Building, Designing a Shop

Been at this a long time.. This is my 4th trailer setup in 30 years.. I hope it will be the last I will build.. Took and old horse trailer and made it a full 8ft wide and 8ft tall inside and 10ft long inside. it is still a work in progress as I had to have it done for a demo day so was only able to get it done enough to use.. Will finish it this week or the next.. The anvil will be on a stand that rests solidly on the ground and will winch up for transport.. Currently using the stand from my other trailer which is light pipe bolted to the underframe.. STill to much bounce.. It has awnings on all 4 sides with 2 on each side, 1 in the front to let bar st…

Hi i was previously dphigh but the forum has changed and i couldn't log in so i changed it to Alec.S dphigh (just to clarify that) any hooo lets see your shop. alec :blink:

Well, it's gone and happened. The contractor showed up and in 2 days are nearly 1/2 way done. The teaching center will be 40X60' and have 5 work stations fully equipped with own forge areas, workbenches, vises and such. that is the plan anyhow. Here are the startings of the whole operation... the first few were of last year about august..

hang a hoist or pulley to a truss roof shed to lift weights Hi, a friend of mine would like to create a lifting point on the truss of his shed to lift weights of 500-600 kg maximum. I told him if you don't know the capacity you risk causing the roof to collapse. How do I determine the capacity of the truss? How should a truss be built and structured to lift weights with a hoist? Thanks. Hanging a Chain Hoist from Truss? Thoughts???

Big fan of old medieval / timberframe / castle sort of architecture. If I google medieval blacksmith shop all that come up are images from computer games, artists drawings, or similar. Usually they look very cool but of course are not real. Anyone have photos or know of any actual historical metal working shops / foundries /armouries that survived that were build with big timberframe style with stone etc... maybe a water wheel? Like the lego blacksmith shop - is there a real life version out there someplace besides maybe disneyland? photos of course welcome.

How much lighting is too much what's probably not enough? Not a fan of a real dark shop as it's harder to see tools, forging in the sunlight also not fun as colors look weird. So what does everyone else do? Do you use any lighting? What level of brightness do you like?

Do any of yall have air conditioning in your shop? I'm working on building a new shop and trying to see if it's reasonable to air condition my space. I have a 12000btu portable ac unit that should be more than capable of keeping the shop cool, but with the heat from the forge. The shop is about 200 sqft.

How to bolt a large double-leaf iron garage door Sorry to bother you. They tried to force open the iron door of one of our garages. They climbed over the courtyard gate, cut the first padlock, then broke a window and tried to force the door open by hand, fortunately in vain. I had made hook and loop latches with pins, and I had installed eyelets with a large padlock. Since I can't install alarms or cameras, could you suggest a system to better lock and barricade the door? It's a minefield with bombs. No, clearly. Thank you. Sorry to bother you. I've secured the glass windows with iron bars made from 20 mm flat iron. Thank you.

Her is my progres on building awning for my shop. I plan to make it woodworking more efriendly because of rain and I today build one gallows bracket . Plan is to copy this system on other building First screws were used to hold beam at place then down 7 cm nails were used to nailed from side about 2.5 inches. Then I used 4 inches nails to nail this construction together. Cuts were made at angles too . 45 degree and bracket was made using layout from L shape where it went diagonaly. Hold excellent , need to make another one. Timber used for construction is 4x5 . Length is to accomodate my spac…

I have been missing my old shop with dirt floors. It was much more enjoyable to work on, as my knees and feet did not hurt by the end of the day. Now, my floor is a nice hard concrete slab, which is wonderful for some applications, such as rolling tool carts around. I know I am not the only one who works on concrete everyday, so I wanted to ask which is more important in a concrete floored shop: Good boots or Floor Mats? Should I be focusing on finding quality shoe inserts to support my feet, or would I be better focusing on getting some sort of rubber matting like horse mats to put down? I am sure each has its pro and con, but I would like to get less f…

hi sorry if I disturb for my small blacksmith shop I would like to make a large sturdy bench on which to place the drill press on one side and a metal saw on the other side, an acquaintance suggested me to make two truncated pyramid pedestals and create two workstations, one to cut and segment the bars, one to drill the pieces, what do you recommend, I have a small shop and need to optimize space, thanks. altezza 90cm larghezza del piano superiore 30cm profondita 40cm inclinazione delle gambe circa 6 gradi

I'm starting to amass more of these tools than I can easily store. Actually, that's a lie...I haven't even been attempting to store them, they're just laying (and rolling) around on my various workbenches and shelves, getting lost and interfering with my workflow. Please weigh in on how you store your drifts and punches. I saw that John at Black Bear Forge uses a large wooden cabinet with shallow drawers, and I guess that's an option, but I'm not looking for a cabinetry project at this stage. I'm considering building something that hangs on the wall with two layers of 1" chicken wire at this stage. Here's a side view of what I'm thinking, and it would be as wide as I…

I was wondering how everyone stores their metal? In particular the smaller stuff, 4 foot and less. I took a weekend (5 Saturdays) welding class and build the legs for a metal rack. I was worried my novice skill set in welding could create a hazard, when you think of the weight of steel sitting on some folks racks. Also I only have a flux core welder (Hobart) which is probably not best suited for this project. So using scrap from my buddies work, I built 4 Legs for the stands (Picture 1). About 5 foot tall. The intent is to weld the cross braces at home. And then space these about 15 feet apart. (Picture 2) I have 50-100 30 foot Succor rods I wan…

