The Iron Ingot is the bread and butter of every Skyrim blacksmith. It is cheap (just 7 gold) and found almost everywhere, yet it turns up in 102 forge recipes – from basic iron gear to Steel, Dwarven, Orcish, Elven and even Dragonscale pieces, where it serves as the humble binding metal. If you plan to level Smithing, you will go through these by the hundred, so never walk past a stack.
How to get it
The classic way is to mine 
Iron Ore and smelt it one-for-one at any smelter. Iron veins are the most common deposits in the game: Halted Stream Camp has 17 and Embershard Mine near Riverwood has 8, which makes it a handy first stop for new characters.
Buying is even easier. Practically every blacksmith and many general traders stock them, for example Adrianne Avenicci and Belethor in Whiterun, Balimund in Riften or Alvor. Bandits of all flavours often carry a few as well.
Loose ingots lie around in forges and smithies: the Solitude Blacksmith has 27 of them, and there are 15 at The Scorched Hammer and at Fort Dawnguard. Treva’s Watch (12), the mining village of Stonehills (10) and Forsaken Cave (9) are also good hauls.
Smelting and tanning
- 1 Iron Ore → 1 Iron Ingot at the smelter
Used to craft
Iron Ingot appears in 106 recipes in the game files.
Armor
- Steel Armor – Steel Horned Helmet (1), Steel Imperial Gauntlets (1), Steel Armor (1), Steel Shin Boots (1), Steel Shield (1), Steel Helmet (1), Steel Nordic Gauntlets (1), Steel Armor (1), Steel Cuffed Boots (1)
- Orcish Armor – Orcish Shield (1), Orcish Helmet (1), Orcish Gauntlets (1), Orcish Armor (1), Orcish Boots (1)
- Steel Plate Armor – Steel Plate Helmet (1), Steel Plate Gauntlets (1), Steel Plate Armor (1), Steel Plate Boots (1)
- Dwarven Armor – Dwarven Shield (1), Dwarven Helmet (1), Dwarven Gauntlets (1), Dwarven Armor (1), Dwarven Boots (1)
- Dragonscale Armor – Dragonscale Shield (2), Dragonscale Helmet (1), Dragonscale Gauntlets (1), Dragonscale Armor (2), Dragonscale Boots (1)
- Elven Armor – Elven Gilded Armor (1), Elven Shield (1), Elven Helmet (1), Elven Gauntlets (1), Elven Armor (1), Elven Boots (1)
- Iron Armor – Banded Iron Shield (4), Banded Iron Armor (5), Iron Shield (4), Iron Helmet (3), Iron Armor (5), Iron Boots (3), Iron Gauntlets (2)
- Studded Armor – Studded Armor (1)
- Shellbug Helmet – Shellbug Helmet (2)
- Bonemold Armor – Bonemold Guard Armor (1), Bonemold Armor (1), Improved Bonemold Shield (1), Improved Bonemold Helmet (1), Improved Bonemold Gauntlets (1), Improved Bonemold Armor (1), Improved Bonemold Boots (1), Bonemold Shield (1), Bonemold Helmet (1), Bonemold Gauntlets (1), Bonemold Pauldron Armor (1), Bonemold Boots (1)
- Chitin Armor – Chitin Helmet (1), Chitin Shield (1), Chitin Bracers (1), Chitin Armor (1), Chitin Boots (1)
- Ancient Nord Armor – Ancient Nord Helmet (2), Ancient Nord Gauntlets (2), Ancient Nord Boots (2), Ancient Nord Armor (2)
Weapons and other items
- Orcish Smithing: Orcish Bow (1), Orcish Warhammer (1), Orcish War Axe (1), Orcish Sword (1), Orcish Mace (1), Orcish Dagger (1), Orcish Greatsword (2), Orcish Battleaxe (1)
- Dwarven Smithing: Dwarven Bow (1), Dwarven Warhammer (1), Dwarven War Axe (1), Dwarven Sword (1), Dwarven Mace (1), Dwarven Greatsword (2), Dwarven Dagger (1), Dwarven Battleaxe (1)
- Steel Smithing: Steel Greatsword (2), Steel Warhammer (1), Steel Dagger (1), Steel Battleaxe (1), Steel War Axe (1), Steel Mace (1), Steel Sword (1)
- Elven Smithing: Elven Warhammer (2), Elven War Axe (1), Elven Sword (1), Elven Mace (1), Elven Greatsword (2), Elven Dagger (1), Elven Battleaxe (2)
- no perk: Iron Greatsword (4), Iron Battleaxe (4), Iron Warhammer (4), Iron War Axe (2), Iron Mace (3), Iron Dagger (1), Iron Sword (2), Iron Arrow (1), Lock (1), Hinge (1), Nails (1), Iron Fittings (1)
The number in brackets is how many Iron Ingot each recipe needs. Bold labels are the Smithing perk the recipe requires.
Improving gear
At a grindstone or workbench, Iron Ingot is the material used to improve (temper) 41 items, including Ancient Nord Armor, Guard Armor, Hevnoraak, Iron Armor, Ironhand Gauntlets, Krosis, Predator's Grace, Studded Armor.
Good to know
- The classic Smithing grind: buy Iron Ingots and
Leather Strips and craft iron daggers for cheap experience. - Iron Ingots also improve Ancient Nord armor and most guard shields – 41 items in total.
Data from the Skyrim game files (Skyrim.esm and the official add-ons): value, weight, ore veins, recipes and merchant lists. ID 0005ACE4 is the item’s form ID for the console.
