I have Hershel's first two Beginning Blacksmithing tapes. They are OK, and can help somebody starting out in blacksmithing. He does get some of the terminology a bit off, but overall they are pretty good. And they are not all "beginner" projects like an S hook. He also shows making a grease lamp, bullet lead ladle, even a backwoods knife.
My biggest problem watching them is wanting to tell him to hit differently when working on some projects. I keep thinking that I would do this at a certain point, and hit here, instead of the way he did. But I often do that when watching any other blacksmith. Each person developes their own ways/methods and hammering techniques.
I also have Willy Whites knife making video. Also a pretty good one. It does show him working through all the steps from forging the blade, through filing/fitting, through heat-treating and tempering, all the way to the final polish. It is a nice intro video. It also shows what you can do with fairly simple tools. He does use a bench grinder to take the forge scale off the outside of the blade, and to profile it. But most of the rest of the forming he does with hand files. And he uses a hand drill for the handle pin holes.
You might also want to check out the Colonial Williamsburg videos. They were filmed between 1969 and about 1973. Hammerman at Williamsburg (blacksmith), Gunsmith at Williamsburg (with Wallace Gussler), and Silversmith at Willaimsburg. Walter Cronkite narrated. Good overviews of each - and each shows all the steps in several projects.
Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
