Do you guys think that the iron dagger trick is the best to improve your smithing to 100 the fastest? Just want to know. Cause I spent a lot of money trying that trick out and it wasn't as good as I thought. Plus I got the hearthfire add on and I think that helped me get to smithing level 82. Have full set of ebony armour and dual welded ebony swords. They are also all enchanted.

Not anymore, after a certain patch the skill increase is based on the price of the item you made/improved. I like to collect all dwemer metal I can carry and craft dwarven bows and arrows.

Nah, it isn't worth it. I usually just use gold to craft jewelry until I hit level 30 then take the Dwarven Perk. At that point I just put on all the fortify smithing enchanted gear and make as many dwarven bows and upgrade them. Only time consuming part is the collecting the hundreds of dwarven metal in order to do it.

That method is now ancient. Dwarven Bows and high end jewelery is the way to go.

Yes, like others have said, that "bug" (or feature) was patched long ago. Silver and gold ores are pretty easy to come by (like Dwemer scraps), so they can level your smithing skill up quite quickly if you feel you need to level your smithing skill up quickly.

I cannot explain my exact method... given that most of it is luck (among other things) on my part, but here's a simplified version.

1. Okay, so first, you need gold, a lot. The easiest way to accumulate gold that I know of is by completing the Dark Brotherhood quests. Set your goal for between sixteen and twenty thousand. Remember: Your speech skill will make this a whole lot easier.
2. Grab a follower with a large inventory.
3. Go through the buy stuff, craft stuff, improve stuff and fast travel or wait forty eight hours session.

Repeat the third step until you reach your desired level.

Sometimes you will need to fast travel as it seems that some merchants do not restock what you want after a while.

Try to turn up a profit, so that you can keep repeating the third step.

It's tedious, but worth it.

Alternatively you can just use the jewellery method... I would not do that myself, though.

It's kind of cheating. There's no sense of accomplishment when you finish.

I know this due to my use of the iron dagger method. It's the same sort of thing.

There's no such thing as cheating in a single player game.

@OP: Use whatever method you feel works best for you, and everyone else be damned, but do remember that iron daggers won't cut the mustard anymore.

Wow. Chill.

I was merely implying that using the easy method may be game breaking.

The only thing I saw was you clearly stating that it was cheating.

myself, I level up my blacksmithing by making a set of each type of armors, as you learn them through blacksmith perks, and improving them. I never really seem to have to grind my blacksmithing very much. Also, learn the transmute spell, can easily turn iron ores into gold, which gives good blacksmithing skill gains, when you make gold jewelry. But making sets of armors, and then armors for your follower, and then improving all of them really levels your blacksmithing fast. Sure it gets to costing a bit, at the higher lvl stuff, but what else do you really have to spend your gold on anyways?

Btw, I never buy training for blacksmithing, or any of the other crafting skills ( alchemy, or enchanting). Just by regular use, they go up fast.

I said it was kind of cheating.

Why are you addressing this as if I was instructing him on how he should play?

I was saying that I, personally, would not take that route.

Had I wanted to make the OP play in roughly the same way that I play, do you not think I would have just left my original post on its own?

I added the jewellery thing as another option for him, without realising somebody had already suggested it.

Generally speaking, you get the most experience for crafting higher value items, so you'll level alchemy quicker by making Paralysis (200+ value) than Damage Health (something like 5-10, IIRC) poisons, level enchanting quicker by making gold diamond rings of Fortify Sneak than firey iron daggers, and level smithing quicker by making just about anything rather than iron daggers. Iron daggers are a decent start, assuming you make your way to a mine with lots of iron ore veins and kill a few skinnable creatures on the way, but once you can make pretty much anything else, you'll probably find you're better off doing that. For example, if you go to another large iron mine, clear it out, then clear a Dwemer ruin and take all the smeltable scrap you can find, you'll be able to make a bunch of fairly expensive Dwarven Bows for exactly 0 cash outlay (although obviously it takes time, but you'll usually find other loot as well) and level up smithing a decent amount for free.

