THE BEST Forging

Leaf springs from cars and trucks might not offer the best ride quality, but they make some pretty awesome weapons when recycled by a skilled bladesmith. Faraway Forge crafted a beautiful Japanese tanto-style knife from one such rusty piece of metal. We love how he kept the pitted texture as part of the finished piece.

Inspired by The Seven Deadly Sins manga and Netflix show, Matt and Ilya of That Works created a real-world replica of King’s imposing Spirit Spear Chastiefol. If you love blacksmithing videos, this one is well worth a watch, as it’s packed with satisfying footage of power hammering, punching, grinding, and brazing.

Making the woven metal armor known as chainmail (or “chainmaille”) is a time-consuming, laborious process. So imagine what it must be like to create a suit of chainmail armor for a giant. Blacksmith Timothy Dyck painstakingly forged 250 circles then riveted them together to make a scaled-up version fit for Paul Bunyan.

When he’s not making glowing katanas, Keaton Goddard of Faraway Forge likes to create new tools and weapons by recycling stuff from the junkyard. Watch as he makes a beautiful rapier from a rusty old leaf spring, with a hilt crafted from bent bicycle sprockets, oak, and a trailer towing ball.

Russian YouTube channel Creative Forging shows off a neat technique for creating an awesome dragon scale patterned handle from a solid bar of steel. The trick involves making a series of 45º cuts into the metal, then heating it in a furnace and twisting it while still pliable.

The beautiful patterns of damascus steel make for some of our favorite tools and knives, and the thicker the tool, the more dramatic the look. In this clip from metalsmith Hassan “Habu” Abu-Izmero, watch as he welds together, forges, and twists multiple layers of steel to create a truly special pair of pliers.

Footage from Shandong Iraeta’s factory where they manufacture steel grinding balls. Watch as tubes of metal are heated, then forged into molten orbs which roll down an assembly line before landing in a cooling vat. The music makes it just that much more dramatic.

To celebrate his 1 millionth YouTube subscriber, metalsmith Alec Steele went out and spent over $4500 on a 100 gram solid gold bar. He then set about the task of seeing if he could apply his forging skills to the notoriously soft metal. We wonder how many dollars he left on his anvil.

Blacksmith Alec Steele and students training at his workshop provide a condensed look at how layers of molten steel are repeatedly smashed together, first by machine, then by hand to create a pair of stunning damascus hammers.