My friend and mentor for over 15 yrs. now, Mr. Strickland is a remarkable man in many ways. A long family history of metal men from R.R. engineer to professional welder there was no doubt he would continue the lineage. A welder in Korea war, mechanic and chemical plant supervisor to full time smith. Starting his own shop in the early 70 he went on to help form ABANA as well he was president in 85. I worked at Strickland forge for a little over two years before going it alone and had produce several wonderful works by his side. Just wanted to share a small bit of history before overwhelming you with has to be one of the largest collections I have ever seen, hope you enjoy.

my kind of guy! very well displayed and impressive collection of googaz and gizmos...

That is a beautiful collection! I could spend hours in there just staring. I'll bet he has some great stories to tell, not to mention some great things to teach. Great pictures by the way.
Thanks for sharing.

Tremendous - it's like a Where's Waldo picture ... too much to take in at one viewing! I'd just like to here the story behind the andirons setting out front.

I saw a LOT of fire nozzles in there, I am not sure why I focussed on them but they seemed to be everywhere. Very impressive collection, thanks for sharing.
Rob

My kind of work space. Beautiful collection of tools accumulated.

thanks for sharing this Danger.....
I admire Mr Srickland very much, and still recall the first time I visited his house/shop back several years ago.

Thank you so much for sharing. You are quite lucky to know such a man.

For a shop with that many tools and things it is one of the cleanest I have seen.

Thanks for posting the pics.

Mark<><

And you thought I was done...

WOW. I am speechless. I will be looking at thoses picture for sometime lots to see. Thanks for sharing them. I remember seeing a segment on him on the TV series Forge and Anvil. The show did not do his shop justice after seeing these photos. What is the size of his shop so I have a better idea how much is in there?

WOW! Very impressive. Thanks for posting.


Mitch

very cool pics, and not just smithing. There's some nice woodworking tools, planes, levels and some good tool references as well.

Sigh . . .

Once in a while, you get to see something that just makes your day. Thanks Michael!

There is times when some of us say "never enough". That gentleman comes the closest I've ever seen to "enough". Thank you for posting. Spears.

Thats's a Museum!
Thanks so much for sharing that with us

I hope that the collection stays together for future generations to see

The inside is about 25' x 25' with a bit more outside working area, believe it or not we used to build stair rails in there, I would cuss the post but would hate to see the building implode also. What you don't realize it is like an iceberg 90% is in tool boxes! He is a avid tool collector to this day and can accurately tell you what almost all the pieces were used for and what time era they came from. I too hope one day this collection can be presented in the manner it deserves to the public. I have a couple of pieces in the collection if you can pick them out, one is "Nuts" and the other is "Just Stuck".

All that in a little tin shed? Plus what looks to be about a 150lb post vise outside? "Beware of The Dog" ?

Could you imagine selecting your hammer? Your work would be icey cold before you made up your mind. That, or totally burnt up in a shower of sparks. Thanks for the photos.

Beautiful collection of tools. I don't have 1/100th of that and you can't see my floor. I'd love to meet that man. :D

Thanks for that Michael.That was very special.

Kevan

A great collection of tools with a anvil work polished right in the middle.Can it get any better than that. thanks for sharing.

Danger, How is the floor kept so CLEAN!! I looked under tables and carts...(after looking at a mind boggling amount of tools and stuff!) and I see no crud! I can't do any job without factoring in 2X the time for clean-up. How does he/you do/did that? Steve

I also have some anvils and tools, but not so much, it is magnificent!!!!!!!!!

WOW! Never enough tools and never enough garage space. That's what I tell my wife and friends.