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I Forge Iron

How many guys got all there stuff on wheels?


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I was just wondering how many of you guys have made your smithing stuff portable. 

 

I dont have a ton of space so I kinda have to "scientifically" stack it in the shop and then drag it out when I need it.

 

Post up some pictures, I would like to get Ideas of how other people have dealt with the issue.

 

 

 

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Moans that he doesn't have space - posts pics of a huge shop....

HaHa........not moaning. Thats the carport. I had to pull the cars out of the way so I could work.

 

I got  space but I got a lot of crap stuffed in that space. :D

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i should make my stuff more portable since i gotta lug it all outside when i want to forge!

I'm in the same boat! Thus, trying to work on my propane forge... can store everything in my garage, and forge in the driveway instead of outback where my charcoal forge is in the ground.

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Greetings Lawman,

When I had my big shop most of my equipment was mounted on wheels. It all goes by frequency of use. Now that I am retired I have tons of equipment still and have designed most on platforms and stands that are easily moved with a pallet jack. Works well
Forge on and make beautiful things
Jim

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my thoughts exactly....
:blink: OK....my bad.....I see your point...... If I could rephrase the original post I would.

I am definitely not working out of a cardboard box here guys. I like what I got and I ain't complaining about none of it. If thats the way I came across then Im sorry.

That being said I still got to move my stuff into the open to be able to use it and would love to get some good Ideas from the guys that have been doing this a lot longer than me. ;)


Greetings Lawman,

When I had my big shop most of my equipment was mounted on wheels. It all goes by frequency of use. Now that I am retired I have tons of equipment still and have designed most on platforms and stands that are easily moved with a pallet jack. Works well
Forge on and make beautiful things
Jim

Thats a cool Idea....I'd say I didn't have enough room for a pallet jack to move around but apparently that comes off as sniveling .............. hahaha.

Thanks for sharing.

Lawman
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:blink:   OK....my bad.....I see your point...... If I could rephrase the original post I would.

 

I am definitely not working out of a cardboard box here guys. I like what I got and I ain't complaining about none of it. If thats the way I came across then Im sorry.

 

That being said I still got to move my stuff into the open to be able to use it and would love to get some good Ideas from the guys that have been doing this a lot longer than me. ;)

 

Lawman

get your self a good hand truck, can find em cheap, now i just need to take my own advice and stop breaking my back.

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get your self a good hand truck, can find em cheap, now i just need to take my own advice and stop breaking my back.

Got one. Thats how I move my anvil around. Was going to put wheels on the anvil stand but just didn't like the way that turned out so they had to go.

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All of my kit is influenced by portability concerns at present.  I have to pull everything from the garage on one side of the house, walk it across the frontage and across the lawn (to avoid a step in the front walk), and into the side yard in order to use it.  well, for actual hot work anyway, cold work I just do in the garage.

 

My tools are all just in my tool bag which gets carried outside and my anvil is 100 lbs plus a halfway decent pipe based stand (came with it when I bough it) and that just gets scooped up and carried out by hand (if/when I get/make a new stand for it there will be wheels involved).  My post vise however I had to build a stand for anyway, so I took my time designing a very portable system for it with the intent to be able to get it in and out of service at home, but also for demo's and classes if they are short equipment.  you can check out some pictures and some of the spec's in this existing thread:

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All of my kit is influenced by portability concerns at present.  I have to pull everything from the garage on one side of the house, walk it across the frontage and across the lawn (to avoid a step in the front walk), and into the side yard in order to use it.  well, for actual hot work anyway, cold work I just do in the garage.

 

My tools are all just in my tool bag which gets carried outside and my anvil is 100 lbs plus a halfway decent pipe based stand (came with it when I bough it) and that just gets scooped up and carried out by hand (if/when I get/make a new stand for it there will be wheels involved).  My post vise however I had to build a stand for anyway, so I took my time designing a very portable system for it with the intent to be able to get it in and out of service at home, but also for demo's and classes if they are short equipment.  you can check out some pictures and some of the spec's in this existing thread:

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  very nice........I like the Idea, is it pretty stable when you are beating on it like it owes you money.

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I don't have anything on wheels because if I'm not careful it will grow legs and walk off.

 

So far we have had porch furniture stolen, a slingblade, & the tenants kids bike was taken/stolen last summer. Guy across the street is a repoman and he has been looted several times.

( probably by people trying to get even for the repo's) 

 

Right now I drag it out, use it,  put it back on the back porch, then lock the porch. 

I'm putting up a Building this spring just for my welders, torches, forge/foundry, and anvil so I'll lock that too. 

 

Rich

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I don't have anything on wheels because if I'm not careful it will grow legs and walk off.

 

So far we have had porch furniture stolen, a slingblade, & the tenants kids bike was taken/stolen last summer. Guy across the street is a repoman and he has been looted several times.

