You didn't mention a forge there. Are you still using rough tools? If so, that's your problem. Make a forge, refine the Iron and make better quality tools.
Steel tools last twice as long as Iron tools, and rough tools are even worse than iron (not sure how much worse). Since they last longer, you won't need to make as many of the better tools as people wont need replacements as often.

I've tried using the forge for iron. 2 Smiths shops, one upgraded, so had 3 blacksmiths working. Population ~100. Still couldn't keep up the production. What is the ratio of smiths to population? The other problem I am having is the forge producing enough iron.

I tend to use rough tools until I'm at 200 population or more, because they're much quicker and cheaper to make, so I only need one blacksmith, maybe two, up to that point.

They're not faster to make, all the tools apart from bronze tools take the same time to make.
http://www.silisoftware.com/tools/banished-colonial-charter/index.php?e=1&m=Tool
they only go slower if they have to walk all over town to get the resources. You can fix this with wood cart and Iron cart vendors next to the smiths to bring in logs and refined Iron so the smiths can just grab it from the doorstep. However there isn't one of these for coal, so ideally build blacksmiths next to coal mines.

I thought the tools took longer. Thanks for clearing that up. I'll try building next to the vendor and see if that helps.

Building blacksmiths next to mines works well anyway since people don't want their homes next to mines or smiths, so you can make an industrial district of them and separate them with things like hospitals and churches from the houses. Oh there's also a tool cellar which is nice to build against the wall of a blackmith's, means when they finish their tools they just drop them off there instead of walking into a central storage, and as it's exclusivly tools stored there it won't fill up with random junk.

I have 2 upgraded blacksmith making steel tools - each with 2 smiths in them. I have one mine that I switch between iron ore and coal depending on what is lowest and I'm keeping tool supply at 150 rather than 50 as it seems to contain sudden shortage a bit better. Seems to be keeping my 150+ town happy at the moment. Will go for a third at some point but once you get a few trade ports I find they often have tools so I buy when they pop up. I have an inordinate amount of sugar so ... I just fill said boats with sugar till only the traders eyeballs are showing and send them on their way sans any tools they had. "See ya Bill, hope it don't rain on ye!"

Originally posted by Rich Cop:

I've tried using the forge for iron. 2 Smiths shops, one upgraded, so had 3 blacksmiths working. Population ~100. Still couldn't keep up the production. What is the ratio of smiths to population? The other problem I am having is the forge producing enough iron.

I've got 1 small Iron smelter, 1 Blacksmith and 1 Small fuel refinery running from year 1 serving my population with iron, furnace fuel and iron tools for up to 200 people before I need to worry about upgrading to higher tier buildings. That is 3 people serving up to 200(ish).
I set the tool limit to 250 early on, so 1) the BS has work to do, 2) I've got a buffer for pop growth and 3) I can upgrade the BS later on without running out of tools. The smelter and fuel refiner both get a new building before I replace them.

I hope this helps.

Hmm, they are listed as carring Steel tools, when they use the Rough Iron for making them. Have any of you every looked at that stat on the person who is using the tool?

TOOL PRODUCTION PROBLEM

MAPS HAVE NOT MANY IRON DEPOSITS POORLY LEVEL DEPOSITS

TOOL MAKERS BROKEN AND PAOPLE'S FIRSTLY DIED STAGNATION

I'm not sure what you're complaining about. You're not meant to run off surface Iron forever, you can build the small Iron mines ANYWHERE. They only need logs and stone to build, and the mines last forever once you give them the second upgrade with lamp oil.

Originally posted by Rich Cop:

I've tried using the forge for iron. 2 Smiths shops, one upgraded, so had 3 blacksmiths working. Population ~100. Still couldn't keep up the production. What is the ratio of smiths to population? The other problem I am having is the forge producing enough iron.

Your problem are the resources not the bs. BS collaps when you have not very much iron so try to stop the bs until you have at least 50 iron, then let the bs create iron or steel tools as he now creates stacks instead of single tools. So make sure you have 1 small iron mine with full miners and you should be fine. If not something else is going wrong.
If you ran out of tools you have a huge problem as it now took much longer to produce new tools, to fix this just harvest 50-100 iron ore, produce rough iron tools so your regular iron production can start again. I produce Iron near mines, not near BS, maybe that is important, maybe it does not change anything dunno....

I've run into this problem, as well. I have a decent stack of iron available, and the miners are extracting iron from my mine by using furnace fuel. However, not only is furnace fuel not being at all consumed despite my fuel refinery being inactive, but furthermore, I suspect that the mine is instead consuming firewood, as I have two villagers working a waterwheel lumberyard whilst my villagers are somehow freezing. This potentially means two bugs.

So, this is an old thread. Here is what I've learned in the past year.
I usually get 4 people working at the blacksmith making tools, I switch one of them to steel tool production as quickly as I can, making sure I have plenty of coal and iron production from mines. I produce iron from the water Foundry. Once I get a surplus of iron and coal I switch my other smith to make steel tools. Usually by that point I have a population of about 200. After that it is just monitoring production and adding a smith as needed. I don't produce iron in the mines with furnace fuel because the Foundry on the water is able to keep up and I'd rather the mines focus on ore and coal. Could just be me, but I find the foundry more efficient than the mine.

I saw this thread this morning, and i need help similar to the first post. How does one get furnace fuel? Is it coal, or what?