What if you didn’t need a five-hundred-pound anvil, a coal forge, and a truckload of equipment to start making tools? What if you could begin today, with a hammer, a block of wood, and a pocket full of nickels?
Master toolmaker and educator Hank Gevedon has spent decades watching people talk about becoming blacksmiths and knifemakers — and never pick up a hammer. This book is the antidote. Written as if Gevedon himself is standing at your shoulder, Bare Bones Toolmakers Apprentices guides you through fifty hands-on projects that build real skills from the ground up: cold-forging a nickel into an arrowhead, making knives and needles from common nails, crafting a working lamp from a tuna can, and dozens more.
Featuring Gevedon’s real-life young apprentices, Bennett and Calum Kline, the book captures the honest, unvarnished experience of learning these crafts for the first time — mistakes, sore fingers, and all. Whether you’re a curious beginner, a backyard tinkerer, or a seasoned craftsperson looking to sharpen your foundational skills, this volume lays the groundwork for a lifetime of making.
Stop reading about it. Stop watching videos. Shut up and pick up a hammer.
