Smithing Guide
Smelting
The first half of the smithing skill is smelting, which is the process of converting your ores into metal bars so that they are ready to be hammered into objects. To smelt an ore, you must 'use' it with a furnace (See image in box). Simply click on the primary ore in your inventory, and then click on the furnace. You will see your character smelting them in the furnace, and as a result, a metal bar will be deposited in your inventory.
| Al-Kharid |
The closest furnace to a bank in the free world. Very convenient. |
| Falador |
Convenient to use if you have just been mining in the Dwarven Mine. Relatively close to a bank and available to free players. |
| Lumbridge |
Formerly one of the least-used furnaces, the closest F2P bank is now on the top floor of Lumbridge castle. The level one "Home" teleport to the castle speeds banking (30 minutes to recharge spell). Members who've completed the first part of the Recipe for Disaster quest may also use the castle basement bank chest. |
| Wilderness |
Eastern Ruins at level 28 wilderness, see world map(s) for exact location. Can be used to smelt ores while mining in the nearby Hobgoblin mine. |
| East Ardougne |
Members only. Close to a bank and convenient. |
| Enakhra's Temple |
Members only. An odd location, but accessible via Enakhra's Lament quest. Teleport there using a charged Camulet after the quest. Teleport banking would avoid the desert effect, but ... nobody uses this furnace. |
| Entrana |
Members only. Mostly used by players crafting glass. Bank via ship back to Draynor or transfer ship to Pest Control island. |
| Keldagrim |
Members only. The Blast Furnace mini game requires only half the usual amount of coal for steel, mithril, adamant and rune smelting, and smelts iron with 100% success. The full amount of experience is still earned. Players under 60 Smithing must pay a fee to use it. Inconvenient to bank, but two shops are available. See the Blast Furnace mini game guide for details. |
| Lost City |
Members only. Lost City quest required. A bit far from the bank and not heavily used. |
| Neitiznot |
Members only. One of the most convenient bank-furnace citys in game. Must complete Fremennik Trials quest to use. One-click bank just next door. |
| Piscatoris |
Members only. Swan Song quest required. Conveniently located between bank and mining rocks outside gate; also offers an iron plate press. |
| Port Phasmatys |
Members only. One of the most convenient bank-furnace citys in game; wearing Ghostspeak amulet speeds banking but is not required (just right-click to quick bank). Ghosts Ahoy quest is helpful (for obtaining Ectophial transport), but not required. Costs 2 ecto-tokens to enter the city before completing the quest. |
| Rellekka |
Members only. Must complete Fremennik Trials quest to use. Bank via ship to other islands such as Miscellania/Etceteria or Neitiznot/Jatizso. |
| Shilo Village |
Members only. Must have completed the Shilo Village quest and pay 20gp to use it every time. However, it is one of the closest furnaces to a bank. |
| Tyras Camp |
Members only. Must do part of Regicide quest to reach this remote location. Probably the least used furnace ever. |
| TzHaar |
Members only. Located under Karamja volcano. Bank just north of the furnace. Gold and silver rocks near bank and outside entrance. |
If you have numerous ores to smelt, you can save clicking by using the "Smelt X" feature. Instead of clicking on the ore in your inventory, click on the furnace for the "smelt furnace" option. (Or pick "smelt furnace" from the right-click option list.) After you click on the furnace, you will have a list of bars from which to choose. Clicking one of these bars smelts 1 bar (if you have the necessary ores). Right click on any bar image to select how many bars you wish to smelt.
All ores except iron, silver, gold, and blurite must be smelted with a secondary ore to produce a metal bar. Tin and copper are used together to make bronze. The making of steel, mithril, adamant, rune, and elemental bars requires the addition of coal.
