Rojaws

Whilst eminently practical, Im not sure the Mrs would approve of the breezeblock aesthetic :-)

Sh would quite happily put up with a wooden construction.. although Ill probably have to submit to her choice of colour to stain/paint it!

So, I have a space that is approx 3.25x4 M in length....  this is the space pccupied by a knackered old shed that if I push hard will fall down.  SO, its got to be replaced.

So I have been given permission by She Who Must Be Obeyed that I can build what I want and turn it into a little blacksmiths workshop.

The question is, what do I build?  I have a bit of cash, so could go for something like this:

Im planning on using my gas forge, so the overhang  would be good for putting the forge on so I dont kill myself..

I would be having a concrete floor.

Obviously,  the cabin is wood.  This does worry me somewhat as obviously Id be bashing hot pieces of metal... I could use some cement board or good old plasterboard (sheetrock) to line the walls...

The alternative is to build a metal shed, which would come in at about half the price, but would be very short, and I would have to faff around making them a bit taller in some way...

What is the consensus on the above sort of building for a small forge workshop?...

OK, so it seems to me that scrap yards in the UK are a thing of the past...

It used to be that you could rock up to your scrap yard, tell them you needed a wing mirror for a ford escort and theyd point you in the vague direction of a bunch of teetering cars and tell you to knock yourself out...

Now, they just dont seem to exist!  Its all Ebay and Partsfinder.com

So where to get some old leaf spring steel, some old springs from shocks.. you know, all the bits of "mystery metal" that can be used for practicing on or making useful little doohickeys?

Any ideas?  Im in Bedofrdshire BTW if anyone has any pointers!

Second Hand :-)

Dont xxxxx start me on that one!!!!

Yeah, the states and oddly Australia seem to have the best availability.. You lucky beggars in the land of the free! waving your Harbour Freight and Milwaukee tools in our faces :-)

Yup, put the word out as far and wide as I can.. asked friends on more rural locations to look out and ask around.. Someone did point me in the direction of one.  It turned out to be a vaguely pointy lump of rust that had been sitting in a garden for about 80 years...

yup! like buses!

Im slightly North of London in Bedfordshire....  I currently have chunk of old forklift truck fork that i use as an improvised "thing to hit things against" but would really like something a little more dedicated to the task!

Im not devoted to any one thing.. I like knives, hooks, leaves, pokers.. if you can make it out of hot metal, I like it :-)

Im half hoping that this post works on the principal that now Ive given up trying to source a second hand anvil, Ill find 3 on ebay tomorrow :-)

So, Ive given up trying to find a used anvil.  Theyre all either far too far away, massively overpriced, or utterly knackered.  Or all 3.

So Im looking at buying a new Vaughans anvil from Anvils.co.uk and just suck up the price.

Question is, which size to go for?  Im a beginner, and I dont plan on making 6 ft long swords for a while yet!

Im thinking a 84lb one would be a good starting point, and go on from there...seems to be a good middling price..

Advice please :-)