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Edition 2026Active Merit Badge
Metalwork
Official Requirements & Fillable Workbook · 2026 Edition
Metalwork turns raw sheet, rod, and bar stock into durable tools and hardware. You will study work-hardening, annealing, and tempering, then choose one of four distinct disciplines: sheet metal, silversmithing, foundry, or blacksmithing. Each option requires heating, cutting, and shaping real metal into finished items.
Key Requirements Covered:
- Shop Safety & Metallurgy Fundamentals
- Metal Heating, Quenching & Annealing
- Forming: Forging, Casting, or Sheet Metal
- Finished Functional Metalworking Projects
6Printable Pages
5Requirements
2025Reqs Revised
What is on the worksheet: Metalwork Requirements
Every requirement for the Metalwork merit badge, word for word as published, with room to write under each one on the printed worksheet.
1Read the safety rules for metalwork
Read the safety rules for metalwork. Discuss how to be safe while working with metal. Discuss with your counselor the additional safety rules that apply to the metalwork option you choose for requirement 5.
2Metal Terms and Alloys
Explain the following terms: native metal, malleable, metallurgy, alloy, nonferrous, and ferrous. Then do the following:
- a Name two nonferrous alloys used by pre-Iron Age metalworkers. Name the metals that are combined to form these alloys.
- b Name three ferrous alloys used by modern metalworkers.
- c Describe how to work-harden a metal.
- d Describe how to anneal a nonferrous and a ferrous metal.
3Work-Hardening, Annealing, and Tempering
Do the following:
- a Work-harden a piece of 26- or 28-gauge sheet brass or sheet copper. Put a 45-degree bend in the metal, then heavily peen the area along the bend line to work-harden it. Note the amount of effort that is required to overcome the yield point in this unworked piece of metal.
- b Soften the work-hardened piece from requirement 3(a) by annealing it, and then try to remove the 45-degree bend. Note the amount of effort that is required to overcome the yield point.
- c Make a temper color index from a flat piece of steel. Using hand tools, make and temper a center punch of medium-carbon or high-carbon steel.
4Option Selection
Do ONE of the following:
- a Identify three career opportunities that would use skills and knowledge in metalworking. Pick one and research the training, education, certification requirements, experience, and expenses associated with entering the field. Research the prospects for employment, starting salary, advancement opportunities and career goals associated with this career. Discuss what you learned with your counselor and whether you might be interested in this career.
- b Identify how you might use the skills and knowledge in metalworking to pursue a personal hobby. Research the additional training required, expenses, and affiliation with organizations that would help you maximize the enjoyment and benefit you might gain from it. Discuss what you learned with your counselor and share what short-term and long-term goals you might have if you pursued this.
5Option Selection
After completing the first four requirements, complete ONE of the following options:
- Option A—Sheet Metal Mechanic/Tinsmith. Do ALL of the following
- a One object also must include at least one riveted component.
- b If you do not make your objects from zinc-plated sheet steel or tin-plated sheet steel, preserve your work from oxidation.
- Option B—Silversmith. Do ALL of the following
- a At least one object must include a sawed component you have made yourself.
- b At least one object must include a sunken part you have made yourself.
- c Clean and polish your objects.
- Option C—Founder. Do ALL of the following
- a Using lead-free pewter, make a casting using a mold provided by your counselor.
- b Using lead-free pewter, make a casting using the mold that you have made.
- Option D—Blacksmith. Do ALL of the following
- a Draw out by forging a taper.
- b Use the horn of the anvil by forging a U-shaped bend.
- c Form a decorative twist in a piece of square steel.
- d Use the edge of the anvil to bend metal by forging an L-shaped bend.
- a Include a decorative twist on one object.
- b Include a hammer-riveted joint in one object.
- c Preserve your work from oxidation.
Two dates, two different things
Requirements Revision vs. Worksheet Date
Scouting America last revised the Metalwork requirements in 2025. That is the badge, not this sheet — an older year does not mean the worksheet is out of date.
Verbatim Fidelity & Verification
This worksheet was checked against https://www.scouting.org/merit-badges/metalwork/ in Aug 2026 and reproduces the requirements word for word. Both dates are printed on the sheet, so a copy in a binder can always be placed in time.
Requirement text is © Scouting America, reproduced verbatim. The worksheet layout and design are original to this project.
Spotted a discrepancy on this sheet? Tell us and we will re-check it against the official requirements.
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