Making noise while smithing

[djnorris_2000]

Hi,

I've been thinking of taking up blacksmithing as a hobby recently and have been looking at some beginner courses. I plan to book one through the UK Blacksmith's guild to make sure I enjoy it before buying equipment but, assuming I do, I'd like to be able to carry on making things at home.

I'll be buying a new house soon in a built up area and I'd guess blacksmithing gets very noisy though, so my main question is how much noise am I likely to make? If I were to buy or make a forge for my back garden would the noise from smithing be a significant disturbance to my neighbours? If it is, can anyone recommend a way of smithing elsewhere?

Thanks

[jmccustomknives]

There will be noise. The amount you make depends on your equipment and there are steps you can take to quiet down a bit. A gas forge + a magnet on the anvil and you may not bother your neighbors too much. They can get over a little noise, but that's an American attitude. :P Most of the time they will be suprised at what you are doing. Mine though I was making cabnets.

[Francis Trez Cole]

I checked my hammer pounding metal on an anvil is 80 dbl. My power hammer is 85 dbl

[VaughnT]

Well, if you can manage it, get a place that has a large building in the back garden so you can stay as contained as possible. You can line the walls of the building with shag carpet to act as a sound-wave absorber, too.

If you place your anvil in a bed of silicone caulk, and fasten it solidly to the anvil, it will be very quiet compared to if you don't. A night and day difference, to say the least, but that's not to be taken to mean it is silent. Politely quiet, though.

And, if you offer some hand-forged wares to your neighbors they will be a bit more accommodating. Bribery isn't just for the politicians, nudge/nudge/wink/wink. Say no more.

[Ken G]

When I lived in a neighborhood I was always more concerned over the smoke. IMHO, the ringing of an anvil is no more annoying than a lawnmower, weed eater, or using a skill saw. My neighbor was normally curious. He would normally bring his kids over to see what I was making. It was interesting to them.
It certainly makes a difference as to how close to your neighbor's house you are and you should always be courteous as to WHEN you forge. No early morning or late afternoon forging. I have a friend that used to do small siminars on forge welding gun barrels. He would always let his neighbor know when he was planning to do one just to make sure he wasn't planning to forge suring his neighbors big bar-b-que event. A little common sense goes a long way.
Ken

[Loneforge]

I used to have my forge in the yard here in Canada. My neighbors would come over to watch...Hopefully you are fortunate as I. I also agree with some statements above, a properly mounted anvil is quite quiet! Cheers and welcome!

[trinculo]

I checked my hammer pounding metal on an anvil is 80 dbl. My power hammer is 85 dbl

Not sure what "dbl." is. Sound pressure is commonly measured in dB SPL.

If your spl meter is reading 80 db peaks at the the anvil or ph it's broken or not calibrated correctly.

[divermike]

I think I make the most noise in my shop, singing, laughing, talking to God etc.. good thing I'm in the woods!!

[Thomas Dean]

Howdy from East TEXAS!! and welcome to IFI!

I don't have close neighbors, my shop/studio in near the middle of 61 arcers so there is no problem even with my 135# air hammer! When I was at Bryan Brazeals a few weeks back he would not use the treadle hammer after 9:00 p.m., his neighbors would call the police... But we would do anything else we wanted. As mentioned above, use common sense (which isn't real common these days) do what you can to silence your anvil and BRIBE them!!

BTW, once you take a class you WILL be hooked, so ya might as well go ahead and get your tools and fix up a place to use them!

[kevin1050]

Most of my neighbors do not have an issue when I am on the anvil. Now if I was out there at 2200 hrs it might be different. That's 10 at night for you civilians. I think you will find people stopping by to see what you are doing. Like Thomas says 'use common sense'.

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard DJ glad to have you. I used to live in a trailer court, my nearest neighbor being less than 30' from where I could set up. I didn't do any forging after dinner hour or earlier than about 9:00am, kept lots of knives sharp, repaired lots of minor things like kitchen chairs, etc. and generally stayed on folks good side. I got some looks when I had to fire up the disk grinder and such but kept it to a minimum. I burned charcoal till I got a propane forge working.

Lastly, making sure you don't hit the anvil with the hammer helps a LOT, hot steel is malleable and doesn't make much noise under the hammer, let it cool or hitting the anvil gets louder.

Frosty The Lucky.

[John B]

Hi DJ noise pollution in the UK does not rely on decibels, it is quite subjective and depends on numerous things, if you get objections you may be monitored by the council officials who can make a decision. (I have had this problem, and the resulting outcome was I was NOT a particular problem,)

It may well depend on the covenents and terms on the property purchased, the newer ones tend to be more rigid on what you can and cannot do, hanging washing out, keeping animals etc etc so check before you move.

The forging process does not have to be noisy but solid fuel can be smokey at times, but no more offensively smelly than a barbecue.

I tended to work after 9.00am and stop at 6.00pm no Sundays and no Bank holidays, but you do need a break some time and it was a full time business, and I wasn't out to upset the neighbours, Occasionally I would work outside these hours and had no problems, just be aware of what the potential disturbance may be.

The men from the council who advised me said that if it was a hobby there were no restrictions on the hours that were available, just if someone had a valid complaint they could/would impose restrictions.

If you are coming onto one of the Guiild's courses, feel free to discuss any potential problems with me then.

[Ratel10mm]

Check out your local CFE as well. If they have a metal workshop, they may have at least some basic forge gear. Then join their model engineering club to get access to the equipment (not forgetting the lathes, milling machines, etc, etc, etc, at infinitum!). I did just that at Kingston College in London & it worked well. Cost 90 Quid a term iirc & got me a student union card as well! ;) Being in a flat there was no way I could have done any forging at home. ;)