The forge or smithy is the workplace of a smith or a blacksmith. Forging is the term for shaping metal by plastic deformation. Cold forging is done at low temperatures, while conventional forging is done at high temperatures, which makes metal easier to shape and less likely to fracture.
A basic smithy contains a forge, sometimes called a hearth for heating the metals, commonly iron or steel to a temperature where the metal becomes malleable, or to a temperature where work hardening ceases to accumulate, an anvil to lay the metal pieces on while hammering, and a slack tub to rapidly cool forged metal pieces in, and provide water to control the fire. Tools include tongs to hold the hot metal, and hammers to strike the hot metal.
Once the final shape has been forged, iron and steel in particular often get some type of heat treatment. This can result in various degrees of hardening or softening depending on the details of the treatment.

Forging

Types of forges
A forge which typically uses bituminous coal, industrial coke or charcoal as the fuel to heat metal. The designs of these forges have varied over time, but whether the fuel is coal, coke or charcoal the basic design has remained the same.
A forge of this type is essentially a hearth or fireplace designed to allow a fire to be controlled such that metal introduced to the fire may be brought to a malleable state or to bring about other metallurgical effects (hardening, annealing, and drawing temper as examples). The forge fire in this type of forge is controlled in three ways: 1) amount of air, 2) volume of fuel, and 3) shape of the fuel/fire.
Over thousands of years of forging, these devices have evolved in one form or another as the essential features of this type of forge:
During operation, fuel is placed in or on the hearth and ignited. A source of moving air, such as a fan or bellows, introduces additional air into the fire through the tuyere. With additional air, the fire consumes more fuel and burns hotter.
A blacksmith balances the fuel and air in the fire to suit particular kinds of work. Often this involves adjusting and maintaining the shape of the fire.
In a typical, but by no means universal, coal forge, a firepot will be centered in a flat hearth. The tuyere will enter the firepot at the bottom. In operation, the hot core of the fire will be a ball of burning coke in and above the firepot. The heart of the fire will be surrounded by a layer of hot but not burning coke. Around the unburnt coke will be a transitional layer of coal being transformed into coke by the heat of the fire. Surrounding all is a ring or horseshoe-shaped layer of raw coal, usually kept damp and tightly packed to maintain the shape of the fire's heart and to keep the coal from burning directly so that it "cooks" into coke first.
If a larger fire is necessary, the smith increases the air flowing into the fire as well as feed and deepen the coke heart. The smith can also adjust the length and width of the fire in such a forge to accommodate different shapes of work.
The major variation from the forge and fire just described is a 'back draft' where there is no fire pot, and the tuyere enters the hearth horizontally from the back wall.
Coke and charcoal may be burned in the same forges that use coal, but since there is no need to convert the raw fuel at the heart of the fire (as with coal), the fire is handled differently.
Individual smiths and specialized applications have fostered development of a variety of forges of this type, from the coal forge described above, to simpler constructions amounting to a hole in the ground with a pipe leading into it.

Tuyere -- a pipe through which air can be forced into the fire
Bellows or blower -- a means for forcing air into the tuyere
Firepot or hearth -- a place where the burning fuel can be contained over or against the tuyere opening. Coal/coke/charcoal forge
A forge typically uses propane or natural gas as the fuel. One common, efficient design uses a cylindrical forge chamber and a burner tube mounted at a right angle to the body. The chamber is typically lined with refractory materials, preferably a hard castable refractory ceramic. The burner mixes fuel and air which are ignited at the tip, which protrudes a short way into the chamber lining. The air pressure, and therefore heat, can be increased with a mechanical blower or by taking advantage of the Venturi effect.
Gas forges vary in size and construction, from large forges using a big burner with a blower or several atmospheric burners to forges built out of a coffee can utilizing a cheap, simple propane torch. A small forge can even be carved out of a single soft firebrick.
The primary advantage of a gas forge is ease of use, particularly for a novice. A gas forge is simple to operate compared to coal forges, and the fire produced is clean and consistent. They are less versatile, as the fire cannot be reshaped to accommodate large or unusually shaped pieces;. It is also difficult to heat a small section of a piece. A common misconception is that gas forges cannot produce enough heat to enable forge-welding, but a well designed gas forge is hot enough for any task.

Gas forge
The workpiece, say a wrench, is created by hammering a piece of hot metal into an appropriately shaped die. The metal (in an easily produced shape like a rod or brick) is heated and placed on the bottom part of a die. The top part of the die then drops onto the piece, which gives the forge its name. The die may drop under gravity or be powered, but in all cases drop forging involves impact. The force of the impact causes the heated metal to flow into the shape of the die, with some metal squirting out of the thin seams between the dies. This thin metal is called "flash" and is cut away in the next stage of processing. The drop-forged pieces usually need further processing, like machining and polishing of working surfaces, to provide tighter tolerances than forging alone can provide, and to produce a good finish.

Drop forge
In hydraulic press forging the work piece is pressed between the two die halves with gradually increasing force, over a period of a few seconds. The quality of the pieces is better than drop forging as there is more control over metal flow, but takes longer and requires more energy. It also makes the same shape continuously.

Hydraulic press forge
Forging is the hammering or forming of hot or cold metal into a certain shape. When the hammering and forming is done by hand it is called hand forging and when it is done by machine it is called drop forging. The forging process starts after having brought the steel to the correct workable temperature between 900°C and 1100°. It allows us, through a process of reduction (for crushing), to get the most various shapes.

Hot forging
A finery forge was a water-powered mill, where pig iron was refined to produce bar iron.

Forging Equipment
The anvil serves as a work bench to the blacksmith, where the metal to be beaten is placed. An anvil body is made of mild steel, with a top face of high carbon steel approximately 20mm thick welded on it. The flat top has two holes; the wider is called the hardy hole, where the square shank of the hardy fits. The smaller hole is called the punch hole, used as clearance when punching holes in hot metal.

Anvil
Chisels are made of high carbon steel whose cross-section is an octagon. They are hardened and tempered at the cutting edge while the head is left soft so it will not crack when hammered. Chisels are of two types, the hot and cold chisels. The cold chisel is used for cutting cold metals while the hot chisel is for hot metals. Usually the hot chisels are thinner and therefore can not be substituted with the cold chisel.

Chisel
Tongs are used by the blacksmith for holding hot metals securely. The mouths are made in various shapes to suit the gripping of various shapes of metal.

Tongs
Fullers are forming tools of different shapes used in making grooves or hollows. They are often used in pairs, the bottom fuller has a square shank which fits into the hardy hole in the anvil while the top fuller has a handle. The work is placed on the bottom fuller and the top is placed on the work and struck with a hammer. The top fuller is also used for finishing round corners and for stretching or spreading metal.

Hardy

Solar forge