RobertThoreson Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 So I moved a year ago from our family farm to the city. I rent the upstairs of a 2 story and have a shared back yard. I want to build something to stay our of the elements but being rented property, in town, It can't be permanent. Iv thought about something like a teepee but I think that would stand out too much lol I don't need alot of space. Does anyone have any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 A tepee is a good option, but you should also consider either a semi-permanent shed (something that could be disassembled and removed if/when you move away) or simply forging outside. As long as your gear is protected from the elements when you're not forging (e.g., wrapped in tarps and bungee cord), you should be fine. The advantage of a tepee or shed is that you can forge in inclement weather more than you can en plein air, especially since you don't get excessive cooling of the metal from any wind that happens to blow through. If your area is relatively sheltered, though, that may not be as much of a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 one of the carport metal framed and roofed structures that you can use there but disassemble and move when you do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertThoreson Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share Posted January 20, 2017 I was leaning twards the teepee also bc I can get 6x8 foot tarps from Walmart for $2 each. I'm just not sure if that would be a good idea bc of them being plastic and likely to deteriorate in a year or two. Plus the size I would need to work a fire in would be tall. The car ports I feel are too large also and expensive for what you actually get. Maybe I'm just being too picky. I'll get a pic of the yard maybe this weekend to give you an idea of what I'm working with, it's not ideal. I miss the farm so bad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 A usable teepee is going to probably take up more space than a small carport. Can you find one used? I was given one once from a guy at work who was moving up from it to a contractor built garage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 You may want to look into using posts for support, and pallets make the walls. Make it modular using sections that are 2 pallets tall and one pallet wide. Make the frame strong enough to stand alone and the wall sections are just for decoration. Come time to move, you just pull the pallet sections (walls) and load them into a truck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donniev Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Using Glenn's idea it wouldn't be difficult to put tarps on the walls, and get a tarp overhead at an angle so it won't hold water. I can't see it taking more than 1 1/2-2 hours to make a small "shop" like this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 one other large factor: "city"! You may not be able to get away with "country style" building approximations. I've had at least one student who's smithing got shut down by code enforcement in a city, (well not shut down, he could still do it, he just needed to file for a burning permit 10 working days beforehand and pay a $25 fee each time...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertThoreson Posted January 21, 2017 Author Share Posted January 21, 2017 Well I'll keep my eyes open for some pallets but in the meantime I'm going to to cut some trees at my father's land this weekend and see how a teepee goes for a temp shelter. And yes thomas, that's one thing I'm worried about. I hate that they are so strict obout little things. My fiance got a $60 parking ticket bc of the winter parking ban on a night that it wasn't even close to snowing and a few years back, I had my camaro ,witch was obviously a race car, get impounded out of my mom's back yard bc it didn't have plates on it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 A lot depends on the neighbors, when I lived in the city I had someone call the fire department on me multiple times. By shear luck when the pumper truck wedged itself in our narrow alley each time they found I had been using my small smoker to cook---for real!---as Columbus OH had an exception in the fire rules for cooking (and one for heating as well). I never even had a warning. (and I was told under the table that the person who kept calling the FD on me was warned that the next false alarm would cost them US$1100, never had another callout!) On the other hand when the building catty cornered from my detached garage/smithy caught fire it took a while for it to get called in as "we thought it was just you forging" Can't believe folks couldn't tell between coal smoke and building smoke! Oh well it made a better empty lot anyway...And I did get some charcoal from it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 40 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said: And I did get some charcoal from it too. Lemons, meet lemonade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertThoreson Posted January 21, 2017 Author Share Posted January 21, 2017 Well 8 poles cut and ate some lunch. Back home in a bit to try and build something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 How urban is the new place? How big is your backyard? How stealthy will you have to be? You could do a quick adobe with straw bales and some mud, and that would be easy to remove when needed. I used 55 gallon drums on their side, and welded them together to form walls that are 8'Hx10'Wx3'D They are self supporting, provide storage, and have withstood 50mph winds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notownkid Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 On 1/20/2017 at 9:08 AM, RobertThoreson said: So I moved a year ago from our family farm to the city. mistake #1 moved to city #2 shared backyard. good luck pacifying the downstairs people to say nothing of neighbors with a smoking, noisy Tepee. They want to have friends over for a BBQ in the yard and there is a Tepee out there! What if the shoe was on the other foot and someone wanted to move it into your share backyard and you had 0 interest or understanding of Blacksmithing? Best of Luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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