Pieh Tool

This is a expanded and improved version of the "Brass Founding" (out of print now) booklet we offered. Many of the same illustrations are repeated here, but much new information and many new illustrations are provided. In part 1 you get details on metals and molding, copper-zinc alloys, copper-tin alloys, aluminum alloys nickel alloys, bearing metals (babbitt), brass molding practice, materials for brass molds, molds for brass castings, cleaning non-ferrous castings, polishing and plating, economics of brass foundry, remelting and reclaiming practice and more. Part 2 will show you crucible furnaces, open-flame furnaces, electric-arc furnaces, melting practice, brass-foundry crucibles and ladles, and more. You get not only the practical how-to of handling brass, but the details on the furnaces and their design could very well help you in developing a furnace for your own use. This was part of a correspondence course training men to get a job in heavy industry during the great depression. You get industrial details here that just don't pop up anywhere else. You'll be told about oxidizing and reducing atmospheres, melting losses, fluxes and more. You will get a solid introduction into non-ferrous casting, mostly brass. Worth having. Great illustrations. A lot of book for the money.

Hurst

This magnificent and beautiful work includes an extensive and illuminating text paired with an exceptional collection of color photographs and line drawings of the processes involved in forming metal sculpture, as well as contemporary and historic examples.

Two techniques used to form sculpture castings in metal are described: the lost wax (cire perdu) method, and the modern variant of sand casting.

In this book you will find little that is really new or innovative. Instead, you’ll discover a furnace that uses design principles proven through years of use, but now almost forgotten. Common materials are used throughout and no special skills are required. Costs can also be so low as to be considered negligible. Working evenings, you can advance the state-of-the-art of you shop by leaps and bounds, and significantly increase your enjoyment of melting and casting metal.

Potter

How to design and build a digital temperature controller for any gas-fired blacksmith forge.   A synopsis of efficient operation for the blacksmith gas forge in a concise, detailed, easy to understand book. Bring your blacksmith shop into the 21st century. Add a simple inexpensive digital temerature controller to your gas forge. Save gas! Work bronze without fear. Gain control over your forge. With higher gas prices, going green by just being able to set your termperature makes this book invaluable!

Mr. Potter is a professional blacksmith working in Sonoma County California. His work is found in houses and businesses in 27 states.

Cain

Cain gives explanations on the composition of steel, its additives, and the effects of different temperatures on its constituents. You will understand what changes occur in the metal and the care that is needed in following the practical processes, which will lead to better and more consistent results. Flame, salt bath and furnace heating are detailed, with information on accurate measurement or recognition of temperature levels.

Woodworth

The secrets of tempering and hardening of steel were once closely guarded secrets on which the security of nations rested. Today, that information can be readily obtained by consulting this comprehensive and extremely affordable volume. Covering every aspect of its complex subject in great detail, this work covers the chemical processes of hardening, addresses the metallurgical properties of iron and steel and is filled with superb period engravings to complement the text. Whether you are a dedicated blacksmith or an interested layman, Woodworth's book will prove an interesting and frequently consulted reference. Reprinted from the 1907 original by Joseph Woodworth.

Bryson

Written in clear, non-technical language, this is an ideal reference for blacksmiths, tool makers, heat treaters, and engineers. It provides practical information about machinability, shock resistance, and wear, and it offers step-by-step "recipes" for properly heating a wide range of tool steels. This book will explain how to lengthen tool life, eliminate dangerous practices, avoid metal failure, and eliminate costly mistakes. In addition, it includes properties, attributes, qualities, and shortcomings of popular tool steels.

Gingery

Prior to 1940 just about every machine built used Babbitt bearings, and every mechanic was familiar with them. Today things are quite different. Many people get a great deal of satisfaction from restoring old tools, machinery and automobiles that are destined for the scrap yard. A lot of old, heavily built machinery is still available at scrap prices. Often all that is required to put one of these machines back in working order is cleaning and painting individual parts and re-pouring the Babbitt bearings. This booklet contains the basic information you need to melt and pour, in other words, restore Babbitt bearings. You look over Vince's shoulder as he restores a sawmill arbor to like-new condition. Babbitt is excellent bearing  material, and with it you can quickly and easily make low-cost custom bearings for those off-the-wall machine tools you plan to build.

Cannon

Learn to cast any parts made of rubber or metal-- hood ornaments, kitchen utensils, automotive parts, etc. Choose the right metal for the job, learn to design and make molds, cast in sand, and how to repair castings. Includes instructions on core making, repairing defects in castings, finishing, grinding, polishing, buffing and more.

Gingery

Li’l Bertha describes the construction of an electric furnace to replace the charcoal unit. Although designed with the founder mind, the general design details can be adapted to a wide range of furnace needs from creating ceramics to heat-treating to calcining of investment molds and more.

Feinberg

Outlines the basic techniques of lost-wax casting and describes the equipment needed to carry out the process successfully. Explains how the equipment can be made, using local labor and natural resources readily available in developing countries. Published by Intermediate Technology Development Group Publishing.

Hurst

A great reference for the small foundry. Extremely detailed information, formulas, and diagrams regarding all aspects of melting iron. It has 11 chapters covering all phases of construction, types, maintenance, charging, firing and melting of iron in the cupola furnace.

Ammen

This detailed and "interesting" book describes, in simple terms, every type of metal casting technique imaginable. There are plenty of clear diagrams explaining everything from how a cupola furnace works to pouring clean ingots. Packed with step-by-step guidelines for getting started and working effectively and efficiently in this time-honored craft. You get hands-on advice and cost-cutting tips, plus sound ideas for safety and productivity.

This guide shows you how to use metal crafting tools and processes, casting and mold making, molding sands, molding equipment, metal melting, handling, and pouring devices, alloys and more. Patination of cast metals, working with chemically bonded molds, the newest molding, casting, and pattern-making techniques are just a few of what is taught.

This is a great book to own if you want to learn the basics of metalworking.  Illustrations and detailed instructions for 55 projects: coasters, candlesticks, water pitchers, platters, silent butler, reading lamp, many more. Work with pewter, copper, silver, brass, and aluminum. Information on tools and processes, and over 60 other plates. 

Young and Fennell

This book covers methods of making many types of sculptures such as mold making and ceramic shell casting.  Includes an eleven-page glossary of terms and charts.  Over 90 illustrations and charts.

McCreight

This popular volume features detailed illustrations, a complete listing of sources and a compact, no-nonsense style that will let you spend your time working rather than looking for information. 

Shows small scale casting techniques, from cuttlefish to contemporary lost wax casting. It has become the established textbook on the subject in universities and craft programs around the world. A valuable resource for jewelers, modelmakers and sculptors. Its page-at-a-glance format and convenient spiral binding have earned it high praise as a practical studio tool. Now in a new, lay-flat, hardcover binding.

Brack

This book explores ancient and early modern steel and toolmaking strategies and techniques, including those of early Iron Age, Roman, medieval, and Renaissance metallurgists and toolmakers. Also reviewed are the technological innovations of the Industrial Revolution, the contributions of the English industrial revolutionaries to the evolution of the factory system of mass production with interchangeable parts, and the development of bulk steelmaking processes and alloy steel technologies in the latter half of the 19th century. It includes an extensive bibliography of resources pertaining to steel-and toolmaking techniques from the early Bronze Age to the beginning of bulk-processed steel production after 1870.