BrennantheNavigator

Fun times, indeed Lary. Thanks for the welcome BillyBones; I've been working on the water for the last ten years so the name seemed fitting. Probably fall a bit short of being the Patron Saint of much though, lol. I'm in Carter County, so not too far away. You're right, the gravel definitely leaves some things to be desired, but I'll get it refined. The forge has an 8" chimney hole; I know most on here say that's too small (or at least at the lowest size one would want but I would think it was sized and used appropriately when built. I'll probably end up closing it up a bit and possibly converting to a side draft which should help the efficacy of an 8" chimney. It'll also be about 25' high and a straight shot up and out which should help too. Marketplace has 8" double walled pipe fairly often if you don't mind doing a little driving to get to it, but you're right I should do a little more reading up on local code.

Sounds like some finer aggregate and/or fly ash will be the way to go. I'm in East KY (profile recently updated) so shouldn't be too hard to find either. The wide angle lens definitely makes things look a little farther apart, maybe 8 feet from the forge but I'll probably end up tightening things up once I get a little farther along; there's still a ton to do, but I can putz around on my little propane forge set up wherever I need it in the mean time. Still on the list: source and build a chimney out of used double wall pipe, get the hammer bolted down and wire the RPC up, assemble the press and belt grinder, mount a few vises, get the big anvil stump properly strapped, build a stand for the 200 lbs swage block, install better over head lighting... it's a slow process but headway is being made.

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?