making a portable shop...

[Aaron J. Cergol]

Hi all,

I appologize if I'm posting this in the wrong section.

I am going to be buying a trailer this week; and contrary to what all my co workers think, it's not to haul huge pieces of machinery or more anvils. I will be getting a 7 or 8' wide by 14-16' long flat bed trailer (dual axle) to build a portable blacksmith shop on. Basically something that will have a fully functioning coal forge, anvil, vise, old school drill press, and even an old foot powered grinder. It will essentially be a glorified "shed" that will have sides that open up and will be able to close and lock when not in use. The plan is to bring it t events, farmers markets and demos, unlock it, open it, and start a fire. End of the day, put out the fire, close her down, lock it and park it. I will be leaving the tools inside.

I work at a lumber yard/hardware store, and plan to use a good amount of corrugated roofing. Not only for the roof, but for the retractable sides. Eventually I might like to make it into a "Lincoln logs" trailer, but that will have to wait as I'm pressed for time.

I have several questions for all of you. First off, have any of you built such a thing? and if so, care to share any pictures and pointers? Do any of you have any design suggestions for it? Design in general, or layout, or even storage-I'm open to anything.

The other thing-and quite frankly the more important issues are the legal ones. Who should I be in contact with to make sure this is "Road worthy"? Will I need a permit to bring fires to events? Rural events I am not worried about, but what about city ones... and are any permits needed to pull such a big trailer? my ruck already has a class C plates on it.

Thanks for your time and help!

Aaron

[FieryFurnace]

I'd like to answer some of your questions!

First off, at craft/art shows you are usually alotted a 10'x10' or a 12'x12' space.

Farmers markets and small town shows will usually give you a larger space as needed, and if you are demoing, it will be free. However, that is more of a public attraction, and I wouldn't expect to make much money. I'm not guessing! I've done the craft show circuit for several years now. I started with small town shows, usually named after food. (You know "Pork Rind Days" or something.)

Now I'm doing shows that are "JURIED" and specified as "ART" shows. Those are two key words. If you want to make money, stay away from festivals named after food! Trust me!

I built a trailer sized for craft and art show booth spaces. It is 4 1/2' wide by about 10' long. It has two storage boxes for coal and tools, a forge, blower mount, and vice mount. The tongue is retractable.


The trailer size you are talking about is too big for these type shows. Once again, you can go to small town farmers markets and the local "Cotton Candy Days Celebration," but not high end, fine craft and art shows.

Also, I would suggest prioritizing the equipment you carry. I demo with a forge, blower, anvil, and vise. Besides that, I just have hand tools. People would much rather see you punch holes than drill them....even if it is a 100 year old drill press. Hot rasp, don't grind! People like it when you get your hand that close to a hot piece of metal, and a rasp is a lot smaller than a grinder. I put all of my demo tools in an 18"x18"x24" box and it could have been MUCH smaller. Prioritize your tool list, make everything small and pack efficiently, or you will have trouble fitting into a single booth space. (You've got to haggle to get a free space from nicer shows, and they would be hesitant to give you two for free.)

You will have to check your state laws concerning trailers. I built my trailer myself and I've towed it to Tennessee, Georgia, Indiana, and all over my home state Kentucky. Basically in Kentucky, if it has wheels it's road worthy. LOL No tag, no permit, no NOTHING!

Some of the higher end craft shows shy away from live demos and forge fires. Usually these are in the residential areas! However, that is the exception not the rule. Mr. Thomas Powers (one of this forum's more active members and an extremely knowledgeable gentleman,) just suggested to me that I carry around a fire extinguisher with my forge, just to give a reassuring appearance.

Finally you need to watch the trailer width. in a 10x10 space (the usual size alotted) you will only have 2-3 feet of space between the trailer and the crowd. (with a 7-8 foot wide trailer) That is not safe, and shows will not like that at all! Keep the width down as much as possible. My trailer is over 30 inches tall and only 4 1/2' wide but still tows fine. This gives me six feet between the trailer and the people. That's about 3 feet between the anvil and people. That is still TOO close, but that's as skinny as the trailer could be. You'll have to constantly watch for people getting too close, rope off your area or something. Keep everyone 10' away from the anvil. NEVER forge weld at events, and ALWAYS make sure you are working with known metal!
If you get a piece of carbon metal mixed up in the lot, you quench it and then tap a bur, and you hit a 60 year old guy about 1/2" from his eye! I've DONE THAT!
But that's off topic! LOL

Back to the trailer. Check you local laws about trailers, registration, and permits.
Make it smaller if you can! I quit using mine and am going back to a simple forge this year. However, I drew several new designs when I was thinking about building another demo trailer. I always stick with about 4'x8'.

That may have been more than my .02 worth, but I hope it helps.