If you have the proper ingredients and are not smelting iron, you will have a 100% chance of getting a bar from your effort. The ONLY exception is when you are smelting iron ores. These have a 50% chance of conversion, as they are considered to have a chance of being impure. However, using the Superheat spell, wearing a Ring of forging (members) or using the Blast Furnace offers 100% success in smelting iron. All three still earn the full smelting experience. The Ring of forging is described further in the Helpful Hints section. Below is a table of the different ores that can be smelted and their details:
1 Copper |
1 Tin |
1 Bronze |
1 |
6.5 |
Click on either ore to use with the furnace. It automatically uses the other ore. |
1 Blurite |
Nothing |
1 Blurite |
8 |
8 |
Must complete Knights Sword quest. |
1 Iron |
Nothing |
1 Iron |
15 |
12.5 |
Only 50% chance of getting a bar on each attempt. See above for ways to improve the odds. |
1 Elemental |
4 Coal |
1 Elemental |
20 |
18 |
Must complete Elemental Workshop quest. |
1 Silver |
Nothing |
1 Silver |
20 |
13.5 |
Used in crafting and several quests. |
1 Iron |
2 Coal |
1 Steel |
30 |
17.5 |
Click on iron ore. It automatically uses the coal. |
1 Gold |
Nothing |
1 Gold |
40 |
22.5 |
Used in crafting and some quests. Goldsmithing gauntlets (from Family Crest quest) earn 56.2 exp per ore smelted. |
1 Mithril |
4 Coal |
1 Mithril |
50 |
30 |
Click on mithril ore. It automatically uses the coal. |
1 Adamant |
6 Coal |
1 Adamant |
70 |
37.5 |
Click on adamantite ore. It automatically uses the coal. |
1 Runite |
8 Coal |
1 Runite |
85 |
50 |
Click on runite ore. It automatically uses the coal. |
Forging
Once you have metal bars, they can be smithed into different objects - weapons, pieces of armour, dart tips and more. To do this, you will need a hammer and metal bars in your inventory. Then, you will need to find an anvil - see image below. Anvils can be found in many cities (usually those that don't have furnaces), but Varrock is popular for smithing bars in lots, since there are 3 anvils there, all near the teleport location and banks. Note: All furnace and anvil locations are shown on the world map(s). See Helpful Hints below for additional thoughts.
 |
 |
| Hammer |
Anvil |
Click on the metal in your inventory, and then click on the anvil. A menu of objects you can smith will pop up. Click on the object you want to smith and your character will do so. Alternately, you can right-click on the item and pick the option to make 1, 5, or 10 of the item. This saves a great deal of time and clicking.
Some objects will use up more than one bar, and if you don't have enough, the number of bars will be in orange. If your level is not high enough to smith that object, its' name will be in black rather than white.
You receive smithing experience per bar that you forge into an object. Smelting and forging ores is considered a good method of making money, as you can sell the end product to shops or other players. You can also use the Low Alchemy and High Alchemy Spells to convert the objects into gold pieces. The low alch value is the same amount you would get from selling the item to a General Store with none in stock, and the hi alch value equals the amount you'd earn selling the item to a specialty shop (such as a Sword Shop or Armour Shop) at normal stock level.
Smithing Tables
Below is a link to the smithing tables for each smithable metal. They will tell you the level you can smith each object, the experience points earned, and equipped stat information:
There are two items that can be forged from Blurite; both are used for fletching (see below). At level 13 smithing, you can use one blurite bar to make 10 blurite bolts (unfeathered) or one set of blurite crossbow limbs. These items, as well as the blurite ore or bars are untradeable. However, you will not be able to do this unless you have finished the Knights Sword quest.
There are two items that can be forged from Gold; both are related to quests. The first is a golden bowl from the Legends quest. It requires two gold bars, earns 30 xp, and can be hi-alched for 420gp. The second is a gold helmet from the Between a Rock... quest. It requires 3 gold bars, earns 30 xp, and yields 0gp when hi-alched. Crafting gold bars into jewelry earns crafting xp only.
Two types of metal items are not forged at anvils. Cannonballs are made from steel bars at a furnace while carrying a cannonball mould (from the Dwarf Cannon quest). One bar makes four cannonballs. They are slightly time-consuming to make, but can be sold for a decent profit. However, the experience for making them is reduced - only 25.6 xp instead of the usual 37.5 xp for forging a steel bar.
Iron sheets are made on the iron press located in the Piscatoris Fishing Colony (Swan Song quest). Currently they must be made singly, clicking a bar and the press each time. They can be sold to nearby NPC Frank Caranos for 20 gp each. However, the experience for making them is slightly reduced - only 20 xp instead of the usual 25 xp for forging an iron bar.