Hello, me grandfather are working on restoring a forge to working order. it has likely not been in use for at least 50 odd years but is more likely to be closer to 80 or more. also I am uncertain if this is the right topic to be posting in so if its not please let me know. I would give to building a estimate foot print of 15ft by 40 ft. it has wide rough cut planks on the walls with wide gaps between its roof is of tin. it has a very tall roof with slopes on both sides the forge is made of stone that had a bellows then a buffalo blower. The anvil is mouse hole Armitage with some wear on cornor but otherwise fine Photos of building attached bellow …

Hey Guys, In the better interest of procuring a little more comfortable working quarters, I decided to start spending some of my "fun money" on materials to build a little 12'x16" pole barn to get some shelter over my setup. I've been blacksmithing for a few years (maybe 2.5 or so), and living with Oklahoma weather, I was definitely interested in investing in something that would make it more practical to work when I want, regardless of weather. So, having a few days off from work for the Christmas/New Year holidays, I decided to spend some time with my dad building this barn. I live on some family land a little north of Tulsa, OK, and my dad is an experienced b…

I'm building my shop and I'm wondering if a clay and charcoal dust floor would work? Also what are some must haves? I want it to be functional and authentic as I'm building it in a museum village.

Hello all, I'm in the process of setting up my smithy. I'd love to hear any comments/ideas/suggestions. One thing I'm finding annoying is the crusher stone floors. While initially thinking this would be great for a forge, it makes moving stuff around, leveling it, and having it stable a pain. Things also don't slide so much as dig a trench. Any advice on dealing with this that does not involve pouring a slab? I'm thinking maybe some sort of fill and sealer?

I'm going to post pictures here every so often, from the shop I work at. These pictures are a little dark because the big front doors were closed.

Curious if anyone has any experience with using concrete clinker as a shop floor. Have access to rediculiously cheap copious quantities. Seems like it wouldn't be bad, but wanting to see if I am missing something. Thinking if I prep, Dig out 8-10" compact Drop landscape cloth Drop 2 inches at a time and compact Should be decently stable enough and if/when I decide to top it, nothing new to do? Can get oil coated at the same price and by oil coated it is sometime called blackrock. What is used to mix with blacktop, but just oil coated at this point. So could do a few layer of oil coated then top with dry? Or do no…

Hi all, I recently pulled my g. Grandpa’s forge out of an old storage building at our farm in Northern California. Would like to put it into an old 2 1/2 story mill house (steel building) on the ground level floor (concrete). Thinking of putting a motorized wall fan to receive the 10” to 12” ducting from the forge about 4’ from the wall. Maybe 1, or 2’ above the forge outlet then 90 degree elbo to the wall. I don’t really want to vent 30’ up the side of the building. I need the experience of the forum for help on this. Mark Scribner SBV

I have a bunch of these walkway/building stones I wanted to use for a small coke/coal forge but have heard using concrete could explode? here is a picture example of what I have. if this isn’t good to use what type of stone or rock is ok to use? Other then fire bricks. thank you for the feedback

Looking for advice on how I can improve my setup. Last time I tried starting up the coal forge, I smoked up the entire backyard somehow. Not sure if that was an issue with coal quality, technique, or the heavy wind that day. Going to try charcoal next time, and then add bituminous little by little until I have plenty of coke. The plastic bag covering the forge was intended to stop or slow down rusting since I can't get out every single day and don't feel like lugging it in and out of the shed. I can't get out even on days I have time but that's a mental thing and not really relevant here. It doesn't appear to have slowed down any rusting, especially since I sprinkle…

Ive got a small setup of a forge cart on casters, a bench in a carport and my anvil on a stump. Currently it's all sharing space with my lawnmower, gardening stuff, landscaping stuff, etc. Kinda crowded. When I want to do some work it's about an hour of shuffling stuff around and setting things up outside in my driveway. Longer with the teardown because I have to wait for things to cool. Also means I can only work on nice days. I'm planning on making basically a slanted roof on 4x4s, roughly 10x12. My goal is to have something that I can easily move or adjust if needed. I've a couple ideas, but basically I plan to have 2 walls and the other 2 open…

Sorry — this is long: I live in the city and work in my stair landing between the yard and bacement. Not xxxxxx xxx the neighbors with a lot of noise is a big part of the equation to continue make things. I have a small gas forge and cast Harbor Freight anvil and recently acquired a large metal wedge I’ve been using as a spike anvil. CAST ANVIL My cast anvil is securely fastened to a stump atop flat metal slabs and is wrapped in an old climbing rope with bits of short scrap metal intertwined in it to weigh it down. I’m going to get a thick chain to replace the rope. I’ve also heard of people placing a sheet of silicone between the stump and anvil b…

Hello, I live up north where the winters are quite harsh, and in order to keep working through the winter, I've been looking to make an improvised shelter out of wooden pallets for now, eventually working towards a better setup later on. What would I need to consider, if working with only pallet wood? I plan to dig small holes in the ground to bury beams for support, nailing wooden pallets to a basic frame. Thanks.