Show me your shop!

[alexandr]

2 hours ago, Frosty said:

Happily in 25 years I've only had to go up or send someone up maybe 4 times. 

Jer ! I have to clean the roof several times during the winter.

16 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Out here a metal roof is a big plus as it resists cinders and hot embers from wild fires---putting one on usually gets you a decrease in your insurance premiums!

Thomas, Our insurance is voluntary. This is both good and bad, in 30 years I burned 4 times. Luckily I was able to put it out on time.

[Frosty]

That last pic makes me REALLY happy I built such a steep pitched roof and all the trusses are closer than they "should" be. Snow almost never gets more than 40cm. deep before it slides off and the roof is strong enough to support a meter or better of wet heavy snow. Half a meter sliding off shakes the house and sends the dogs into a frenzy but they settle down. It's fun to see an avalanche going past the kitchen window when we're quick enough to look up in time. 

If it's a heavy snow year I have to shovel the shop roof. I can reach all of the barn roof with a long handled snow rake so I don't have to walk on it. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[jlpservicesinc]

Alexandr You need a manlift..  Best thing I have ever bought.. 4X4 with 4 wheel steering..  Makes it easy to remove snow or ice dams.. 

All joking aside I'm sorry to hear about fire/s.  

Reason why I went with an all steel building. 

[JHCC]

Not MY shop, but the shop where Fred Crist gave me my first lessons in blacksmithing. This is the exterior of the blacksmith shop at the former Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art, later the Philadelphia College of Art, now the University of the Arts. Samuel Yellin apparently used this as a talent farm for his own ironworking operation.

(I tried to get inside to photograph the interior, but I couldn't blag my way past security.)

[Frosty]

Did you tell them you left your homework?

Frosty The Lucky.

[ThomasPowers]

It got eaten by the dog headed hammer....

[Will Brouwers]

I just posted on the “show me your workbench thread,” and figured it was a good time to show the basement shop I have created in the seminary townhouse my wife and I live in. It is all temporary, as we have lived here a year and a half, and have another year and a half to go.

The first picture is where most of my storage is, along with all my blacksmithing tools that get hauled up the stairs outside each time I forge. The anvil and propane forge stay outside, but everything else, including the 5.5 inch vise gets hauled up.

The other side of the shop is where the new to me drill press lives, along with all my steel and wood storage.

[Will Brouwers]

Well, this is kind of funny! The post previous is me showing my old shop, and now 10 months later here I am showing my new shop in the 2.5 car garage!

This time I get to keep all my tools and work benches where I forge! No more hauling stuff up or down stairs just to forge in direct sunlight!

 The only thing is, this shop is narrow! I want to put the forge, lower left hand corner, on a smaller stand/table and rotate it 90*, but I like having the pass-through, and I am afraid of getting the wood wall too hot.

I am also hoping to get a belt grinder going soon, and a portaband, and those will require bench space.

 I am also in the process of making up a striking vise, and while it won’t always need to be out, it will need a home.

 I also thought about making the bench/shelf under the window bigger/sturdier and maybe putting a metal top so I have a place to put hot work?

So much I want! So little room! Any thoughts or ideas are more than welcome!!

[George N. M.]

Will, assuming that you leave the forge and vice where they are in the last photo I would move the anvil a bit closer to the forge.  You want your work triangle of forge, vice, and anvil to be as close as possible to each other without being crowded,  I find that about a step or step and a half apart works best for me.

I'd make the bench under the window about twice as deep as it is now and mount a decent size machinist;s vice on it and some sort of bench/striking anvil as well as any power grinder, belt or wheel.  And you will need racks for tools, hammers, tongs, and various smaller tools like hardys, fullers, files, punches, etc..

Oh, and probably most imprtant, a smoke/CO alarm.  The CO detector would be the first thing I bought.  I had a friend almost die from CO poisoning in a garage shop.  Had to spend time is a hyperbaric chamber (high pressure oxygen).  Not a good time.

Plenty of room to have a fine shop.  You may want to do an in scale diagram and move pieces of paper representing the anvil, forge, vice, bench, etc.  around on it to experiment with various configurations.

Don't forget that you can hand stuff from the rafters.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[M3F]

One thing too be careful with the vehicle in there while grinding etc. You'll end up with a million little rust spots all over your vehicle that don't come off. Ask me how I know. Lol

[George N. M.]

"hang" not "hand" stuff from the rafters.  Sorry.  Noticed the typo after the short edit period had expired.

G

[Scott NC]

  Stands on wheels or casters for some tools works well so you can roll them out of the way.  Perhaps even store them in front of the car.  Vertical wall storage is also your friend.  Hooks, racks, etc.  I'm not advocating it but I had 2 double car garages at the same time once and the vehicles sat outside.  I cussed a lot while scraping snow and ice from them though.  Priorities.....

[Goods]

Your forget table look easy to move. Put in the corner if that is the most efficient for the majority of your forging. Just move it out when you have a long project that requires it.

