Woodworkers are often amazed that metal can be manipulated by simple handmethods. Mysterious! As with wood, it’s just matter of knowing what you are doing . . . and messing up a bunch of material as you learn. All the basics are here, with drawings (that also look hand-forged) helping things along. The emphasis in on making traditional hardware such as hinges and even muzzle-loading weapons. My experience has shown that you’ll need instruction too; books can only take you so far with this sort of thing.