Acorazar Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 I finally have enough tools and such to start putting together a small shop area. If I clear out the corner of my garage (detached two-car), leave the door up for ventilation, etc I should have enough room to start small. I’m intending on getting/building a propane forge and getting a small oxy-acetylene rig to do some light blacksmithing and possibly armorsmithing as well. My question is this, how will Michigan winter treat the tools and equipment? Dead of winter, nearing zero degrees, I’m guessing that I would need to very slowly heat the area and equipment to prevent thermal shock? Is it ok to leave propane etc outside overwinter? Any advice or comments would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 No problem storing propane outdoors unless the temperature drops to -45 degrees F. If you are going to run the propane forge inside the garage, make sure you have several working CO detectors. Is there heat in the garage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acorazar Posted August 4, 2019 Author Share Posted August 4, 2019 Can do with the detector, but no heat other than a plug-in space heater and whatever comes off the forge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
58er Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 dont worry about anything other than the slacktub freezing, I'm not far from Trenton and leave my shop unheated. just heat up the metal and beat it.... youll be fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted August 5, 2019 Share Posted August 5, 2019 For years I would heat up my anvil with a propane torch because of horror stories I had heard about them breaking in cold weather. It does help with not sucking heat out of the work though. I think the stories may have been legend though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 5, 2019 Share Posted August 5, 2019 No need to worry about warming the shop causing thermal shock unless you heat with napalm. What will happen using a propane forge in a cold shop is condensation. Propane produces a LOT of water vapor as a byproduct of combustion and it WILL condense on everything cold. Rust can be a problem but there are products out there to protect your tools, I like LPS 3 expensive but effective stuff. I have a barrel stove in my shop and lay a piece of 2" plate on it when I fire it up then go in the house while the stove takes the worst of the chill off. Then I lay the plate on the anvil, toss some more wood in the stove and have another cut of coffee. That's when I really want to get something done and it's zero or below. On teens and above days the forge radiates plenty of heat to keep me warm and I heat some 1" x 4" x 6" stock in the forge to preheat the anvil. These pieces of steel were for a project that got shelves but they're perfect for warming the anvil up. I'm not so worried about breaking a cold anvil as it just sucks the heat out of the work. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acorazar Posted August 5, 2019 Author Share Posted August 5, 2019 Ok, sounds like, with a few basic precautions and a learning curve, I should be ok to turn a corner of my garage into a small workspace. Thanks for the tips everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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