yves Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Finaly the installation of my forge is satisfactory. I am happy with it. I would like to share it with you in return for picking through the ideas of everybody on IFI. The smithy is in the silo. I made the doors and the benches for my old (older than me) friends who come to tell me about the time their brother was a smith, and their grand-father a farrier and that these days are ... Come on in. It's 14 feet in diameter, which gives me roughly 150 square feet. The anvil, the vise and the swage block are all one step away from the forge. Fumes and smoke are evacuated with a highly efficient side daft chimney. I must thank particularly Uri Hofi and Dave of the "custerfamilyfarm" for sharing their knowledge in this matter. This side draft chimney is highly efficient eventhough it does not climb higher than three quarters of the silo. There is absolutely no smoke in the smithy even when I start the fire. It is probably due to the fact that the silo is round and that wind accelerates to the right when it commes to an obstacle (in our northern hemisphere). At any rate, I had all the materiel to push the chimney over the top of the silo. I did not use it. The flues are 12 inches and the cap is a "Low loss stack cap" as proposed by Jock Dempsey on Anvilfire. My blower. The anvil sits on a sand box made of steel. I do not have to wear ear protection. It was designed so that I may have regular hammers and tools right at hand. The anvil is 125 kilos (275 lbs). The vise is bolted to the floor. It is a The swage block. I have to complete the stand so that the block will not move when in use. The hammers I more rarely use, the handled flatters, punches & friends sit in hooks made from 1/8" x 1/2" flat and bent cold. The same type of hooks permits me to keep the steel I use most in good order, standing on the wall. The rods do not fall out of the opened hooks but are easily stood there and taken away. Of course, I have room for more. It will be used shortly. Swinging on a column, is a "crane" with a chain block. Above the chain block in this pic is the trap I use to hoist my coal upstairs. In this pic, the crane is put away. I use it to lift heavy material and to hold long bars I cut. Very usefull. Finaly, this is the wood stove I use in the winter. It heats the sand box on which the anvil sits and if you drop snow on the box it realy melts. The heat is of course good fot my bones, but it also heats the anvil. I start the fire in the morning before breakfast. When I come back to the smithy, it's too hot! Again I want to thank all of you for the ideas, for so generously sharing your knowledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K. Bryan Morgan Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 What a lovely set of pics of your forge. You have every reason to be proud. I do see one thing that bothers me though. Its way to clean. :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yves Posted June 6, 2011 Author Share Posted June 6, 2011 What a lovely set of pics of your forge. You have every reason to be proud. I do see one thing that bothers me though. Its way to clean. When I work with wood, in the morning, I pick up and put away ten tools. Its a rule. There are ten tools to be put away because the heat in never on and never going away in wood. You have the time to wonder where you left that chisel. This not so with hot iron. The tools must be right there and when you need them. To tell you frankly, I am also surprised at the clean place I keep. Also, the place is so small, I cannot affoard to loose space. It is efficient for me. I am a beginner and need to take some control. Maybe, one day, it will look like my wood shop. Who knows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
learning Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Very nice setup. So on warm months does it get hot in the silo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marksnagel Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Absolutly great pictures of a great smithy. You will never lose anything in there because thetre is no corner for it to hide in. Thanks for posting. Mark <º))>< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yves Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 Very nice setup. So on warm months does it get hot in the silo? No, never hot, rather cool with the cement walls. If I would have a complaint with the silo, it would be the humidity. The side draft chimney helps with ventilation however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wshelley Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Thanks for the tour and my compliments on a well thought out and extremely useful space! Lots of nifty ideas stored away for someday... Ward Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianinsa Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 I like it!!!!! nice set-up. Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fe-Wood Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Looks great! A nice cozy place to spend those cold winter months. Projects? Do you have pictures of projects? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yves Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 Looks great! A nice cozy place to spend those cold winter months. Projects? Do you have pictures of projects? I will have pictures. I'll try today. I do hesitate to post some when I see what all of you people hammer out. I am a beginning beginner. What I make, you guys hammer with your eyes closed. You can see every hammer blow on my stuff. However, some people have ordered stuff fom me and they want to see the marks of the hand. Ok, enough for apologies. I will be back with pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KST1-Derek Fultz Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Yves, I love the silo forge! Looks like a real nice place to work and hang out inside and out. Anything in the bin above? Plans for that space? -Derek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yves Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 Yves, I love the silo forge! Looks like a real nice place to work and hang out inside and out. Anything in the bin above? Plans for that space? -Derek I store my coal on the "first floor". The ceiling in the forge is ten feet high. There is a beam at 20 feet ready to receive the wood and the steel for a second floor if I ever need the space for storage. On the beam up there I have another chain block. I'm too old now to lift 50 pound bags up a ladder. There is a lot of open space up there. It's nice to have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KST1-Derek Fultz Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 There are quite a few old silos and grain bins around here (East Central Illinois) that are sitting empty and unused. Particularly silos as many of the farms that ran cattle in the old days are strictly corn and soybeans now. It's great to see someone using one for such a novel and neat use. And even have plans for the rest of it! Good on ya, -Derek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yves Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 Fee-Wood, Here are some pics of projects: These are my first brianbrazealblacksmith horse heads. I use them as paper weights. I gave some away. This is my first duck's head hammered from the instructions given in Anvilfire. I keep it like the horses' heads as souvenirs. I have used the ducks to hold the gutter above the doors of the forge: and to decorate angle brackets I made as a "commission". I try to always make a copy of what I sell, and create an inventory for prospective clients, something to show.,. I had another demand for brackets. I will be delivering tonight. I include the screws (black). The customers are always happy because they can set up the stuff right away., A hook for my woman's straw hat,; Bolt. I made 3 of those as per the customer's requests, A hook. Hooks are helpfull when you begin. They make you believe you can make it! A woodworking holdfast, My anvil's holdfast. I try to make some nails every day either to start the day or to use the last embers in the fire just before quitting for the day. My first try at knotting some steel, A handle, There is also an important project, a table. It is still only a drawing, though it is life size. I have to learn to assemble steel with collars (brianbrazealblacksmith has something very interesting here in IFI) since this is what the design I presented to the client calls for. Collars and welding (Mark Aspery says that it takes 1001 welds for one to call himself a forge welder and that the ones that dont work or that we drop count towards the 1001 welds. I got 8 or ten... attempts not welds...), these are my immediate pojects. Again, IFI is so necessary for some one like me and a lot of us who are alone and try to enter the fascinating world of the smith. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fe-Wood Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 Wow! I had a nice comment going and I pushed the wrong button I'll be back- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 That is an incredible shop! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bush Bugger Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 yves, a very cool workshop great storage for material a great use of space and the over head gantry out of the way ,a lot of thought has gone into your lay out thanks for the ideas and pics B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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