Where the profit comes from
Smithing makes money in two places. The first is turning ore into bars faster and cheaper than other players can, which is what the Blast Furnace does. The second is turning bars into items that have a price floor, usually high alchemy, so the finished item is worth more than the metal in it. Most anvil items have no floor and lose money, which is why the profitable list is short.
| Method | Smithing level | Effort | What caps it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blast Furnace bars (steel to runite) | 30, 50, 70, 85 | Active | Ore limits; coffer and capital |
| Rune items at an anvil | 99 for most | Low | Runite bar price; alch value |
| Cannonballs | 35 | Very AFK | Slow output per hour |
| Dart tips | 4 to 89 | AFK | Margins vanish above adamant |
| Superheat Item on runite and adamantite | 70, 85 | Active | Nature runes; Magic level |
| Oathplate armour | 83 | Slow | Rare boss-drop shards |
The Blast Furnace and its costs
The Blast Furnace in Keldagrim (start The Giant Dwarf to get there) uses half the coal a normal furnace needs, which is the whole reason it is profitable. Runite takes 4 coal per bar there instead of 8, adamantite 3, mithril 2 and steel 1. On the dedicated Blast Furnace worlds you pay into a coffer that drains 72,000 coins per hour while you are there, and below 60 Smithing the foreman charges 2,500 coins per 10 minutes. Both costs are small next to runite or adamantite margins but matter for steel and iron, so check that the table's figure covers them before you start.
The bigger issue is supply. Runite ore and adamantite ore are capped at 4,500 every four hours, and coal at 13,000. At Blast Furnace speeds a full runite ore limit lasts roughly two hours, and those two hours need more coal than one coal limit covers. A few million coins of ore for an hour of rune bars is normal, so this is a method for players with a bank to work with. Steel bars need less capital and run for longer on the same limits.
Rune items and the alchemy floor
At 99 Smithing, three-bar rune items such as the rune 2h sword become a money maker, because their high alchemy value sits above the price of three runite bars on many days. Alchers buy them, which keeps the Grand Exchange price near that floor. When runite bars climb, the margin shrinks to nothing, so this row swings more than most. The steel bar price page and the high alchemy list show the same floor effect on cheaper metals.
AFK Smithing: cannonballs and darts
Cannonballs (35 Smithing, after Dwarf Cannon) are the most AFK method in the skill: one click per inventory, then a couple of minutes of waiting. The double ammo mould from Giants' Foundry halves the waiting. Profit per hour is low but steady because cannon users burn through steel cannonballs constantly.
Dart tips need The Tourist Trap. Bronze, iron and steel tips often show a small profit, while higher tiers usually lose money because so many players smith them for xp. Each anvil action makes 10 tips, so an inventory lasts a long time.
Oathplate and superheating
Oathplate armour (83 Smithing, 78 Mining) is made from crushed infernal shale and oathplate shards, which come only from one of the game's hardest bosses. It shows a huge figure per hour because each piece is valuable, but you make only a handful per hour and need the shards first. Superheat Item on adamantite and runite ore trains Magic and Smithing together, but nature runes eat much of the margin.
How to read the numbers
Every row values ore, coal, bars and items at current mid prices, with Grand Exchange tax taken off what you sell. Blast Furnace rows assume a coal bag and good banking. If you are levelling rather than earning, the Smithing calculator shows cost per xp for every bar and item, and the Smithing training guide covers Giants' Foundry and the faster routes to 99.