Why Start With an S-Hook?

Every blacksmith remembers their first real project. The S-hook earns its place as the classic beginner's project for good reason: it teaches tapering, bending, and scroll work — three fundamental techniques — in a project that takes less than an hour and produces something genuinely useful. You can hang it in your kitchen, on a tool wall, or give it away as a gift. It proves the concept that you can make real things from raw steel.

What You'll Need

  • Stock: One 8-inch piece of 3/8" square mild steel (1018 or similar)
  • Forge (propane or coal)
  • Anvil
  • Cross-peen or rounding hammer (2–3 lb recommended)
  • Flat-jaw tongs sized for 3/8" square stock
  • Scroll fork or bick (horn of anvil)
  • Wire brush

Step 1: Taper Both Ends

Heat one end of your bar to a bright orange — roughly 2 inches from the tip. Place it on the anvil face and draw out a taper using overlapping hammer blows, rotating 90° every few passes to keep the taper square and even. Aim for a taper about 1.5–2 inches long ending in a rounded point.

Reheat as needed — never hammer below an orange heat. Once happy with the first taper, flip the bar and repeat on the other end. Both tapers should be roughly the same length and profile.

Step 2: Refine and Clean Up

After tapering both ends, take a finishing heat on each taper and lightly dress them with the flat face of your hammer to clean up any hammer marks or irregularities. A smooth taper will show in the finished hook's look. Use your wire brush on the hot steel between heats to knock off scale.

Step 3: Bend the First Hook

Heat the first tapered end to a good working heat. Bring it to the horn of your anvil and begin bending the taper over the horn, working from just behind the taper toward the tip. You're forming a tight curl — think of the letter "J".

Check your progress frequently. The goal is a smooth, circular scroll — not a sharp angular bend. Use the horn's taper to tighten or open the curl by moving the work along the horn's profile. You want the tip of the curl to point back toward the center of the bar.

Step 4: Bend the Second Hook (Opposite Direction)

Reheat the other tapered end. This time, you'll form the curl in the opposite direction to create the S-shape. Work the same way over the horn, but flip your orientation so the curl opens the other way.

The middle of the bar should remain relatively straight — this is the "waist" of your S-hook. Some smiths add a slight twist in the middle for visual interest once both hooks are formed.

Step 5: Adjust and True Up

Take a final heat on each hook and make any adjustments. Check that:

  • Both curls are even and symmetrical when viewed from the side
  • The hook openings are wide enough to catch on a nail, rail, or chain
  • The whole hook hangs plumb when suspended (adjust the middle section if needed)

Finishing Options

Let the hook air cool. You can leave it with the natural black forge scale for a traditional look, or wire wheel it clean and apply beeswax while still warm for a subtle finish that prevents rust. A coat of boiled linseed oil also works well and darkens the steel attractively.

Make a dozen of these. Seriously. Repetition on the S-hook will build your hammer control, eye for symmetry, and intuition for metal movement faster than almost any other practice you can do at the forge.