that is hot enough to melt all commercial metals. Use 22 gauge sheet metal to make clean and safe metalwork. Use a plasma cutter to quickly cut out the basic pieces. You can also use a blacksmithing hammer to bend the metal into unique props fpr your metal figurines.

How To: MIG weld two pieces of sheet metal together

This Mig Welding Video Demo shows how simple and easy it is to use a MIG welding machine. Mig Welding Machines are use throughout the world. They are the suited for many welding applications. This video demonstration demonstrates Mig welding by welding two pieces of sheet metal together. Watch this video welding tutorial and learn how to fuse two pieces of sheet metal together with a Mig welder.

How To: Coil wire to create links for weaving chainmail

If you don't want to buy your links pre-made, you can coil your own links. You'll need wire (sixteen gauge is the most common), metal dowel rods in the diameter you want, variable speed drills, wire cutters and at least two pair of pliers.

How To: Use basic hammer strikes in blacksmithing

Blacksmithing is an ancient art of metalsmithing that has never gone away and is still done today! Knowing about heat and what sort of metals to use is good, but if you are just whacking at the metal wildly without any sort of form, you're doing it wrong. In this video you will learn the eight basic hammer strikes in blacksmithing that you will need to know to do any sort of blacksmithing.

How To: Use machine shop tools to build prototypes with MIT

This ten-part series on machining skills for prototype development comes straight from MIT & Erik Vaaler. It's one of the most extensive video tutorials available on the web for machining. MIT's artificial intelligence laboratory's primary work is done for their robotics group. And most of their equipment is unavailable to the public because they're machines that MIT have built directly in their machine shop, or items that came into the shop needing repair. But if you can get your hands on so...