After tinkering for a bit with blacksmithing to see if I'd stick with it I put together this little space.





It's not much, but it keeps me semi-dry and shaded from the sun.

Any smithin' space is fine ... use what you have and make the best of it. Most of the blacksmiths in the world would love to have any kind of roof!

Looks great to me!

The roof leaks in all the right places during a rain. Meaning that my tools/forge stay dry and I get wet.

" Meaning that my tools/forge stay dry and I get wet."

Well shoot, that just means you built it right!

I can't complain to much, it was built with donated supplies. Dad was so good about it he didn't even chew me out when he seen his wood and tin gone.

Looks like a perfectly workable space, I've used worse.

Your Dad was probably relieved it cost so little to keep you out of serious trouble. I know my Dad never minded financing my little enterprises if they'd keep me out of trouble. I've never been sure why he never said anything about the cannons and rockets.

Frosty the Lucky.

I may have came off sounding a bit young. I talk about ma and pa a lot because they live 30' away. The only trouble I get into anymore is ignoring the wife's honey-do list she leaves laying around.

And that changes WHAT?

My Dad didn't stop worrying about us kids till he passed. The last coherent thing he said to me was to ask how Deb and I were doing. The very last thing he said was advice I cherish. "Gather all the fencing and head for Oregon. That's what you should do."

I do my best to NOT get everything on the honey do list or Deb'll just add more.

Frosty the Lucky.

I do not have a honey do list... she knows better than ask me... i wouldn't do it until I'm ready to. our respective lists are the same except for order or importance. lol

I do however have a honey don't like... you know those right, honey don't...beat the kids too much, burn down the house, ignore us for the forge, spend our grocery money on scrap metal, use the last of the gas in the car searching for "rusty gold"(ie anything to do with blacksmithing), ect, ect, ect. those are some of the items on the honey don't list. a few items on the list are there from experience, butmost of them are there as precautionary measures to keep me from doing something stupid. at least that's what she says.

you guys and gals know the score. in a woman's eyes "behind every man is a woman rolling her eyes"

ignoring the wife's honey-do list she leaves laying around.

She leaves it lying around?

Dang, my GF has taken to writing it backwards then tacking it to my forehead so every time I look in the mirror I can't say I didn't see it .

I haven't combed my hair in weeks . . .

That explains the new beard.
Even though I hate them I`m beginning to wish I had bought stock in Post-Its. <_<

Your space is not much different than what I started in.

As for the honey do's, they can get in the way of what I want to do for sure but it is easier to deal with the list than to deal with my honey when I put her off.

I have 4 sons and I worry about them every day and always wish I had spent more time with them when they were small. I charris the time now. ;)

wish I had bought stock in Post-Its.

Yeah, I tried to steer her that direction but she likes chunking that stapler up against my forehead . . .

Yeah, I tried to steer her that direction but she likes chunking that stapler up against my forehead . . .

Yet another advantage to having thick head,the staple don`t go all the way through.

I do hate it when you grab that little bit of skin with the visegrips as you try to get the staple out though.
I`ve been known to just crease the list and use it as a visor and then stand in the rain for a few hours till the paper gets soft and falls away after the list is completed rather than risk yet another staple pulling session.
The last 3 blood blisters have almost completely healed.

for anyone who thinks their smithy is poorly builty or not in good shape I invite them to come work in mine.

my walls are built from reclaimed frames I got from out local trade center after a company was done with the wood. the are just a 2x4 fram with braces in each corner. I put an extra "wall stud" in pace to help hole everything up. one of these on each side, the front wall was built in a similar fashion from the small amount of scrap wood i had on hand. my door is three scrap strips of plywood nail to two cross peices of 2x4 with a poorly made hand made hinge. the wall are covered in reclaimed tin sheeting. the roof ij just some of trhe same tin just set on top to help with the rain. there is no back wall as my smithy is set up against my house.
after all of that my wife found a can of red spray paint and named it the man cave. mostly due to the fact she is afraid to walk inside. keeps saying she will get burned or cut on something.

here are some pictures.the chinmey for my charcoal forge is made from some of the same tin. it isn't much more than a smoke hood that opens up to the out side. but is work to keep my skithy safe while burning my charcoal forge.
My shop

my selfmade poorly constructed hinges

the door


now after all this I am still proud of my little smithy for several reasons first I built it,
second I made a workable smithy with the few materials I had on hand
third it works for now.
forth even though it looks ike a hollowed out remenance of a cow found in a pasture. It does keep my tools locked up

I will eventually purchase materials to make a better one, but for a free building not bad. inside I have room for my charcoal forge, my propane giant, a work table my anvil and sander and my lincoln 225 welder as well as various supplies and materials. I even keep 3 or 4 20 lb bags or lump charcoal on hand at all times for the charcoal forge.

Glad to see you have a shelter. Dads are always good for having stuff laying around that hasn't been put to use yet. Just ask my kids. Enjoy your shop!

Tim, you have a door? As soon as I figure out how to affix a door to the oak tree I work under I will worry about walls and a roof. It's going to be a cold winter .
Me thinks a shelter is in order.

Glad to see you have a shelter. Dads are always good for having stuff laying around that hasn't been put to use yet. Just ask my kids. Enjoy your shop!

Tim, you have a door? As soon as I figure out how to affix a door to the oak tree I work under I will worry about walls and a roof. It's going to be a cold winter .
Me thinks a shelter is in order.

you do make a good point. and that is why despite the condition ofmy shop I am still proud to have it.

you have a shop!!!, When I started I had an anvil, and a hammer, and a hot hole in the ground, work with what you have until you can make more. Don't for one minute think you can't,

I`ve been known to just crease the list and use it as a visor and then stand in the rain for a few hours till the paper gets soft and falls away

Ohh, I do admire's me a thinkin' man!

for anyone who thinks their smithy is poorly builty or not in good shape I invite them to come work in mine.

I've been in a lot o' shops but I gotta say, I'd almost (almost) pay money to have a chance to forge in your setup - I love it!

The fact that the wife is the one who spray painted the name and warnings is what they call PRICELESS!!

you have a shop!!!, When I started I had an anvil, and a hammer, and a hot hole in the ground, work with what you have until you can make more. Don't for one minute think you can't,

I started with my charcoal forge supported by 2 cinderblocks set on my kids red wagon. all of this in my front yard. later I built this shack around the site. so I never moved my smithy from it's original location just secured it from thieves and weather. my smithy started with the build of my brake drum forge just a brake drum and a air pipe using a leaf blower as an airsource. after i saw it worked I went and bought a hammer from HD and then went looking for rr track sections, instead i found the rr coupler knuckle i am currently using. the military has taught me a very important phrase to live by: improvise adapt and overcome. this is how i face all problems in live. I improvised a smithy, adapted used materials and overcame the heat

Here is an exterior shot of my 55 gallon drum smithy, I am up to 1,980 gallons of capacity in 2 walls, wit a third planned.

Drums=free. Other pluses are that they are self standing, will tolerate the dry desert climes, items can be stored in them, and the whole thing is portable if need be.

Doh!, posted before pic loaded.

lookin good, wish i could get all those barrels I would love to have all of that storage space.

I hadn't thought about keeping the cold out. Might tack up some tarps around the walls leaving the corner were the forge is open. Edge9001, does your shop get hot with the forge going in the summer.

The wife hasn't stapled the honey do list to me yet, but she put the rough velcro on one and stuck it to my beard. By the time I woke up it was fully in-bedded and almost caused me to cut my beard. When she came in and seen me with a scratch awl trying to pick out the rats nest she caused I thought she would hit the floor laughing.