Hello! With the new arrow crafting out, I learned of a sweet way to level up your smithing. Just chop some wood blocks down to get a crap ton of firewood, the buy as many metals that you can smith arrows with as possible. Then just spam create arrows. It takes a while, but It is better because I believe it to be cost effective, as firewood is free if you chop it yourself.

Lets also add that you don't get overencumbered, due to arrows not weighing anything

And iron is less the 24g so you actually make money

exactly!

Dwarven metal igots can be acquired in vast quanties for free. Especially in Markarth, after that all you need to do is chop wood.

WHERE?!?!?!!?

Lol I was playing earlier today and had ran out of arrows. Eventually found an axe in my travels, then found a place to chop wood. My archer was thrilled, so I went to the forge and bam! Arrow crafting really boosted my smithing skill. Jewelry is also a great alternative, and can be quite easy once give aquired some gems. But because I didn't feel like chopping a bunch of wood, I decided to buy every arrow that I could find just so I wouldn't run out again.

but when I sell the iron ones I am giving it away for free.

Or just use Oghma Infinium glitch to level everything up to 100 and then choose how you want to spend your perks. If they fixed the glitch with the DLC I will go berserk.

Yeah I'm curious too. I have this OCD about needing to have tons and tons of arrows and bolts.

The ruins of http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Nchuand-Zel under Markath, The http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Dwemer_Museum#Dwemer_Museum, http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Calcelmo%27s_Laboratory#Calcelmo.27s_Laboratory. Have enough dwemer metal to produce 774 dwarven igots. Though most of Calcemo's Labatory is inaccessible until the TG quest hard answers but that still leaves 606 igots if you manage to clear out both the ruins and the dwemer museum. It will take quite a few trips, dead thralls or exploiting follower commands to tell them to pick up the metal directly.(which bypasses the weight limits).

if you think that sounds time consuming, so is choping wood.

DONT GIVE THEM ANY IDEAS, this is the only way i get my mages up to level 81, i get them to level 55 or something naturally, then i use that to get the non mage related skills to 100. Just shut it!

o wow i never knew you could turn dwemer stuff into ingots...but then again i'm not a fan of dwarven gear but good to know

The quest to get that book is glitched for me or at least it feels glitched I've played about 20 hours or so past the point where I give a certain someone a certain cube and my quest log still hasn't updated? any ideas

I did this in Riverwood. Chopped wood, stole the ingots from Alvor, crafted the Arrows, then went to Delphine at the inn, to enchant the crossbow. I found it easier to do it this way or simply buy the bolts from Gunmar and Sorine. You get more bolts crafting them vs buying though, but it's time consuming to chop wood. I found myself stopping in every small town or campsite to chop wood....really distracting.

Is chopping wood the only way to obtain it, or can it be purchased from merchants? I'd much rather spam a merchant than a stump.

Or you can restoration alchemy loop to make a fortify enchanting potion to make a fortify smithing piece and make a very powerful weapon to instantly get 100 smithing (have to upgrade the weapon) then just ditch it, along with the Op smithing gear. That's what I did.

The Oghma Infinium glitch has been fixed. Boo cheaters. Boo.