March 31, 20224 yr 15 hours ago, mr. anderson said: Is that a coal iron works press? I've been thinking about getting one. Do you like it? I love it. Depending on the size of material you use it works a treat. I’m grateful that the blacksmith guild of western Maryland has a 16 ton, which has significantly larger dies, so I use that when I need to upset larger materials. Otherwise, the 12 ton is an amazing tool. I can break down up to 2 inch round fairly easily, and it is far more compact and quiet than a power hammer. Obviously all things have their pros and cons, but if noise, power and space are concerns like they are for me, the 12 ton packs a punch, far more than my right arm can.
May 18, 20224 yr On 3/8/2022 at 2:35 PM, ThomasPowers said: Ask the local metal roofing company about tearoffs for the walls... The roofing crew just left my house. I bought them all lunch (no ulterior motive) and made some friends. One of them was the foreman and after some talk about me building a shop he said they usually scrap out the old tin from previous jobs, but he would save it for me. He has a side business and would let me have the material if I contract him to put it up. As much as I want. Now I best figure out how many posts and concrete I can get for free. Slow and steady as she goes....
May 18, 20224 yr I know a local truck driver that used to work for a concrete company, and he told me they always have leftovers in the truck after jobs, he told me if I ever wanted to build a frame he’d swing in a dump the leftovers
May 18, 20224 yr How big?---Have you ever seen the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building) at the Kennedy Space Center?
May 19, 20224 yr Ayup, the TPAAAT as applied to building materials. Works for everything. Frosty The Lucky.
May 19, 20224 yr Out here I started with 20'x30', 10' walls and two 10'x10' roll up doors on opposing walls channeling the normal winds out here. Then I added another 20'x30' again with 10'walls and an aligned 10'x10' roll up door also a dirt floor. Now I'm hankering after adding a 20'x20' carport so I can park my pickup in the shade and store some of the larger stuff "outside". Remember the correct size for your shop is always 2N where N is the size you currently have...
May 20, 20224 yr That's how my old shop went. It started out as a two car detached garage (no vehicles allowed, all shop), then I added two large lean-to's. It wasn't long before I cut a door in the side to add a storage room. Another little lean-to for fire wood and finally I wound up buying a large used wood shed I butted up close to the back wall. It was an odd looking structure.... But it fit me like a glove and I had more improvements planned up till we decided to move. It was in the middle of the farm so plenty of room and no snoopy neighbors.
May 20, 20224 yr We added an addition to the shop and it's already full. https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/64355-long-awaited-addition-to-the-shop/
May 20, 20224 yr My shop was getting crowded before I got all the sheathing on let alone trimmed. Frosty The Lucky.
May 20, 20224 yr Yeah, my shop is Totally Full. I'm having to get very selective about what I bring in there, and very creative about how I store it. I'm going to have to break down and build another small satellite building. I just hate to do it now while everything's so expensive.
May 21, 20224 yr Such as it is so far. I am still working on setting it up, so it is ever changing and not really operational yet. Working on ventilation right now.
May 21, 20224 yr Save that picture and after 10 or 20 years look back at how tidy and clean it was. I was in mine 20+ and when I cleaned it out for the buyer I found stuff I didn't know I had. There was an oppossum skeleton in a galv wash tub up in the rafters. When it was empty and swept up it was so nice it made it even harder to part with. I wanted to move all my stuff back in. That's a nice photo of your forging area JHCC, fun to blow it up and look at everything in detail....
May 21, 20224 yr Points finger at John and sing songs "you can see his shop floor!" WR that's positively *austere*; there are some effective modern treatments for that! (Some involve regular scrapyard visits...)
May 21, 20224 yr Don't worry WR it'll ripen quickly. I have to ask, what is the gray slab on the floor on the right? Frosty The Lucky.
May 21, 20224 yr 20 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said: “you can see his shop floor!" Depends on the area and the angle.
May 21, 20224 yr I was going to ask you about that Scott. Blowing up anybody's shop would probably make it easier to look at the stuff but don't you run a risk of some getting lost in the grass, a close by pond or neighbor's yard? Frosty The Lucky.
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.