How to Make a Smithing Table in Minecraft: Recipe & Uses

If you're trying to upgrade your Diamond gear to Netherite — or you keep finding a smithing table in a village and wondering what it actually does — you're in the right place. The Minecraft smithing table is one of the most misunderstood crafting stations in the game, mostly because players encounter it before they understand its full purpose. This guide covers everything: the exact recipe, all use cases, version differences, and the mistakes that waste your hard-earned Netherite.

What Is a Smithing Table and Why Do You Need One

Understanding the tool before you build it saves you time and resources.

A smithing table serves two distinct functions in Minecraft, and most players only know about one of them. First, it's a job site block — it assigns the Toolsmith profession to unemployed villagers, which opens up trades for high-quality tools including enchanted Diamond gear. Second, and more importantly for progression, it's the only way to upgrade Diamond equipment to Netherite and the only block used for applying Smithing Templates introduced in Java 1.20 / Bedrock 1.20.

Before the 1.20 Trails & Tales update, the smithing table had a simple two-slot interface. After 1.20, it gained a third slot for Smithing Templates, fundamentally changing how gear upgrades and armor trims work. If you're playing on an older version, your experience will differ — we'll cover both.

How to Craft a Smithing Table in Minecraft

The recipe is cheap — you can build this early in any playthrough.

The smithing table is one of the most resource-friendly utility blocks in the game. You don't need rare materials, and you can craft it before you even touch a mine if you have access to wood and iron.

Crafting Recipe:

1. Open your crafting table (3x3 grid)
2. Place 2 Iron Ingots in the top-left and top-center slots
3. Fill the remaining 4 slots (a 2x2 square below the iron) with any Wood Planks
4. Retrieve your Smithing Table from the output slot

Slot Position	Material
Top-Left	Iron Ingot
Top-Center	Iron Ingot
Middle-Left	Any Wood Plank
Middle-Center	Any Wood Plank
Bottom-Left	Any Wood Plank

TIP: Any wood type works — Oak, Spruce, Jungle, Crimson, Warped, etc. You can mix plank types freely. This makes it easy to craft in any biome without backtracking for a specific wood.

Bottom-Center	Any Wood Plank

The crafting cost is deliberately low because the smithing table is a mid-to-late game enabler, not a reward in itself. Blaze Rods for a Brewing Stand are harder to get. The real cost comes from what you put into the smithing table — Netherite Ingots and Smithing Templates.

Every Smithing Table Recipe and Use Case

This block does more than just Netherite upgrades — here's the full picture.

Netherite Upgrades (1.20+)

To upgrade any Diamond tool, weapon, or armor piece to Netherite:

• Slot 1: Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template
• Slot 2: Diamond item (sword, pickaxe, helmet, etc.)
• Slot 3: Netherite Ingot

The output is the Netherite version, and crucially, all enchantments are preserved. This is the primary reason you want to fully enchant your Diamond gear before upgrading — you keep everything.

Armor Trims (1.20+)

Armor trims are purely cosmetic patterns applied to any armor piece. The recipe mirrors the upgrade process:

• Slot 1: Any Armor Trim Smithing Template
• Slot 2: Any armor piece (any material)
• Slot 3: Any trim material (Gold, Emerald, Amethyst, etc.)

There are 16 Armor Trim Templates in the game, each found in specific structures. Mixing trim templates with different materials produces different color combinations.

NOTE: Armor Trims are cosmetic only — they don't add stats. But they do stack visually with enchantment glints, making fully upgraded Netherite armor with a trim one of the best-looking displays of progression in the game.

Toolsmith Villager Job Site

Place a smithing table near an unemployed villager and they will claim it as their job site, becoming a Toolsmith. Toolsmiths trade:

• Flint, Coal, and Iron for Emeralds (early trades)
• Enchanted Iron tools (mid-level trades)
• Enchanted Diamond tools (master-level trades)

This is arguably the most overlooked use. A Master Toolsmith can sell you an enchanted Diamond Pickaxe for around 18 Emeralds — far cheaper than mining, crafting, and enchanting from scratch.

Java vs Bedrock: What's Different

Version differences trip up players who switch platforms or watch outdated tutorials.

Feature	Java Edition	Bedrock Edition
Netherite Upgrade Template Required	Yes (1.20+)	Yes (1.20+)
Armor Trim System	Yes	Yes
Pre-1.20 Two-Slot Interface	Removed	Removed
Smithing Table Found in Villages	Yes (Toolsmith house)	Yes
Villager Job Assignment	Yes	Yes

Cross-platform Recipe Identical	Yes	Yes

The recipe and core functionality are identical across platforms. The main confusion comes from tutorial videos recorded pre-1.20, where players upgraded Netherite with only two slots. Those tutorials are now outdated — if you follow them on current versions, the upgrade simply won't process.

