I suspect my footwear to be as good or better than that worn buy smiths over 99% of history...

but I do put on my big boy pants and boots when I forge, play with horses or other such things. I have grown rather attached to my toe over the last 1/2 century

 

Look at all the pictures of folks forging barefoot in India even nowadays!

I imagine one doesn’t step on a hot off cut more than once or twice...

i haven’t gotten foolhardy enough to do metal work in my house shoes yet

 

actually with HEAVY calluses they use their feet to hold stuff where we might wimp out and use a glove.

I tend to agree with Charles on most of it. I would probably put the forge just past the anvil on my dominant side, just to keep the hot metal from going over my legs.

I would also agree that it would be nice to not have the shop shorter than normal for when friends come by. I would build a platform, with a ramp, that had a clamp system for the chair. The clamp would allow you to have greater leverage while still putting you at the average height. The forge, anvil, and vise would be placed as Charles suggested, with the forge moved as I mentioned earlier.

Beyond that I would suggest keeping a fire extinguisher on your chair.

I was trying to avoid reaching to far across your body and for fire management I would prefer to have the fire to the front. I think the evening snare better and you don’t acualy pass the hot end of the stock over your lap. I acualy prefer to have the air pump on my strong side so I don’t have to put down my tongs to pump the fire

Wouldn't you be able to pull the metal out of the forge and right onto the anvil? I haven't had a chance to test it, but that's how I've been imagining it working. Pull out the work piece, come straight down to the anvil and then hammer. I could be wrong though. Either way I think it would be more of a preference thing.

I think I would start by having everything cold  and seeing what movements work best for the person involved!

One thing is that folks unfamiliar with solid fuel assume you work to the front of the forge, wile to accommodate long stock we usually work from the side. This might make fire management iffy to the side as well as reaching over to the side as a posed to forward and pivoting the heated end in an arc across the hearth. Not unlike the difference of working at a standard kitchen range or at a range top with  space under it for your knees. Fire management is not unlike scrambling eggs.

this in no way dismisses the Thomas suggestion of mocking up cold.

as to others, get a rolling office chair and bring them into your working environment. Your the primary worker at your work station, make it ergonomic to you and adaptable for them

Memo to self: Never eat breakfast at Charles' place...."Fire management is not unlike scrambling eggs."

I am located in southwest Florida. Sorry I’ve been MIA had some health issues 

Thank you so much for the detail you have put into helping me.

It’s my pleasure. Some peaple are worth the effort. 

Show us what worked for you. You are not the only person in a chair, now you be the last. I would be proud to brainstorm with you so we can leave a road map for future wheelchair bound smiths.

18 hours ago, Hottwheels said:

I am located in southwest Florida.

Welcome to IFI... If you go to your profile and edit it to show your location, you may be surprised how many of the gang are near enough to visit. Once us old timers leave this thread we won't remember where you are.

My wife & I moved from Miami in "82 and never looked back.

One of our guys by name of Seldon is returning to Alaska after an absence of some years but returning in a walker or wheel chair. Getting him worked back up into the craft again is a club project, even IF the rest of the club hasn't heard yet. I haven't heard any details about his condition and won't go into them here. He can join and talk if he wants. Anyway, I can't design anything without knowing more and we'll be having some sit downs over coffee. We were coffee shop acquaintances before either discovered the other liked playing with fire and hammers. 

Anywho, I'll be sharing what we come up with while I sponge every idea I see here. 

Frosty The Lucky.

i have been in a wheelchair my entire life and i am trying to get into blacksmithing what i find difficult is trying to hold the metal at an angle and hit it with a hammer any suggestions would help greatly

Welcome to IFI! If you haven't yet, please READ THIS FIRST!!

Regarding your difficulty, have you tried some of the suggestions earlier in this thread? How did they work for you, and what didn't work so well?

Can you explain in greater detail---an angle to what?  The surface of the anvil? The edge of the anvil? Tongs at an angle to the major axis of the work piece?

To get started I would suggest using longer stock and not using tongs to remove one area of problems.  How high is your anvil?  When I forge sitting down My anvil is much lower than when I'm standing up  and I like to have it between my knees so I don't bend over so far. A good leather apron is a MUST!

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the gang live within visiting distance.

We need some details to be able to make useful suggestions. I address the anvil from 360* around it and at different angles of elevation. All depending on what I want from it at the time. I turn the anvil to suit rather than move to other side, end, etc. You'd need to move of course. It's really not a simple question.

Help us out here, we love to help folks get themselves good and addicted to blacksmithing but we need to know what you're asking more clearly.

Frosty The Lucky.

I’ve been in a wheelchair for almost 27yrs following a car accident that left me paralyzed from the waist down and permanently confined. I took up blacksmithing about 8 years ago and have made several knives, pipe tomahawks along with various other blacksmithing projects. It’s all a mindset. Just get out there and do it. Learn what your needs are and adjust things as you go. The wheelchair doesn’t hold me back one bit. 

Welcome to the forum, T Savage. Positive attitude aside, do you have any suggestions for tool modifications, forge setup, etc that you have found particularly helpful? Photos welcome!

 I’m reminded that when Latticino first got his Anyang power hammer, it had been converted to hand control for its previous owner (a paraplegic), and he had to modify it back to its original configuration. 

Hi T Savage, welcome from the Ozark mountains. If you put your general location in your profile, you may be surprised how many members are near enough to visit, once the pandemic abates. If you have any pictures of your set up, we love pictures.

Sounds like not much holds ya back, I love your attitude. The Read This First thread is full of tips on getting the best out of the forum.

 

Hi T. Savage I, and I'm sure many others, would also like to see pictures of your set up.

I teach some basic blacksmith classes for a  site that is connected with a local school district. It would help me to have suggestions on how we might make the classes more ADA compliant. The question has not come up yet, but needs to be considered.

Thank You for your post.

Al

 

Welcome aboard T, glad to have you. It makes me feel good to see folks with disabilities working hot steel and speaking up. We ALL have issues, some tougher than others and here we help each other deal.

Some issues are simple say, how to get a good forge weld of a specific type, or maybe how to clean the scale off to a clean steel finish. And so on. 

We don't often hear from our wheel chair bound brethren but there are a number in the gang. I'm hoping if one of you guys with a decent working kit start posting your methods, equipment and tools it'll help others and they'll start posting too. 

Again GLAD to have you.

Frosty The Lucky.

I'm a member of the Traditional Muzzleloading forum. One of our members posted this about building a muzzleloader  with a young man who is blind. It is a very inspiring story to say the least. It also shows what can be accomplished with the right mindset.

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/building-blind.117940/

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/building-blind-rifle-is-finished.126102/

While not in a wheelchair, this guy is in a sitting position, and also has a video as to how he set up his shop:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npn8yOFyY0Y