Arthur210

I considered it seriously, but unfortunately it does not appear practical in my case. The shed will close to neighbours' backyard on two fronts (those without windows or door). And the presence of a wall chimney beside the shed's door might prove to be a safety hazard when my grandson visits and plays in my small back yard. So my wife wouldn't agree to a wall chimney. I'll try to post a picture of the space soon. This might clarify things.

Thanks for the advice, Thomas. Enclosing the forge table will certainly be possible when I reach that stage. I do plan on working with one or both windows open, even in the winter. The door as well on warmer days. I have no desire to suffer carbon poisoning! There will be a CO detector in there. And I put a fire extinguisher in the plan, near the work table and labeled "Fire safety". I do indeed plan on visiting local smiths over the summer as time allows, before I finalize my forge setup. For now my main project over the summer is to get the shed built and roofed. So the main concern at this time is the location of the chimney so that I can put it in place at the same time that I build the roof. I think it is much easier to do it this way instead of retrofitting one into an already-built building. Everything else will be mobile, so that I can rearrange it as I gain experience on what works and what doesn't.

Some more details about the workshop: It will be built on a concrete slab. As I live in a place that gets quite cold in the winter, with a lot of snowfall, the workshop will be fully insulated. I will use the attic space for storage, with 8-foot high ceilings. The smithing I plan on doing will be fairly small stuff like tools, camping gear, and knives. I'd like to make swords eventually, but I am aware that it is a much more advanced skill set and that it will be a long time before I am ready for that. The chimney will be a super sucker with an 8" insulated pipe. Insulated because of the city code. I got the pipe used at a very good price ($80 for 4 sections totaling 10' in length). But I am aware that it would be better to have 10" or even 12" for the chimney. If I find out that it doesn't draw enough I will install a second pipe to increase the pull. Regarding the water barrel vs quench tank: that is just to get a sense of the space I may need. From what I understand, when making blades it is better to use oil to prevent cracks. Having plenty of water nearby seems like a good idea when playing with fire. I would be standing just by the door. As I mentioned, I am left-handed. But neither the anvil nor the vise will be fixed in place. Each will be on a heavy stump or a sturdy table. So I'll be able to re-arrange stuff as I try them out. Furthermore, when I am not working with the forge everything will be compacted into the corner to leave space to do something else. The lawnmower is electric. The belt sander and all the other stuff is only displayed to get a feeling of the space available. For now I have nothing to set up. I'm a newcomer to the craft and still have to buy or build anything for the shop. Everything is still in the planning stage.

Over the summer, I am building a larger shed in the back yard to host most of my tools, including a small forge that I plan to build. I've read a lot about blacksmithing over the last year, including much on this wonderful site over the last few weeks. So I thought I would share my plans and how they change as I realize the project. Since I am mostly interested in historical recreation blacksmithing, I plan on using a charcoal forge. As I live in the suburbs I feel that the smell will be less offensive to the neighbours than a bituminous coal woud be. I may eventually also build myself a propane forge, but that will be much later. The shed will be 10' x 16' but the area I will be able to use for forging will be much smaller. In order to gauge how much space I will have and how things will be organized when forging, I made a drawing of the space. The actual placement of the anvil, vise and other tools will change as I try things out. Note that I am left-handed.

The whole building will be 10' x 16' but the space I can devote to smithing will be much smaller than that. As I mentioned, I have other tools that will share the space, such as my band saw, winter tires, the lawn mower and other yard maintenance items. I already have a 9x9 shed, which the new building will replace, that is too small already. So in the end I expect I will only be able to devote about 50 square feet to smithing. It should be enough for most things, but nowhere near as large as I'd like. Thanks for the advice Frosty!

Certainly, I plan on walking before I run. So learning to move the metal and do blacksmithing before I move on to bladesmithing is all part of my learning plans. I've read quite a few books in the last year, so I think I have a fairly good understanding of what this is about. But that doesn't replace actual hands-on experience. I figure I'll start with small projects and exercices from those books first. Make some tools that I will then be able to use for further smithing work, like tongs and punches. I'm thinking that medieval-looking arrow heads shouldn't be too hard to make. Also things like torch-holders, camping stakes, etc. I'm still a year away from having my forge set up, I think. So I'm hoping I can find someone to help me acquire hands-on experience as well in the mean time. Anyone here who is active in the SCA and going to Pennsic War? The biggest challenge is that the work area I will have for my forge will be quite limited. The largest shed I can build in my backyard is 10' x 16' and my forge will have to share the space with my other tools (mostly woodworking). So I am trying to build smart. I'll use the attic space for storage, to that I don't waste floor space to simply store the winter/summer stuff (car tires, winter garage, etc.) Thanks for the welcoming words!

Greetings all, Just found this site and thought I'd introduce myself to the community. I've been reading on blacksmithing and bladesmithing for about a year, ever since I started watching the TV show Forged In Fire. This sparked an added interest in a field that I've always found fascinating. I've been doing medieval recreation for more than 20 years, including archery, armored fighting, fencing, brewing, and many others. Watching the show made me itch to try my hand at bladesmithing. A few months ago, I decided that I'd rather not wait until I retire (over 10 years from now) before I explore this art. So this summer I am building myself a small workshop in my backyard where I will be able to set up a small forge. I would like to use it to make knives, swords, throwing axes, arrow heads and other items related to my hobby. Regards, Arthur