That's a lot to chew on I know! All in all the craft demos are a lot of fun, but put some more thought into it before you buy that flatbed!

P.S. my trailer is for sale! LOL

[David Einhorn]

Form follows function so the first thing you may wish to consider is what you plan on using your portable shop for, what types of events, and like FieryFurnace said, what limitations are placed on demonstrators and the size space they are allocated.

ABANA if memory serves me correctly used to have a trailer that they would lend out, but I don't see anything on their web site about it.

Curly George and Jim Hoffman both built historically oriented blacksmithing setups that ride on top of a trailer.
http://www.iforgeiron.com/user/1549-curlygeorge/
http://www.hoffmansforge.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/FNB09JI.22140821_std.jpg

And there are the professional farriers with portable shops built into the back of their trucks. Studying what they have developed based on their years of daily use of these trucks may be useful to you.

[clinton]

Pork Rind Days? sounds good, with plenty of beer to wash them down of course. Out her in the lettuce belt we have festivals named for every fruit and vegetable you could imagine, but no pork rind days

[Aaron J. Cergol]

Fiery Furnace-

thanks so much for all your input! I do realize that I won't be making a killing at farmer markets, but I will at the very least be getting my name out there, and hopefully be making some good contacts. for $150 for the 15 week season, in a more wealthy area of town, I figure I can at the very least make that back over the course of the summer.

I very much like your setup. I especially like your forge built right in! Originally I was thinking of making something like that, but have hemmed and hawed for several reasons. one, I like portability-as in not having to move my bigger tools in and out every time. two, security-I want to be able to lock my stuff up and leave my tools inside. three, weather-I want to use this as my full time shop in the summer as I will not have a real shop until Fall again, and want a roof over my head.

Although you do have me thinking... I could certainly build something like yours, weld tool racks all over it, and have a "hinged" vise on the side. I could build some more boxes for storage of tools, coal, and products, and lock those up... If all I have to move is my anvil, that's not a huge issue-the rest is mostly self contained. I wonder if I could somehow build a fold-able roof on it...I could certainly still build a big box (for lack of a better term
) around it that would open up, and give me the roof I need. That way I could still lock everything up, and even have a hood for the forge. This would certainly be cheaper to buy/build and take up much less space. What are you asking for yours? I am quite interested as it would save me a lot of time.

David, I would love to eventually make a historically accurate one and bring it to reenactment events with me, but I simply do not have the time for it now. I'm a history nut, and when I replicate something, I want to have everything spot on accurate, so it would take some time. Thanks for the links.

I really appreciate the input guys. This is giving me some better and (easier) ideas.

Aaron

[FieryFurnace]

I put an 18 inch tool rack on mine. Just a little slide on thing! It holds a hardy, wire and brass brush, and a couple pairs of tongs. Make an anvil stand with a swing tray that has a place to hold your hammers of choice and a few hand tools. Punch, chisel, and if you demo any animal heads, the proper tooling for those. That's my tool list!

My trailer has two identical boxes that are 18x18x24. The coal box holds about 30 gallons of coal. (And comes full to whoever I sell it to.)
With the forge being built in, you don't have to worry about anyone walking off with it. I can't speak with authority about adding sides.
You would need to add some lock latches to the boxes I suppose.

With my style trailer all you have to do is unload the handheld tools and the anvil. The vice was mounted solid onto the trailer and always stayed there.

Send me a PM with an offer of what you'd be willing to pay. It's a long trip and would cost a bit to get down here, but I've been trying to sell it for a while with no luck. It's kind of a job specific rig! LOL It's not doing me any good just sitting out! I could PM you some more pictures if you want.

Hey what kind of reenacting do you like? I'm a grey-coated Civil War guy.....or rather was. I spent the last couple of years in the infantry and a bit on the "big guns" too! I guess I would be branded a "progressive" though! LOL You know, sleeping bags, and wool blankets over the cooler! Don't tell anyone ok!

I also like Rev. war and SCA type stuff. Never have done any of those events though!

[Aaron J. Cergol]

sent you an email Sir.

[Rob Browne]

After the advice from FF if you go ahead with your original plan consider how you are setting up the trailer for use. It would need jacks at each corner for stability like a caravan uses. Also, the anvil would have to be set on the ground or you will lose lots of hammer energy. Maybe a hole in the floor you can put a long anvil support log through so its directly on the ground but the anvil is still inside.

Personally I would consider a smaller trailer with a canvas annex that can be quickly rolled out, again using caravan technology.

[Aaron J. Cergol]

Good point about losing energy Rob.

I do agree going with a smaller trailer than originally intended. much easier cheaper and more efficient n the long run.

I am hoping to do a quick (paint) mock up picture and post it later on tonight.

