my dream shop is a gazebo. forge in the middle and all work areas around it hood out the middle of the roof. the only problem is my mom doesnt want another building at our place. Dad wants a tractor shed besides our garage which doubles as workshop for dad and plane storage is just slightly shorter than our house (guessing 100 ft not completely sure) and around 40 ft wide. maybe i am dreaming too expensive but in my mind its bricked up about 3 ft and either open or with plexiglass skylights for about 4 ft then some sheeting about 2 ft then the roof. i would like it to be around 20 ft in dia.

wishful thinking hope to be reality sometime

lol pics in my mind sorry no drawing even yet

feel free to leave comments as this might end up being a real shop sometime

Good luck. Start saving your dollars. Buildings are very pricey.I am fortunate to be given a building but just putting up wooden walls, paint, electricity, work tables, it all adds up very quickly. Currently I am trying to find ducting for my coal forge. I guess I need to head into Augusta and just ask around some industrial supply shops. 

I hope you get to build your shop!

Mackenzie

lol i can kinda sneak the price dad owns a metal building biz and i will probably use leftover building componets to build it with

You're a lucky fellow to have a dad in the metal bldg business!

 

Think outside of the box.  Saw pics of a guy's shop in a silo and thought that was the cat's meow.  A yurt certainly looked good, too, and might be something mom would like because it's easy to take down and move.

Just tell her it'll look better than all of your rusty metal stuck in the yard. Maybe give her some forged items to show her its in her best interest to let you build there. In the meantime, just save, save save! And keep slowly building up everything that you can, materials, tools etc.

A yurt certainly looked good,

 

 

saw my first add for one of them just the other night havent checked prices though and they look a little too flammable for me thats one reason for metal nonflammable thanks for yalls replys

 

royce

Don't think about the flammable nature so much as the look.  One thing about moms, I've noticed, is that they like pretty things.  An industrial-looking outbuilding might be a tad much for her when there are already strong industrial-looking areas around her house. 

 

If you can find a way of making something that's pretty, or blending it into the background with good landscaping, you'll be one step further towards your goal.

 

When I was doing landscape design, we had a lot of customers call us in to fix what they had tried to do themselves.  A lot of the problem was that they didn't pay attention to perspective and how the plantings looked when viewed from various angles and distances.  While I don't know what your particular lot is like, if you could do without electricity, you might be able to build the ugliest building ever if you put it 100yd from the house in the far corner of the lot.  At this distance, for example, the building might be ugly as sin, but it's so small to the eye when standing at the house, that it's easy to miss those flaws and overlook the building entirely.  Put a decorative tree in the yard, with a nice planting surround, and you effectively make the ugly building invisible.

 

Does that make sense?

 

If you have to build close, build the part that's most visible from the main windows and driveway to be as attractive as you can.  Then put some nice landscaping around it to blend it in.  Draw some sketches of what you'd like to do and how it will look with the rest of the homestead, and get her input on it.

 

Sounds like mom doesn't like the industrial look cluttering up her home, and a mom's home is something that mom's take a lot of consideration in. 

here is a pic of our house this was taken more from the road then i was thinking of placing whatever i throw together. A yurt cost around $7000 for a 20 ft one. i was going to put a google earth image here but its so old i decided not to

 

vaughnT i know what you mean and that was one reason i was considering the gazeebo cause if i ever decide to quit smithing we can put chairs table and a fireplace in it but ah well like i have said big dreams

Hi Royce

I started out many years ago under a blue tarp I had to set up and take down each time,

May I suggest before you start a serious build you start forging to show your folks are serious and to find out how serious you are?

Start with a portable set up and a box or chest to stash your tools in - keeping things tidy keeps your folks happy and this goes a long way to

working towards what you want.

If you want a forging area how about talking to your parents and see how they feel about a  plant trellis? from one corner of your dads shed build a trellis out say ten feet and come back another ten feet then put some gravel or such down, this gives you a ten by ten work area to kick of with.

The trellis gives your mum somewhere for plants  and looks nice so she is happy and you can always put sheeting up on the inside to give solid walls at a later date.

With a trellis on two sides and your dads shed on the other you could run a tarp for a roof then later put up a few trusses and a sheet roof?

If things do not work out it is an area for trash cans/firewood etc.

Wayne