Basic Forging: Drawing Out

Forging hot iron is the core of blacksmithing. When iron is hot, it becomes soft and malleable, like a piece of clay.

One of the first techniques most blacksmiths learn is “drawing out.” Drawing out means to lengthen a piece of steel by heating it in a forge and hammer it on the anvil.

Here are some pictures and a video of me drawing out a piece of ½” square mild steel.

This is the 1/2" bar stock:


Once it's hot, the steel is hammered at an angle to draw it out:


For this example, I kept the square shape and drew it out to a point:


Here's the video: