Tiny, cold-weather shop suggestions

[Juc]

Hello folks, I was wondering if you can provide some advice.

My goal:
I want to set up a hobby workshop for making small items such as hinges, knives, bottle openers and the like.

My Problems:
I have very little space available to me and what I do have is more or less taking away from my kid's play area, so I want to minimize the footprint as much as humanly possible.
I would still like to be able to work in winter (-40 degrees) and not suffocate in the process.

How would you folks go about approaching these problems?
I'm a little stumped at the moment.
I was thinking maybe an awning but I'm not sure how to keep the wind off of me, or maybe like a 4x4 tool shed to put everything in and just roll it out on good weather days and invest in a good parka?
I'm kinda just spinning my wheels at this point and was hoping you folks had some thoughts how to you would approach these two problems.

[ThomasPowers]

I used to forge in my basement using a 1 soft firebrick forge run off a cheap plumbing propane torch.  Also look up a "bean can forge", microforge, etc

Should be able to fit your entire kit in a 5 gallon bucket except for the vise...

[Charles R. Stevens]

Parkas tend to be flammable, lol 

[Glenn]

What type fuel are you burning? 

If working outside at -40 (if that C or F?) you may have to preheat the anvil so you do not brake it. LOL

[Juc]

39 minutes ago, Glenn said:

What type fuel are you burning? 

If working outside at -40 (if that C or F?) you may have to preheat the anvil so you do not brake it. LOL

Propane for how I can pack it up easily. The -40 is in F or C, they're almost identical at that point in both of the scales.

Leather parka maybe?

I think if I had a radiant heater I could work well enough if I could keep the wind off but I didn't think about keeping the anvil warm. I guess the solid ice in the slack tub is an issue too eh?

Enclose the really tiny shop and make an induction forge maybe? Those don't put off fumes but they always looked pretty dangerous to me

[ThomasPowers]

Why do you need a slack tub?  I've been smithing 35 years and hardly ever use one!

[Juc]

10 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Why do you need a slack tub?  I've been smithing 35 years and hardly ever use one!

I like the qssshhht sound I suppose. If you don't use a tub or barrel or what have you, what do you use?

[CMS3900]

Run a side blast/draft forge.  Take the hot water from the bosch into a radiator with a small fan.  Heat+Forging.

I would definitely add a windbreak or some sort of insulation.

[Charles R. Stevens]

A small quench bucket is useful, but all to often good medium or high carbon steel finds its way into it. A lid is recommended.

[SLAG]

When I smithed in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, I used a leather jacket for fall and late spring.  In late fall, winter , and much of the spring I used a WOOL duffle coat and leather apron. Please do not use a ski jacket or parka. They are made of synthetic fiber. Those fibers are usually highly flammable. When they catch fire you would become enveloped in a ball of flame. I bought a number of leather jackets cheaply at the Salvation Army thrift store. Come to think of it , I also got a great wool duffle coat there too.

You could try an electric blanket to warm up the anvil. I suggest that you put a wind breaking, water/snow resistant cover over the anvil and blanket. (and a hammer or two).

Hope that helps,

SLAG.

[ThomasPowers]

Mostly I just let stuff cool in air---AKA normalizing.  Since most of the stuff I forge today is either A-36 or Knife alloys I don't like either one of them to harden when I'm not expecting it.  We're not using the alloys that smiths used even only 50 years ago; so I don't treat them like they did!

What alloy(s) will you be smithing?

[Glenn]

Type of wind breaks depend on the amount of wind. A fence, a truck, or a building will help as a wind brake. Use any eddy currents produced to your advantage. Cover the walls with a tarp, cardboard, or other materials.

At -40 below snow can be used as a wind break (think igloo) and when sprayed with water, becomes a solid material resisting any winds.

Dress in light layers trapping air for warmth. Remove layers as you heat up and add layers as you cool down. Dress so you do not brake a sweat, even when active.

[Juc]

I'm planning to work on scrap leaf springs, coil springs, railway spikes and whatever else I can get super cheap, at least until I get far less bad and less ignorant. I suppose some 01 steel bar wouldn't be a bad idea either.

I finally have at least a wee little space I can do this stuff so I really want to make the most of it.

I assure you folks I'll not wear synthetic stuff,  being lit on fire would keep me warm for the rest of my life, but being dead afterward seems like a pretty big downside. A wool coat sounds plenty decent.

[Charles R. Stevens]

I would think -40 would prohibit the kids playing all so much. A small fire place and a charcoal (acualy wood ember) forge might be pretty spiffy in the low temps. 

I would think 8x8 (feet that is) would be just about minimum for an Inclosed space. It takes room to move around with glowing hot steel, swing hammers and such. This will just give you room for a bench, vice, forge and anvil. Maybe even a bit of space for one of the kids. 

 

[notownkid]

Don't spend a lot of money on this project till you try the -40.  I've done farm chores at -35, vehicle repairs and recovery  and fought fires at the same temp.  It is miserable.   Every cold day now I'm paying the price with my joints esp. hands, feet and legs from being so cold.  Might try a Carhart  top of their line quilted jacket the hose type material seems to stand up to a lot of abuse.  If you really want a good jacket look for a Globe Firefighters Nomex Jacket with liner they are made to withstand fires. , $$$.   Watch for your hands and feet they will get the coldest fastest.  Good Luck 

[SLAG]

What's with the minus 40 degrees F. or C.?   Edmonton winters can get cold but minus 40 is not common. The Inuit, in the far north stop all non essential activity when the temperature gets that cold (& colder) They hunker down in their homes or igloos. They then wait it out. That strategy is a matter of survival. I came across that fact in "Paradise below zero". The book, published in the mid 1940's, was in print for decades It is still a good read today.

