Forging in cold weather

[Glenn]

What do you do to make things comfortable for forging in cold weather?

Make a EMT pipe frame, attach a tarp and create a easily to set up wind break to be able to work outdoors when it gets cold. This can be a 2 panel wedge shape, or a 3 panel open box

Having a shop with walls is nice but how do you allow enough air into the shop to replace what goes out the chimney (solid fuels). Where do you place the gasser so you do not get a build up of Carbon Monoxide in the shop?

Wool socks and long johns are standard equipment so give us some other ideas so we can still be comfortable and forge when the cold weather sets in.

[ThomasPowers]

Longjohns and a piece of plywood on the floor---I keep the 10'x10' doors open unless the wind is blowing stuff off the benches---then I open them 1/2 way if I am using the gasser.

I hope to put in a wood stove and work on the radiated heat principle someday

[rthibeau]

A wood stove and gas forge going together and open the windows to keep it comfortable. Of course, it doesn't get cold in northern Michigan until January or February, so it really isn't an issue. By the time you notice the cold, it's Spring already...

[agsolder]

There is a closed-cell blue plastic ground sheet about 1/2-inch thick called Ensolite that camping and backpacking boutiques sell. I was happily introduced to this magical stuff on an expedition in January one year, camping atop 5 feet of snow for several nights at about 9,000 feet in the Rockies. I expected to freeze to death but the people who were guiding my wife and me assured us the Ensolite would block the cold. It did, totally, keeping us toasty in our sleeping bags despite all that snow underneath us. I have since cut Ensolite insoles for my boots that I wear in the shop on winter days, along with SmartWool socks, warmest and longest-lasting socks I have ever worn. A woollen-- no synthetics where a spark could hit it-- watch cap helps keep the BTUs from escaping my bald noggin. Thermax undershirt (Cabela's) wicks away sweat and prevents that clammy chill that comes from sweating up a cotton T and without the itch of wool, and I wear one (not the same one) from about Thanksgiving until about Easter day and night here at 7,000 feet. On really cold days Thermax bottoms are needed, but those days are rare.

[skunkriv]

The blower for my coal forge is in a lean-to addition off the side of the shop so most of the air going up the chimney comes from outside of the shop.

My one burner gas forge will heat my small (14X24X9) shop even on the coldest days. I have a small blower on the end of the shop that picks up cold air from the floor and blows it out near the ceiling to keep the air mixed up good. After running awhile I crack open the overhead door an inch or so and between that and the air that gets out through a vent over the walk in door the air stays plenty fresh.

After things are warmed up I can turn the gas forge way down if I am using the coal forge that day.

[tbrforge]

I fire up a propane space heater for 1/2 an hour on really cold days. But I've worked in unheated shops from Illinois to Germany, so I've never really been bothered by the temp. I always like to have a way to get my hands warm though, that seems more important since reaching 53, the hands are stiff in the morning.

[gerald]

I find that I can keep most of my body warm with insulated stuff and activity. The problem is with the hands since most every punch, chisel, hammer, drill, etc is COLD. A pair of mechanic's gloves helps with this. Just remember, they aren't Kevlar gloves and can't stand much heat, so be careful around hot iron with them.

[GOATMAN]

A big problem in an unheated shop is warming the anvil and vice, as well as yourself. A cold steel mass of that size will sink the heat out of your work alot faster than normal. A hot thick piece of iron laid on top helps, or a torch.

[Nick]

Wear lots of wool, but in layers so things can be taken off as it gets warmer in the shop or you get warmer. Heat in my shop is usually generated by the forge and a propane salamander.

[ThomasPowers]

I like Captn Atli's anvil warmer---and old electric iron from the thrift store. Turn it on when you get in the shop and the anvil will have the chill off by the time the forge is up to temp.