Keep it fun,

David

[Scott NC]

  I had my forge pointing at a plywood wall and just stacked cinder blocks up high enough and put a piece of tin roofing in front of them.  The wall never even got warm.  Of course it was a sacrifice of a bit of space.

  But that's how I did it and wouldn't want you to burn your garage down.  I would pull your forge around...

  Actually it was a piece of sheet metal.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

1 hour ago, Scott NC said:

and the vehicles sat outside. 

We had the same problem, had one of those metal carports big enough for two cars put into the hill. It's worked out pretty well for us, the whole unattached garage is now a shop with the blacksmith shop attached to it.

I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s.
Semper Paratus

 

[Will Brouwers]

George,

The picture doesn’t show how close the anvil is to the forge. When I have a 3’ long piece in the forge, hanging by the chain from the ceiling, I have to be careful at the anvil not to bump it.

In the darker picture, the more recent one, I made a tong/hammer/grinder rack ringing the top of the post vise stand. It works pretty well and keeps most things from rolling off!

I like the idea, and should done it before posting, about the paper and the moveable pieces on it. Thank you!

What should I hang from the rafters? I am 6’4” so I have to be careful with how low things are. I have also thought about making kind of a ladder, putting 2x4’s between the studs so I can get up there easily, but the best place for it, in the middle of the peak, would be in the way.

Also, thanks for the tip about grinder dust…I’m sorry you had to find out the hard way!

Right now all the steel storage is behind the man door, in the non-visible left corner in both pictures.

 

[Frosty]

If all you want is a heat resistant table to cement board is a code compliant fire backing around stoves and wood burners. The forge is the #1 thing I'd make mobile, NARB lives on a steel cart I got at a yard sale. We used to use printer's tin for heat shielding back in the day and I've used stainless steel sheet. It just needs to be shiny to keep cool so long as it isn't in the forge's exhaust. Cement backer board is fire rated and works a treat. I have it under the forge and keep some handy in case.

I think the idea was to hang stuff IN the rafters though against the walls out of the traffic lanes things could be hung from them. 

I mounted my leg vise on a foldable tripod stand for portability but don't much like it, it's too shaky. I want to mount it on a steel disk so I can tip it and roll it. The mounting post will wedge in a square receiver tube on the base plate so it will disassemble easily for transport or storage.

 Frosty The Lucky.

[Will Brouwers]

Frosty,

 I am going to do what Mt. Phillips does for his post vises and cannibalize a drill press from the scrap yard for a little striking vise.

[Frosty]

You realize drill press stands and tables are cast iron and are really susceptible to impact damage. Yes? The picture you show looks cool but he would've been farther ahead mounting it to a bench unless he just doesn't have room and needs to keep it mobile.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Will Brouwers]

I did think about that Frosty. I have a piece of plate with a pipe welded vertically in the middle of it, so I was going to put the leg of the vise in the pipe, and was thinking/hoping that the plate would spread the force of the impact.

Do you think that would spread the force? I was just going to go for it, but your educated opinion is worth more than mine!

[Goods]

I’m not sure how big the plate is, but I would drill a hole towards the edge of the plate to hold just the end of the “acorn” of the leg and weld another plate on top of the pipe to mount the vice bracket. Of course it’s all size and equipment dependent.

Keep it fun,

David

[Frosty]

It would probably spread the impact forces but I don't know. What does the base you have look like underneath? Every drill press base I've had occasion to check out is basically supported around the edges and open underneath. My current one has slots for securing clamps and special fixtures with slot screws, just like the table so the base is basically a large "bridge." 

If I were to come across and use one like my drill press for a leg vise stand I think I'd drill a hole in the base large enough to pass the acorn and make a floor plate under it. bolts or studs from the vise ground plate up through the press base to keep it all in one place without directly conducting impact / shock would make me feel "safe.

I'm not crazy about his tray even though it can be turned to get it out of the way. To a degree. I have a small tool tray on my stand and it limits being wrapping or bending stock around the end of the jaws. Mine is way smaller and has square "sockets" for bottom tools but still gets in the way. When I bend in my vise I prefer to push towards the stand's post, not pull out and a large tool tray really limits how far I can push. I certainly don't want to hammer against the mobile jaw when the heal jaw is designed for exactly that. 

Goodness I'm rambly this morning. On the other hand I've been thinking about a replacement portable vise stand for some time and I start visualizing pros and cons. yours and mine, design wise.

Frosty The Lucky.

 

[Mothman_c3w]

Finally got my new shop all finished and wired in right around Thanksgiving. It's been in process since August. It's so nice to have all the space and outlets I need. Needs organizing already, but the last couple weeks I haven't had time to do anything but make Christmas gifts. I'll get it cleaned up after the new year.

It is 20'x26 with a 10' ceiling, on a 5.5" slab reinforced with #4 rebar on 12" centers. Doors are 8'x10'. It's taken a few years of planning and saving up, so it's very exciting to finally have a dedicated shop space. My wife is thrilled she can park her car in the garage now.

[M3F]

Very nice space!

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

A little shop envy, going on here.

I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s.
Semper Paratus