Incidentally, Inuit is their preferred term for themselves. (and not Eskimos).

I would not smith on days much below zero degrees Fahrenheit.

Incidentally, you can use open fingered wool gloves, when necessary. (I never did, but was acutely aware of potential frost bite).

Thanks Notownkid  for the Nomex reference. That is a piece of new information for me.

Just saying,

SLAG.

P.S. Charles, they close the schools down, when it gets that cold.

[Juc]

-40 F and C are basically the same and the reason I picked that temp is because that's about as cold as it can get without me questioning my life choices as I leave the house. And this year I got a gut feeling it's going to be unpleasant. The worst I've seen is about -60F some years ago, my eyes froze shut, that was not fun, but above -40 I can manage to at least function. That reminds me I need to invest in some goggles this year.
It's taken me many years for me to be able to actually have any space to do blacksmithing at all, so I don't really want to waste any time. I've years to make up for.

It's sorta sounding that for cold weather it's tough to beat an enclosed area where you can just either pop the walls off or hinge a couple sides wide open for the 8 months of the year when it's not miserable outside. But it might just be wiser to keep things portable and just store things until the warm 0F and above weather rolls in; I mean summer does come here, after all. I prefer to be able to do stuff for 12 months of the year but let me tell you 8 months of the year working on things is better than the 0 I've been able to get for quite some time.

You guys are being very helpful I very much appreciate the responses.

[ThomasPowers]

Well as I alluded to:  when it gets really cold I built a forge that I could use inside the house and worked small stuff till better weather came around. Back when I worked with the swaordmaker we would hang a paint can on the horn and heel of the anvil and build a scrapwood fire in both of them and let the anvil get nice and warm to the touch---then fight over who got to sit on it during heats...Of course that was back in the days of steel paint cans...  Captn Atli uses a clothes iron to warm up the anvil.   And when I lived in Columbus OH and had to forge outside---well my 91# anvil was stored in the basement and so was warm when I carried it up and out and set it on the stump.

[Charles R. Stevens]

What is your parking situation like? Building a shop on a flatbed trailer isn't out of the question. 

Now, understand my experiance with cold weather comes from a stint in Germany during the 80's (some of you grey beards my remember the year Big Ben froze up, yep been their) and a trip to the Alps for mountain warfare training. Quite the shock for a kid raised in the deserts of Arizona. I now live smack in the middle of Oklahoma, so a bit milder winters, but I to suffer the effects of chilblain and frost nip. 

Extreem cold requires Mittens and mittens (or gloves for that mater and smithing often do not mix. Some things you need them for (short tongs and gas forges) other times they are a hazard (try getting one off after have overheated it!). As you already know, the old adage that if your hands and feet are cold put on a hat (and another base layer such as a vest) dosn't exactly apply to bare skin at those temps. A small shed or tent will warm up significantly with a gas or charcoal forge (coal not so much) ventilation still trumps comfort, but it will make for a much better experiance in deap cold.   

[Glenn]

If it gets THAT COLD, move the anvil inside and start forging non-ferrous metals such as copper and brass which can be worked at room temperatures. Nothing like several dozen brass or copper roses to sell come spring (grin)

[Juc]

Forging in the basement seems comfortable, and the appeal of keeping all my fingers is certainly there, but the risk of a fire has me a little worried for that situation. I'm not really sure how great gypsum board is at keeping that's all safe.
I've got an OK air exchange though that'll do something like 20 air exchanges an hour down there though, so that's actually something in my favour.
Did you need to take special precautions for a basement workspace?

 

My parking situation isn't very flexible at the moment unfortunately; I've a little storage space but not enough room for a trailer bigger than what'd fit behind a bike.

I didn't actually think about working copper and brass for some reason. I actually could do with a number of brass hinges and whatsits anyway for some purses and pouches I make for folks.

[Smoggy]

What ever methods and equipment you use, if you can mount it on wheels for stowage in the smallest area possible, your working area need only be a heavy canvas tent, even with adequate ventilation it should be warm enough to work in with the forge going provided you don't make it too large. People live under canas at those temps with heating. A timber frame with a tin roof and roll up canvas sides would work fime and when you vacate it the kids get their play area back with an added bonus of a sun/rain shelter extending the time/seasons they can make use of it!

I use a 8x6 aluminium green house with the glass replaced by tin sheet (held on with twisted wire) if I need more room I move outside, where I've just build a logstore come workbench including vice.

[ThomasPowers]

Have you looked up a "1 soft firebrick forge" yet?  you could have a complete safe set up in a very small space in a basement; say a small metal cart with a brick overlay---doesn't need to be fire brick on the cart, just not flammable.  As for air, I'm talking the cheap propane torch that is used to sweat copper pipes by plumbers all over the world with no ventilation concerns---also works good for annealing non-ferrous metals.  Now my house was a 100 year old monster with a field stone basement and was quite drafty---you could watch the curtains on the small windows move with the wind outside.  I did all the hand forged nails for a Mastermyr chest, a bunch of hand forged silver penannular brooches, small blades, etc even did it all sitting down at the anvil.

[Juc]

I did look up the soft firebrick forge, those things seem pretty cool, I didn't previously know about them. I'm more worried about sparks and the like. My house is pretty new so the basement is framed with steel studs and insulated with fiberglass but has a plain concrete floor. I was thinking maybe I need to actually put some concrete board or some such on the ceiling and walls just to be safe. It seems pretty interesting as something to try.

[ThomasPowers]

What sparks?  Does you gas stove throw off sparks?