( probably by people trying to get even for the repo's) 

 

Right now I drag it out, use it,  put it back on the back porch, then lock the porch. 

I'm putting up a Building this spring just for my welders, torches, forge/foundry, and anvil so I'll lock that too. 

 

Rich

Oh....yea that sux.

 

need to send the neighbors a message!

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I like my vises bolted down as securely as possible Its a real pain to work in a floppy vise. 

That would be nice......unfortunately not really an option for me if I want it to be useful. If I ever get to where I can set up a dedicated area for the blacksmith shop i will probably take your advice. Till then I just make it as heavy as possible.

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lawman,

 

Lentz hardware has some pretty good all steel casters at OK prices.  I built one of the hammer racks from the plans that were floating around on here recently and put it on wheels. it holds a lot of stuff!

Might have to check that out. My hammer cart is getting pretty full of tongs, hammers, and hardys. It ain't big enough. I got Harbor Freight Casters on it right now. If I go any bigger i will stop by Tru Value and check it out.

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I too use a Pallet Jack to shift some things around, ... on an "as needed" basis.

 

The Machine Tools are intended to remain where they're at, ... unless some "addition" comes along, that's so compelling, that it warrants a "redesign" of the layout.

 

 

A "lean-to" type Tractor Shed, on the back of the Shop, ... would free up about 1/3 of the Shop Floor space, ... and thereby solve my future needs.

 

 

 

 

.

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That would be nice......unfortunately not really an option for me if I want it to be useful. If I ever get to where I can set up a dedicated area for the blacksmith shop i will probably take your advice. Till then I just make it as heavy as possible.

 

 

Not completely true. Your carport looks like it has a concrete floor. They sell threaded female concrete anchors. I used to use them in my old shop to anchor things like my bender and so on. The female anchors get set in the floor, either with epoxy or the wedge type anchors. Then you simply bolt down what ever you need based on the anchor spacing. when done, Take out the bolts and store the item, then run in some Allan screws or bolts with the heads cut off and slots ground in for a screw driver. All you really want to do is keep dirt and debris out of the anchors. The "fillers" don't even have to be tight, just set down to at least flush with the floor.

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My intent is to have the majority of our tools on wheels that is practical.  I need to park a backhoe in the shop in the winter.  Anvil & forge will stay in place with the front bucket over them.  Everything needs to be able to be parked against a wall.  All our welding items will be or is already on wheels as a lot of the welding is on equip. in frt. of the shop.  Also have hand trucks and pallet jack so things will move one way or another.  Already have most everything on wheels in the bigger mechanical shop so tools and a small bench rolls next to what is being worked on, real nice when there is a tractor in there.

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I don't have everything on wheels but the majority of the shop equipment is movable. The theory being that I can configure the equipment for different jobs and utilize the maximum floor space. I don't like shops that hem you into small places where you have to wrestle with big pieces. Our layout table is movable. The table supports a leg vise in one of 6 positions as well as other tooling that have the requisite 2 in tubing for mounting. We also use the table for the mag base drill. A lot of times you can't wrestle pieces under the stationary drill presses. The center line of the shop has an overhead 36 ft i beam with chain falls and trolleys. If I can get a truck under the beam we can lift in/out the pieces. I also have a welder-generator in the shop that I can load I to the truck for away games. Flexibility is the key when you lay out the shop.

Peter

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Not completely true. Your carport looks like it has a concrete floor. They sell threaded female concrete anchors. I used to use them in my old shop to anchor things like my bender and so on. The female anchors get set in the floor, either with epoxy or the wedge type anchors. Then you simply bolt down what ever you need based on the anchor spacing. when done, Take out the bolts and store the item, then run in some Allan screws or bolts with the heads cut off and slots ground in for a screw driver. All you really want to do is keep dirt and debris out of the anchors. The "fillers" don't even have to be tight, just set down to at least flush with the floor.


This.

I haven't truely whaled on my vice yet, as I don't do much of anything that heavy, it is stable enough even when leaning entirely into it when filing though, and I can raise copper on it with stakes without chasing it around the room. If it was becoming too mobile I would go with the concrete anchors, that's why I put the holes in the feet :)
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I have many items on wheels, but not all. The vises are mounted to stands bolted to the floor but those bolts can quickly be removed and the vise slid out of the way. I just built a new propane forge and it is on wheels. Probably the best thing I did was to put my welding/layout table on wheels that are retractable. That bench is 5 feet x 8 feet with a 3/4" thick steel top. It is mounted on some old machinery base that is a fair bit smaller in both dimensions, so I put a set of semi truck jacking legs on each end. I shortened those legs and added 8" casters. The table rests on the original base when the wheels are retracted but can easily be moved when needed.

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