Looks good James!!!!

James, seems like you're havin' fun while you are working :-) Good job!!

Bentiron,
Check out your zoning laws. In my town any 10 X 10 structure needs no permit. It just has to be 15 feet off the property line. You may be able to build something without permit at all if you can deal with a smaller building. Also you could just tell them your putting in a wood burning stove and let them inspect away. Now using coal is another thing. Not allowed in close to the center of town where I am, But no one asks and I don't tell.:rolleyes:

Don't forget the most important part, The Horseshoe over the door!

Doug C., This ain't Boston. This is Cave Creek,AZ and I have a little thing called covenants, codes and restrictions. I can't put up anything, nothing, zilch, nada on my property with out permission of the homeowners association first, then the county. The first thing is the HOA and the CC&R's and they don't allow 10'X10' nothings, no how, no way in this neighborhood not even a storage shed. If you ever look to buy a new house the first thing you need to do is check and see if it has a HOA and CC&R's and if it does DON'T buy the house no matter how good the deal. The HOA will hound, harass, and otherwise make your life a misery unless you march to their tune. Live free and don't live in an area that has an HOA.:mad:

Bentiron,
Good advice. Deb and I will be downsizing in a few years as all 4 kids are now in college. Guess I need to move a little further from civilization so I can do what I want with fewer prying eyes. Know anyone nearby with a big lot, no HOA and a willingness to let you use 100 sq feet of their back yard?

Bentiron, I agree with you. I live in a deed restricted comunity with a HOA. No sheds, no parking in the street, no commercial vehicles, trailers, boats, etc. I can't even paint my house the SAME color without writing a letter to inform them. It really..........well........to tone ot down a lot, it stinks. The only good thing about the deed restrictions is that it keeps our property values up.
Oh, and I don't have room at home for a shop, even if they permited it. I have to drive 8 to 10 miles to my office to do any smithing. Or stay late after work. Which makes me miss time with the family. ( On the possitive side, at least I do HAVE a shop )

Ok, my turn to get off the soap box......... NEXT!!

Sorry, I missed the point of the thread. Great shop Jayco!!


Mitch

Edited October 21, 200817 yr by MRobb

Yes, That is the point of this thread. Jayco does indeed have a great shop.:D

MRobb,Bentiron, I thought I was having problems....bending nails.....finding time to bend nails.
I guess I should count my blessings that I can build a shop!
From the posts I've read, there are a lot of folks that are in one way or another 'restricted' and can't.

These past few weeks I've made little progress in actually moving in the shop, but I'm pretty close to making what we around here call "a real showing".

I've been nailing some of the 'battening' over the cracks between the siding boards and have my electrical stuff all ready.

Most importantly, for me anyway, I've been experimenting with what type of forge setup I'm going to use in the new shop. I have a 4 ft. x 40in.x 1/4 in plate that will most likely become the table for the forge. I've made a 3 in. round tee to go under it.......must do something for a firepot.......Havn't decided on that one yet.

I've got a little portable forge set up in the old shop so I don't suffer 'smithing withdrawl'.......

And here are a few pics........

That's the 3 in. tee in the car wheel forge
The one on the steel frame is my portable forge

Jayco, sorry to vent on your thread. The problems some of us in "restricted" areas are just speed bumps on the road to progress. I guess a little frustration comes with it.
You have a great shop coming along. Please keep the pics coming. We are enjoying your progress.

Mitch

Being a little paranoid about fire I think I would put some gypboard around the area where the forge goes to protect the wood.

Bentiron,you're right about the fire hazard near the forge. I haven't gotten pics of the inside yet, but there's 24 in. wide roofing metal on the inside walls near the ground (sort of underpinning'. That will be a big help with fire safety, but there are also 2 x 4 stretchers running 12 in. high from the ground. I will have to put flashing metal over these 2x4's to keep sparks and hot bits of metal from starting a fire there.

A smoldering ember in a crevice,forgotten, can be the end of a wooden structure.

I saw an old wood structure shop once that had all the horizontal beams hewn in such a way, with a peak, that no hot metal could stay there without rolling off to the ground.
evidently, the builders were thinking 'fire safety'.

nice looking shop ! it is real similar to my shop at the museum.. are you going to have people stopping by to watch?if so you might try what i did and have part of one wall hinge up for a opening . it allows people to watch without being in shop and gives good ventelation also.just a thought... good job!

dablacksmith, I plan to put in a set of double doors when I can,...for a few reasons

increased ventilation in summer
for getting larger pieces in and out...and as you said
if someone wants to watch, they can have a full view of everything from outside the shop.

I got the forge set up and of course....had to try it!

The forge table is 40 x 36 in.........with 8 x10 in. rectangular fire pot.

Haven't got the side draft flue in yet, so I used charcoal (less smoke)!

Here are some pics.......more in my 'New Shop' album in the gallery..

I haven't moved the anvil,post vise,tools,stock, or anything else yet.

There is still much to do!

Looking REAL good there!
Finnr

Looks good Jayco!!

Are you getting enough draft?
It's always harder to tell about some things with only a picture to refrence.

welder19

Welder19, I don't have the side draft flue set up yet. What you see in the pics is just a piece of 10in. Stove pipe laying on the forge table. When I get everything set up, I will post more pics.

Oh ok, didn't want to sound like I was knockin your set up but it just was'nt sucking like I like to see, otherwise lookin good, it's always exciting to be able to build more room to spread out into.

welder19

Looks like you have a lot of room for tools, and "stuff" on the table. Nice set up, James. Let us know how she drafts after you get it hooked up.

Well, I got the side draft flue installed today. It worked really well dispite the fact that I only had 8 ft. of 10in. pipe for the vertical part.

The horizontal section is the casing from an old pressure washer.
10in. x10in. x 30in. It all fit together surprisingly well.

I'm now on the lookout for a couple sections of 10 in. pipe to add height to the stack. It worked well enough today, a clear weather, high pressure sort of day.........but I'm not sure how it will be on rainy , low pressure days.
We will see.

I now have power to the shop, and lights. Moved my main anvil in.....gotta set a post for the post vise.

I've done a little trial forging in the new shop, but I'm resisting the urge to bring all my tongs,hammers,chisels,hardy tools, and other assorted smithing 'stuff' in until I have proper hangers or shelving to store stuff.
That's what the problem was with the old shop.....no organization!

Here are some pics.......(there are more in the gallery)

The work.......continues!

James

Boy that looks like it really drafts, James. Great job. I know what you mean about no organization. That's why I recently cleaned up my own shop. Now I just have to remember what shelf I put "IT" on. LOL. Looks great. I wish nothing but good luck.

Looking real good there!!! Seems to have a great draft.
Finnr