It not much but it is a place to forge some steel. I just built a small lean-to on the side of my building. I bought a portable forge from an old man down the road and an anvil from a blacksmith that grinds tools in the shop that I work. I have a three pound plumb cross peen hammer and 50 pounds of coal. That is all it took to start an addiction. Who would think how such a laborious task could be so rewarding, and in a sense calming. Had a rough day at work? Just go home, light the forge and let it fly. No matter what the outcome is, I still learn and gain something from every strike of the hammer. There are many things that I can and will improve on shop wise and experience wise. But I can say that I am proud of my little hole in the wall of a backyard smithy.

How did your first smithy look? Were you as proud and as excited as I am about your little getaway?

Chuck

Woohoo! Try starting out with a lighter hammer, like, 2 lb or 1.5 even. You can forge for longer while still moving metal efficiently.

Make sure to show us some projectses. Always going into the forge with a plan helps with productivity, as in you actually make stuff that way. :D

any pictures? way to go. yes, blacksmithing is very calming.

Chuck,here's a picture of my lean-to smithy......and mine actually DOES lean!
This is how it looked one day last summer........cluttered!
I built this 35 years ago and it has seen better days.......though it never was quite straight or organized.

There's a 4 lb. hammer in there somewhere that I can't find.....lost it years ago!

Don't let this happen to you!!

Any way.......enjoy your smithy.

I certainly enjoy mine.

James

Chuck...just go for it......learn as you go and have fun...but be safe.....wear the proper protective personal equipment (ppe) like safety glasses, etc. It's a great stress reliever...:)

Good luck there Chuck. You are right, every time you strike the iron, you are self teaching. I found that it it is like brain therapy, it keeps the marbles moving.

James it looks liek your not the supersticious type of smith who is scared out of there pants to leave the hamme ron the anvil for fear of bad luck in the shoppe...*wink*

Son

White Bear......I often leave my main forging hammer on the anvil. It just seems to be where I need it most often. Never thought about the 'bad luck' aspect of it much.

As messy as my shop usually stays, if I didn't put it on the anvil........I'd probably lose it!
Now that would be bad luck!

You have a roof on your backyard smithy? I'm jealous.

Chuck-You sound about as excited as I was with my first shop. It was a screen house on a place I lived. I walled it in and that was my shop for 12 yrs or so. What got put where depended on where the roof leaked. I ain't sayin the roof didn't have enough slope but if it sloped any less it would have been running the other way

Always leave a hammer on my anvil, sometimes two!

I often leave my hammer on the anvil also....the only time I worry about bad luck is when there is a chance I could loose it....then I would have no luck at all.

welder19

M&F, Way to go! Spend some time around that smith you know and the knowlege will snowball, it's kinda like beans- the more you hit the more you learn;)
Jayco, your smithy looks just like mine except yours has walls!:)Dan

Hey I've got one of those, a corner of the covered patio, the leaky corner. The stuff keeps expanding outwards. Currently building a bellows so I can get away from the outlet and get to the dry side of the patio.

Michael-San Francisco