If you've got money burning a hole in your pocket, then Vampiric and adam2013's methods are also pretty good - buy the best materials you can afford (and have the perks for) and make a bunch of stuff. Sell it or use it or give it to your followers. If your speech is good enough you may just about make your money back, if you also enchant the items, you probably will (assuming you got your gems filled the old fashioned way rather than buying them) make a profit. If you're going to enchant them, improve them at the grindstone/workbench *before* enchanting, because you're then enchanting a more expensive item which again will increase the amount of enchanting skill gained (as far as I know you don't get more smithing skill increase for improving an enchanted vs unenchanted item, though I could be wrong, but I think it's more negligible a difference than the enchanting one).

I build a Hearthfire house. Thats a good way by making the building materials. Like others said, high end jewelry and dwarven bows works well. In addition to that, if you have a high alchemy level, make some fortify smithing potions. Also activate the warrior stone for the bonus. Get a good night sleeps for the well rested bonus and if youre married, even better. Then smith to your hearts content.

Some view grinding as cheating because you aren't acting in character. No reason to get all angry and aggressive about it. You have your POV, they theirs.

My characters usually collect Silver, Gold and Gems to make jewelry. I really don't like it and knowing myself the major differences between actual metal crafting with a forge and jewelry making I think it's ridiculous. Personally I think jewelry should just be taken off the Smithing list as jewelry it is generally used by mages for Enchanting who shouldn't be Smithing to begin with (IMO). Having to make a dozen pieces of jewelry so that I can start making Orcish armor really makes no sense at all.

But hey, I don't even bother with that anymore. I just use the console to give myself EXP in Smithing and be done with it. After retiring 40+ characters I figure I don't need to go through that grind anymore.

Grinding a skill in a game never bothers me. It is what we do in real life, after all (example: pro golfers hit 1000's of balls at the range - they do not wait for their skill to level up naturally through the course of normal play). Practice makes perfect, as they say! Plus, you are also leveling up your character which levels up your foes.. You will need your new smithing skills to remain alive!

For me, buy/mine iron ore, use transmute spell, make gold jewelry.

Although, the dwemer crafting sounds like an even better idea, now that I have heard it described... there are literally piles of the stuff in quite a few places.

Ghorbash the Iron Hand is about to be Ghorbash the Tired Back. Load up buddy!

I've never ever been one to grind anything in this game. I'd just use it naturally. But this is a very good perspective. Never thought of it like that.

Being retired military - "Grinding" (IE: TRAINING) comes as second nature. You never want to walk into a bad situation unprepared...

What I do is immediately after getting away from Helgen - make a bee-line for the LOVER STONE just north of Markarth, then go introduce myself to all that dwarven metal under the city.

I agree for some skills, but spending tons of time with inferior material (iron) wouldn't make a smith any better at working with a superior material. But it's a game afterall.

That's the other reason why I go for Dwarven bows as soon as I can - there's a decent amount of skill involved in making a good bow, especially one made from a mysterious alloy nobody has managed to replicate, in an intricate design. I still don't really think it makes sense to miraculously suddenly know how to make Orcish armour or whatever at a certain point, mind you!

I'd love it if the crafting perks were on a separate system so you *had* to learn the new skill from a trainer, not necessarily by paying for training but maybe by doing a favour for them once your skill was high enough for the perk - for example you could do a task for Adrianne to get the Steel perk, for one of the Orcish smiths (probably the Markarth lady who already asks you to find that book for her apprentice, or everyone would moan that they couldn't get into the Strongholds...) to learn Orcish smithing etc. Same thing for enchanting (though I guess there are fewer enchanting trainers, or at least, not so many in straightforward locations, but there are also fewer enchanting perks which don't make sense without somebody teaching you) and alchemy.

Thats a good idea. I'd combine that along with having to be a certain level though. Simply because anyone could go to Markarth (if you make it there in one piece) at level 1 or 2 and seek out the Orc blacksmith. Thats way too early of a level to learn the Orcish smithing trade. Assign a certain level where you can do the favor said smith, do it and unlock it. that way the game stays fairly balanced. Kinda like how some Daedric quests require you to be a certain level first.

Oh, ABSOLUTELY! I think I mentioned that, but my post was a bit rambling train of thought so it got a bit buried! It'd be easy enough to have the Courier bring a letter from whichever trainer "Dear Valandril, I hear you have been making like LOADS of daggers or something like that, come to me and I will offer you an EXCITING PROPOSAL! HOORAY! Kisses, Ghorza xoxo"

Okay, may need some work...

No I like it! That whats up!

Ok thnks I will try that