WARNING: If you're watching a tutorial where someone upgrades Diamond to Netherite by only placing the Diamond item and a Netherite Ingot — that video is from before 1.20. You MUST include the Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template in the first slot or the recipe won't work on current versions.

Common Mistakes Players Make With Smithing Tables

These errors waste Netherite — the rarest material in the game.

1. Upgrading unenchanted Diamond gear

Netherite upgrades preserve enchantments. If you throw a plain Diamond Sword into the smithing table, you get a plain Netherite Sword. Always enchant Diamond gear first — ideally with a maxed-out enchanting table setup and an Anvil to combine books.

2. Forgetting the Netherite Upgrade Template

Post-1.20, this is the #1 reason the upgrade doesn't work. The template is found in Bastion Remnant chests in the Nether. Each upgrade consumes one template, so you need one per item you're upgrading.

3. Trying to upgrade non-Diamond gear

You cannot upgrade Iron, Gold, Stone, or Wood tools to Netherite. The smithing table only accepts Diamond items for the Netherite upgrade path. There's no shortcut.

4. Breaking the Villager's job assignment

If you place a smithing table, let a villager claim it, trade with them, and then break the smithing table — the villager loses their profession and all trades reset if they haven't been traded with enough times to lock in. Always protect your job site blocks in established trading halls.

5. Confusing Smithing Templates with each other

The Netherite Upgrade Template is not the same as Armor Trim Templates. Using an Armor Trim Template in an upgrade attempt won't produce a Netherite item. Check the template tooltip before placing it in Slot 1.

Pro Strategies for Advanced Players

Once you understand the basics, here's how to use the smithing table as a power tool.

Duplicate Smithing Templates Before Using Them

Every Smithing Template (including the Netherite Upgrade Template) can be duplicated using a crafting table:

• 7 of the template's corresponding material (e.g., Netherite Scraps for the Upgrade Template)
• 1 Diamond
• 1 of the template you want to copy

This produces 2 templates. If you plan to upgrade a full set of armor plus tools (up to 8 items), duplicating is far more efficient than farming Bastion Remnants 8 times.

Build a Dedicated Trim Station

If you're building a base or a multiplayer server, set up a dedicated smithing table area with chest storage for each of the 16 trim templates and all trim materials sorted by color. This lets you rapidly customize armor for teammates or your own alternate sets without hunting through inventories.

Stack Smithing Tables for Villager Trading Halls

In large trading halls, you can assign multiple villagers as Toolsmiths using multiple smithing tables. Since Master Toolsmiths sell enchanted Diamond tools, running several in parallel lets you efficiently accumulate high-tier gear for enchantment books via Grindstone-stripping, or for equipping large quantities of Armor Stands for decoration.

Enchant Strategy: Maximize Before You Upgrade

The optimal Diamond-to-Netherite upgrade path:

1. Get your Diamond item to the desired enchantment combination via Anvil + books
2. Repair it fully with a Grindstone only if the prior work penalty is too high (careful — Grindstone removes enchantments)
3. Upgrade to Netherite via smithing table
4. Rename on Anvil last (renaming on Anvil costs 1 level regardless of prior work penalty and resets naming cost)

Upgrade Order	Result
Enchant Diamond → Upgrade to Netherite	✅ All enchantments transfer, best outcome
Upgrade to Netherite → Enchant afterward	✅ Works, but costs more XP due to higher base value
Upgrade unenchanted → Realize mistake	❌ Wasted Netherite Ingot opportunity cost
Use wrong template	❌ Nothing outputs, template not consumed

Conclusion

The Minecraft smithing table punches well above its crafting cost. Two Iron Ingots and four planks unlock Netherite upgrades, the entire armor trim system, and a repeatable source of enchanted Diamond tools through Toolsmith villagers. The players who struggle with it almost always fall into one of two traps: following outdated pre-1.20 tutorials, or rushing the upgrade before their Diamond gear is fully enchanted.

Get the Netherite Upgrade Template from a Bastion Remnant before you even think about upgrading. Enchant your Diamond gear first. Duplicate your templates if you're planning a full armor set. And don't underestimate the Toolsmith villager — that overlooked side function of the smithing table can supply your entire server with Diamond-quality gear through emerald trading alone.