Smithing calculator
Smelting and smithing costs, priced against ore, coal and bar prices right now.
Smithing is unusual among the artisan skills because the raw material is often worth more than the product. Which bar is cheapest to smelt depends on the current gap between ore, coal and the finished bar, and that gap moves week to week.
The table prices each method including the resale value of what you make, so a method that looks expensive can turn out to be nearly free — and occasionally profitable.
Smithing levels
1 to 99
Must be higher than current
Methods
11 methods| Method | Level | XP each | XP/hr | Actions | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze bar | 1 | 6 | 8.06K | 2,102,328 | 1617h |
| Iron barFails around half the time without a ring of forging. | 15 | 13 | 16.3K | 1,042,755 | 802h |
| Silver bar | 20 | 14 | 17.8K | 951,419 | 732h |
| Steel bar | 30 | 18 | 22.8K | 744,825 | 573h |
| Steel cannonballsVery slow experience, but usually profitable and close to AFK. | 35 | 26 | 16.3K | 511,155 | 799h |
| Gold bar | 40 | 23 | 29.3K | 579,309 | 446h |
| Gold bar (goldsmith gauntlets)Requires goldsmith gauntlets from Family Crest. | 40 | 56 | 73.1K | 231,930 | 178h |
| Mithril bar | 50 | 30 | 39K | 434,482 | 334h |
| Adamantite bar | 70 | 38 | 48.8K | 347,585 | 267h |
| Runite bar | 85 | 50 | 65K | 260,689 | 201h |
| Rune platebody | 99 | 375 | 338K | 34,759 | 39h |
Actions and hours assume you use one method the whole way, which almost nobody does. Rates are for steady play with the usual setup; treat them as a planning figure rather than a promise. Methods above your current level are dimmed.
How this is calculated
Experience per action and the level each method unlocks at are game data. Everything else is arithmetic on the experience table:
experience needed = xp at target level − xp at current level
actions = experience needed ÷ experience per action
hours = experience needed ÷ (experience per action × actions per hour)Actions per hour is the one estimate in there. It assumes steady play with the setup people normally use for the method, and it is the number to be sceptical of — a rate quoted for someone with perfect banking is not the rate you will hit on a first attempt.
What this does not account for
- Cost. This site no longer reads live Grand Exchange prices, so nothing here is ranked by what it costs. For most skills the cheapest method and the fastest are different, and this tool only answers the second.
- Failure rates. Where a method can fail or burn, every attempt is counted as a success. The notes flag the methods where that matters most.
- Switching methods. The actions and hours columns assume you use one method for the whole range, which almost nobody does. Read them as a per-method comparison rather than a plan.
About training Smithing
- Smelting iron bars without a ring of forging fails around half the time, which roughly doubles the real cost. The figures below assume every attempt succeeds.
- Goldsmith gauntlets raise gold bar experience from 22.5 to 56.2 per bar. That single item makes gold the fastest Smithing experience in the game.
- The Blast Furnace halves the coal needed for each bar, which changes the ranking substantially for the higher tiers.
Worth knowing
Recipes, levels and experience values are game data. If you spot one that is wrong, please tell us — accuracy is the only thing that makes a calculator worth using.
Actions per hour assume steady play with the usual setup. Your first hour at a new method will be slower than the figure here.