Morning, afternoon or evening!
I might ramble a little, i'm rather proud of my humble shop/shed/forge. 10 x 10 x 8 is what i had to work with.
Its taken me a few months to get things mostly up and ready, but i'm really proud of what i have and for the first time can show a workable area. When i moved in to my current residence the "shed" was a brick square that i put a tarp over for the first year to keep wood dry but it wasn't enough for a workshop. I started working on giving the square a makeover as soon as i decided my interest in blacksmithing and woodwork was something i was going to take seriously and started looking for an anvil and or lathe.. I found an good deal on an anvil first; lathe soon.
  My first real wood project since high school shop class 12~ odd years ago was building the door, then the bench, then a roof, i used 90% salvage and scrap wood, only the bench legs and skirts where brought cheap from face book marketplace.
Any questions about things due to the quality of the video or any constructive criticism i can take and put to use please fire away, thank you
( i know i have no fire extinguisher, i get payed at midnight and will be ordering one for the morning)
https://imgur.com/a/1ZlSTdr <20 second pan around video clip 

 

You need stockings on that mantelpiece if you expect to get any coal! 

That gave me a good little chuckle! Ill have to pull out the leather scraps tomorrow! 

Looks like a good work area to me. Little more room than I have. I could spread it out further, but I keep it pretty compact so I'm not more than a couple of steps away from anything. Good job and I'm proud for you 

I like it!! It's not the size of a shop that makes a craftsman.

Thank you both for the kind words, at least we keep warm in the winter weather ! I probably could have made the bench half the size but that would have been the smart thing to do :L 

Nah, I think it's good to have a big work bench. I have a small one and the more stuff I get and more work I do, the more I realize I need a bigger one 

Well i might be bias but bigger is always better!

I need a work bench with a crank top---so whenever it gets covered I can crank the old section into an adjunct storage building and a new clean surface from another adjunct building will move into place.

I have an old treadmill that I could convert to a benchtop - wheeled dump hopper at the action end...

But it's *goooood* stuff!   (I am blessed in that my wife doesn't come out to the smithy; she is cursed in that I visit her spinning stores frequently---usually carry something else to be added to the chaos.)

9 hours ago, KingAether said:

Well i might be bias but bigger is always better!

Unless it's an endoscope!

I think you're open for business, just don't mount equipment, tools, etc. permanently till you know what positions work best for you. It's going to be a good space, more cozy than cramped, I could work there comfortably. 

I'll be watching for pics of it as you start making stuff. 

Frosty The Lucky.

Thanks a lot frosty, i appreciate it. I don't play on locking anything down just yet, will be nice to take it outside in the summer! I just need to find a decent supplier for stock now, thought i had a fabrication place a road away today that would let me take "scrap" but it was a mountain of galvanised rings, so i thanked them and took nothing... I don't like paying for postage costs if i dont have to! 

Good move, galvy is bad news, keep looking. Don't get in a hurry though, steel is everywhere just keep your eyes open. About postage, $7. flat rate will bring a few lbs. of good alloy steel to my PO box or let me drive maybe 40-50 miles in the SUV and about 25 in the pickup. 

Have you looked in the paper Yellow Pages? The internet sucks for this kind of hunting, getting a response from the "contact us" link only works if you're buying. Talking to folks on the phone is faster and easier, if an outfit doesn't have what you're looking for they'll know someone who does. I've rarely had to follow this chain more than 2 links. 

Keep at it but don't get to feeling trapped by the hunt. It happens so just keep a steady pull you'll get there.

Frosty The Lucky.

Are there any other places worth trying to contact other than fabrication companies? I live in a very business and don't drive, a lot of the craft bushiness are in the countryside down the motorway some

Any place that uses steel stock, there is one 2 miles from my shop that repairs and installs the old farm style windmills out here that sells steel on the side as they get a better price discount the more they buy at a time---they will piggyback orders too!