Aaron

[ptree]

I built a "fold-A-Forge from an old Datsun bed. Has built in forge, a tool box external to the bed and a quick mount for the post drill. The vise is also outside the bed. The covered bed has the tables and so forth. Mine is about 5' wide, and about 10' long. I am always given adaquate room, as I demand space to safely operate. I never pay fees and sometimes get gas money if a longer than say 20 mile drive. They advertise a blacksmith and that is a draw to their event. Mine won the do it at home contest for a forge at the IBA Tipton hammer-in. I have used it for about 5 years now, and find it quite handy. I am scheming a new version and it will be a mini gooseneck trailer.
Photos is attached. By the way, as a pretty good scrounger, the trailer, painted and with brand new tires cost $43 total:)

[ptree]

By the way, here is the folded down ready to tow photo.

[tomhw]

When I was a farrier I built a trailer using an old skip pan from a construction dump. It was about 5 feet wide ten feet long and two feet deep. I made the tongue out of "T" shaped elevator guide rails and the axel was the front axel of an old Ford pickup.

On the starboard, aft I made a forge out of a 55 gal. Drum. The hearth in the middle of the drum- the top half was the hood with a hole through the top for a removable chimney. I cut a door in the side to give access to the fire, and smaller door opposite to admit long stock.

I built a wooden box to house tools and on the forward corner I fastened a broken leg vice. The leg was broken of just below the lower jaw pivot so I made a bracket to hold the bottom of the vice to the side of the skip pan.

The port side was given over to a framework to hold stock and the middle of the trailer was for storing the anvil and stand. I made simple fenders out of sheet steel to cover the tires and provide additional shelf space.

It served the purpose well but the tongue was so short that it was a nuisance to back up for any distance. The trailer was open so it had to be covered with a tarp when not in use.

[John McPherson]

Wow, I would love to get a trailer like that.....to haul my tractor.

Everything I take to a demo fits in the back of my van, and I have worked hard to get together a set-up small enough to fit in the trunk of a Honda. Everything needs to be as versatile as possible, and plan to do projects that require minimal tooling: i.e. scrolls with just hammer and anvil, no jig. Pre-cut lengths of steel for each project. Wrangling long steel bars in a crowd just shows lack of planning.

Bigger is not always better. I frequently have to haul all my gear from a parking lot to a grassy area in the shade with a hand truck. I may have to find or make a 50-75lb anvil just for demos. I ain't as young as I used ta be.

ABANA has a handout for demonstrators with checklist and hints. It's a good place to start. YMMV

http://www.abana.org/downloads/demonstrator_guidelines.pdf

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

The smith who demoed at the local Ren Faire had his setup in a converted F70 Freightliner. He also lived in it as he traveled around the country. The back part was made to look like a castle,and the entire side opened up to access the forging area.

As to projects, he made kilt pins, and unicorn shoes when I watched. He had a couple of other items that he did too, but I don't remember what they were. As his wife told a smithing related story, he would bang out the items. In 20 minutes he could knock out 4 of each. They would hold a drawing for the items he made at the end of the story.

If you use corrugated you could make a side that just opened up, as it will flex easy enough. Just make the top corners rounded.

All of my trailers are double, or triple axles. Having the axle back far enough really helps in towing straight down the road. If the axle is too close it is easy to get the balance off to where it fishtails on you, and it makes backing up a PITA. I really like the insurance of a second axle for when a flat occurs, tow-ability, and stability on the road.

Each state has it's own trailer regs, as to registrations.

Commercial license is needed for 26,000#+

Generally all trailers need fenders, lights, and safety chains.

Trailer brakes are really nice, especially if your tow vehicle is on the verge of being maxed out towing, and downhills/idiots/critters/ are encountered.

Check your CGVWR (combined groww vehicle weight rating) for your truck, and the rating for your hitch assembly. Look for the weakest link in the system IE; truck rated for 21,000#, hitch rated for 10,000#, ball rated for only 5,000#. Remember the load capacity of the trailer is a combined weight of trailer, and load. Also make sure the trailer tires are rated for the load. If you have a truck with 5,6,or 8 lug rims it is handy to have the trailer match, so that spare tires can fit both.

I have done a ton of towing over the years, and so far no accidents, or lost loads.

[BTKS]

Biggundoctor made some excellent points on load, license and equipment needs.
May I add, you need to be careful how the trailer will be loaded once it's ready to tow. Be sure and have at least 10% tongue weight. It it's back heavy it will whip like a dogs tail! I would put the anvil, and most of the bar stock up front. Maybe a stock rack or box over the tongue. The blower can mount to the front of the trailer too and pipe the air to the forge wherever it is.
Hope this helps, good luck with the project and the shows.
BTKS