Stone shop, pros and cons?

[Nick]

I've been thinking about what kind of shop I'd like to build when my wife and I are done with school and settle down somewhere. My current shop is in an old rough hewn timber barn with sheet metal roofing. It's a nice building, though it's got its drawbacks, most noticeably the wind and snow that comes through the cracks in the walls.

I've been thinking about what my ideal shop would be. I've been drawn towards stone, partly through my interest in medieval architecture and also because I come from a family of stonemasons, though my dad's generation doesn't have any professional masons.

Does anyone have any experience with or knowledge of stone blacksmith shops and their characteristics? Do they tend to sweat a lot, have problems with expansion and contraction, or any other thing I should be aware of? I should mention that this will be a real, laid stone building. I refuse to stone veneer on principle. It's fine as a decorative treatment, but it's not what I want.

Of course, this is all just planning ahead, but it's better to plan ahead than wing it with this sort of thing.

Nick

[Sam Salvati]

WOW, I think that is one of the most awesomest things i have ever heard. I think stone would be an amazing material for a shop.

[HWooldridge]

I don't know of any advantage that stone would provide in a blacksmith shop. Don't take this wrong but I'd be more concerned with the overall layout and utility of the shop than what the walls are made from. Without a really good foundation, stone will shift and settle, so some big piers/footings will be needed. I grew up in a house that was cinder block on a concrete slab and it sweated in the winter plus we had to repoint the mortar every 4-5 years or you would see daylight thru the walls. This was on a clay subsoil so moisture changes from winter to summer made a big difference.

You will also want to sheath the interior so you can hang stuff on the walls. Natural light is important and window openings are more difficult to construct with a stone building - not impossible but a bit harder. Same with door openings. I'm thinking the biggest advantage to stone would be very little sound transmission out of the shop in comparison to a metal building.

However, with all that said, it sure would be pretty to look at...

[imagedude]

It depends on your local climate and local stone. A friend who had a sandstone building had constant problems with rusting on all steel objects. My shops have 30" thick granite walls and rusting in this building isn't so bad.

Here's my shop with the roof removed:


Underpinning the walls:

You can clearly see that there are no foundations but the concrete should help to reduce ingress of damp.


Inside with the roof on:

[the_sandy_creek_forge]

Nick,
Restoration (check the image in the bottom right side) This is a rebuild of the original workshop of Charles Perdew, a relatively famous decoy carver, that has been rebuilt in the next town over from me. I always liked the design, but couldn't justify the time to lay up all that fieldstone. Really classy (and classic) little workshop though! I know one of the guys that helps with the association, I'll ask him how the moisture/working situation is next time i see him.
-Aaron @ the SCF

Edit: forgot to mention. The building is a wood-frame that has the stone walls laid up around it for added strength and structure (not to mention looks)

[ThomasPowers]

"Country Blacksmithing by Charles McRaven has a bit on his shop which was timber framed with low stone walls.

My take on the "cons" is that it's hard to reconfigure the shop---remove/add walls.
may have vibration issues if you go to a big power hammer and worst of all---will take quite a bit of time and effort to do. When I had my shop built it was a slab with a metal building erected on it and from layout to being able to work in it was about a week. Of course I live in an area where 30% humidity is considered "swamp weather"...

Pro's: coolness factor +10, walls won't "rattle" due to noise, fireproof, use of natural resources.

You may want to ask yourself---do you want to spend the time smithing or stone masoning?

Thomas

[Nick]

Thanks for the replies, and the photos.

I'm certianly thinking about layout, but I'm thinking about construction, too. As for ease of redoing the layout, the forge can't move without moving the chimney, so that's pretty much set in (pardon the pun) stone once it's installed. By time I actually build it I'll probably have a pretty good idea what I want. And there's not much danger of my ever getting a power hammer I respect and admire what they can do, but I don't have any desire to use one.

I've been thinking about hanging stuff off the walls. In my current shop I have nothing hanging, it's all on shelves or two large chuck boxes. I've got some cabinets I plan to hang, though. Either I'll sheath them on the inside, or figure out some sort of furring strip type getup.

The time issue, as far as time from start to finish, will be a while. I'll probably set up a temporary shed to work in, or perhaps just work out in the open with my portable setup and move stuff under cover when not in use. As far as stone laying instead of smithing, I'd rather be smithing, but once it's done it's done, and will be worth the labor, I think. It may take a year or more, but remember this is going to be, I hope, my shop for much of the rest of my life at that point.

IForge is set until 2016, maybe by that time I'll have something to show :)

[Gronk]

I work in a shop that's half stone. The lower six feet of the walls are stone with wood above that and a wooden roof. The walls do "sweat" especially when the days are warmer and the nights cooler. (spring and fall). Gotta keep things wiped down and oiled.
Hanging things on the walls was a problem until we attached posts to the upper studs on the wooden portion and then anchored them to the floor. There was nothing to attach any shelving to.
Thomas points out the cooler temp... sure is ... nice in the summer, not so good on days like this. Takes forever to warm up. The noise damping is great for folks outside the building. Gets a little loud inside though. I suggest you fill the shop to the eaves with tools to combat this. :-)

Maybe, while still in the planning stage, you could make some shelving brackets (lag bolts, etc...) to be incorporated into the mortar.

[JimG]

And there's not much danger of my ever getting a power hammer I respect and admire what they can do, but I don't have any desire to use one.

Please rethink that. As you get older and more tired. You may change your view on wanting a powerhammer. Just some advice from someone who's been there...

[dennis_hl]

My shop is a two story stone stone structure with a timber frame roof built in 1893, origanily it was a bulk oil warehouse for the mine (there's pictures somewhere here in the forum). The ground floor is set into the hillside and is my shop space (modern bathrooms for the museum above me :} It has a dirt floor and is quite cool in the summer and is easy to heat in the winter. But, as was said above, every thing rusts quickly, perhaps due to condensation. My floor is dry but there is a lot of moisture comming in through the walls. So I guess that means don't burry yours!?!? I'd build a rock shop and timber frame the roof, I think if you know your layout and what works for you, you shouldn't have any problems. The only obsticle that I foresee for myself is cost.