Michael

Just moved into my 8 x 16 space over the holidays. An overgrown corner of the yard with an ancient Monkey Ward aluminum shed. The shed came down, the space was graded, drainage accounted for (space is in the path of runoff) and the neighbors were kind enough to repair the fence the shed was holding up! From clearing the space to lighting the coke forge, about 6 months of hard work. The old leaky corrugated patio cover was repurposed, walls to roof, rusted out roof to walls in the new space. It's narrow, but dry save for condensation off the metal roof. Getting all my stuff in there is a challenge, the old space was a shared 12x22 feet. I think coke and propane storage will be outside the smithy, and my scrap pile needs some serious thinning and re thinking. Gallery link above shows all the work in progress pictures. Best, Michael

Lit the first coal fire in the new smithy in the back yard! Made a bracket to connect the "building" frame to the woodworking shop next to it. New space is 8x16 feet, tucked into a corner of the yard after some significant drainage work was put in place. The spot was/is, in the path of water flow from all the houses uphill and had to be accommodated. Old space was a covered patio with rusted out roof panels and intact wall panels. The panels were swapped for the new space, with the walls making up a nice corrugated roof and the rusted roof making workable walls. A bit of a squeeze getting stuff in there, coal and propane tanks may need to be housed outside of the perimeter but the new space works, in the rain especially.

When I had a Bug in New York and the heater control cables rusted out, I'd crawl under the car in the fall, wire the heater channel valves open for the winter. Come Spring I'd crawl under the Bug again and snip the wires to close the valves for the summer.

Hey, I thought you said no windows? Just kidding, looks like a nice shop. How's the 'thru the wall' coal forge flue set up. Michael-just about to finish the walls of a new smithy