Some minor Smithing experience can also be earned using the Construction skill. Building a mithril armour stand in a skill hall earns 25 Smithing xp (in addition to basic Construction xp). Repairing rusty swords on a workshop repair bench with a whetstone earns 25 Smithing xp. Repairing damaged armour on a workshop armour repair bench also earns 25 Smithing xp.
If you are fortunate enough to get a left shield half as a monster drop, you'll need to purchase the right shield half at the Legends Guild shop for 750,000gp. Level 60 smithing is required to use the halves (and a hammer) at an anvil to make the dragon square shield. Jagex states this earns 75xp smithing.
Experience Table
For quick reference, here is a list of the smelting and smithing experience for each basic type of metal bar. (An unsuccessful iron smelt earns zero xp.)
| Bronze |
6.5 |
12.5 |
19 |
| Iron |
12.5 |
25 |
37.5 |
| Steel |
17.5 |
37.5 |
55 |
| Mithril |
30 |
50 |
80 |
| Adamant |
37.5 |
62.5 |
100 |
| Rune |
50 |
75 |
125 |
Smithing and Fletching (members only)
While the Smithing skill is mainly intended to create armour and weapons for melee fighters, it is also useful for rangers via the Fletching skill. Members can use Smithing to create various items used in Fletching to make ranged weapons and ammunition. For example, they can smith a metal bar (bronze to rune) into 5 throwing knives (member-only ranged weapon). Or, they can smith a metal bar (bronze to rune) into 15 arrowheads or 10 dart tips (dart tips available only after the completion of the Tourist Trap quest). Use the Smithing tables to see the level needed to make these items. These arrowheads and dart tips could then be made into arrows or darts by using the Fletching skill (check the Fletching guide for more details and the needed levels).
Additionally, the Smithing skill could be used together with Fletching to make crossbows and bolts for these crossbows. Members can make crossbow limbs from a metal bar (bronze to rune), which they can further transform into a crossbow using fletching. They can also make 10 unfeathered bolts from a metal bar (bronze to rune), which they can further add feathers to, in order to be able to use them as crossbows ammunition. Moreover, these bolts can have gem-based bolt tips added to them and they can be enchanted for additional damage and effects. Please note that blurite-based crossbows and bolts can only be made after the completion of the Knights Sword quest and that the silver bolts are made using the Crafting skill. Check the Smithing tables and the Fletching guide for more details and the needed levels to make these items. Finally, do not forget that members can smith a mithril grapple from a mithril bar at level 59 Smithing and that they can add it to a mithril bolt to make a tool useful to take some agility shortcuts.
Helpful Hints
- The ring of forging is a members' ring that allows the wearer to smelt 140 iron ores (5 loads) without failing. See the Crafting guide for details on how to make a ruby ring, and use the Magic level 49 "Enchant level 3 Jewelry" spell (5 Fire runes and 1 Cosmic rune) to enchant it. The ring dissolves after you have smelted 140 iron ores. The ore count is attached to the player, not to the ring. Wear a ring of forging, and right-click to operate it. A message in the chat window will say how many more iron ore can be smelted before a ring is consumed.
- Goldsmithing gauntlets (from Family Crest quest) earn 56.2 exp per ore smelted. Some players use this for levelling, especially using the Arzinian gold mine available after the Between a Rock... quest. A nearby dwarf will deposit your load of gold in the bank for you, but charges several gold ores. If you wear an activated ring of charos (from the Garden of Tranquility quest), you can charm him to reduce the fee. Note that you must keep one inventory slot open for removing your gold helmet to leave the mine, unless you choose a workaround such as logging out, etc.
- If smelting large numbers of ores into bars, select a furnace near a bank. (You will, no doubt, have the ore you bought/mined in your bank.) Top choices for smelting are Al Kharid and Port Phasmatys (members), due to the proximity of the furnace to the bank. Falador's west bank is a close 3rd choice, down-rated by the typical crowds. Run the ores to the furnace, then deposit the bars back in the bank.
- If smithing large numbers of bars, select an anvil near a bank, such as west Varrock, Seers' Village (members), or Yanille (members).
- Steel nails are used for several quests, but what good are the other nails? Members who have completed the Zogre Flesh Eaters quest can use them to fletch brutal arrows. Members can also use them for Construction.
