I had a lot of help making my first pair of tongs at a recent Hammer In (a blacksmith gathering). Simple rebar shaping and a rivet, we had these ready to go in 30 minutes. I used them to make my first knife, also shown.

I love Adam Savage's apron design but it isn't for hot work. So I bought his pattern and made one that is. I hand-stitched everything and continue to customize it as I need.

My finished slot punch from ABANA level 1. Yeah that's a burn under that bandaid. Wear you some gloves when you hot rasp.

One suggestion I have is to keep some first aid tape on hand (😅). Swinging a hammer for hours hurts my sit-down day-job-soft hands and tape keeps the blisters away.

Check around your area, you may have a metal recycler/scrap yard nearby where you can get practice steel at a fraction of new steel price. Take a bucket and wear you some gloves. Also check car dealerships and mechanics for coil springs, the steel makes great tools!

Check out flea markets and yard sales for interesting tools. I believe this is an upholstery hammer but it'll make a great chasing hammer, too!

I had yet to clean up and heat treat this chisel when I took this picture. One of the things I love about blacksmithing is the idea that I can make my own tools.

Same as the chisel, I was so excited when I was close to being done I had to take pictures. This is my first tool, a punch. The front was later trimmed to about 1/4 inch for punching holes.

These are the first things I made: learning to square, make octagons, rounding, diamond tapers, and S-hooks.