- Elemental ores are made in the special Elemental Workshop furnace. (You can only wield or make a magic shield after you finish the Elemental Workshop quest.)
- Dart tips can only be made by members who have completed the Tourist Trap quest.
- Claws can only be made by members who have completed the Death Plateau quest.
- Iron sheets can only be made by members who have completed the Swan Song quest. These are made on a press which requires log fuel, and earn only 20 xp per bar (instead of the usual 25 xp for iron forging). They can be sold to Frank for 20gp each.
Financial Considerations
Basics
Once, in the history of RuneScape, smithing was a means of making money fast. However, it was always a very costly process to advance quickly. You can be sure that numerous high level smiths mined almost all the ores they smithed, but this is a difficult process requiring doubly dedicated people.
As a result, the buying of ores and/or bars is a common process of obtaining the needed raw materials. In this case, questions emerge: Should I smith steel or iron? How much will it cost? How many bars will I need? The Smelt & Smithing Calculator on this site will help you decide how much. Regarding what to smith, read on.
Details
The mining rate of ores above iron (mithril, adamant, rune) excludes them from being viable options for smithing on a large scale. (Large scale meaning hundreds of thousands of experience points.) These ores are rarely found in sufficient quantities, take longer to mine, and spawn slowly. Therefore, mass smithing is generally done using iron ore - smithing steel or iron bars.
Rings of Forging have made smithing, in some ways, easier than before, but mass smithing is still a money-lost operation. How much you lose depends on your cost of materials. Let's start at the end - the payoff. The most money can be made by using the High Alchemy spell on the finished item. The best option is to make plate bodies, as they use 5 bars (saving you time) and yield the most money per bar. Iron plate bodies "alch" for 336 gp, while steel plate bodies alch for 1200 gp. Experience points are also a payoff. Since the magic experience will be the same for either steel or iron, it will not be considered in this discussion. Iron plate gives 125 xp, while steel gives 187.5 xp (for Smithing only.)
Iron or Steel
At first glance, it seems obvious that steel is a better choice. Indeed, steel has a much higher payoff. However, steel also has a much higher cost of materials. Using the Ring of Forging, each iron plate alched (while wielding a fire staff) requires:
- 1 nature rune
- 5 iron ore
- 5/140 Ring of forging
Steel plate, on the other hand, requires:
- 1 nature rune
- 5 iron ore
- 10 coal
Another analysis examines how much experience is earned (for both smelting and smithing) for the number of ores used.
| Bronze |
2 |
19 |
9.5 |
| Iron |
1 (and 1/140 ring of forging) |
37.5 |
37.5 |
| Steel |
3 |
55 |
18.3 |
| Mithril |
5 |
80 |
16 |
| Adamant |
7 |
100 |
14.28 |
| Rune |
9 |
125 |
13.8 |
Discounting the cost of the ring of forging, iron is the clear winner in experience per ore. The results do not change when using the Keldagrim Blast Furnace, where the number of coal used is halved (and a Ring of forging is unnecessary). Halving the number of coal brings rune, adamant, mithril and steel to between 25 and 28xp per ore ... but iron still wins out at 37.5xp per ore.
As you see, the decision as to which metal to smith and the cost to do so is complex. However, the Smithing Planner tool might be of help in forming your decision. Please note that on average, free players will need 10 iron ore to smith iron platebodies instead of 5, as the ring of forging is for members only. Alternatively, members can use smithing to make arrow heads, then either sell them or fletch them to make arrows. You can sell the arrows for profit or use them for ranging. However, because you will be smithing these one bar at a time rather than five at a time for plate bodies, it will take more time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What about Black items? "Black" does not exist as ore or bars and thus cannot be smithed. Black items are only available in stores, as monster drops or occasional finds (Digsite and Treasure Trails).
How can I trim my armour? Trimmed and gold-trimmed items cannot be smithed - these are available as Treasure Trails rewards only. NOBODY can "trim" your armour for you, so don't fall for this old scam. Keep in mind that trimmed, gold-trimmed, god and gilded armour all have the exact same stat effects as their plain counterparts - there are no added effects for these types of decorative armour.
I can mine granite, so can I smith a granite shield, helm or legs? No, sorry.
Best of luck with your smithing, however you go about it, and happy scaping!
