Thread: Future kingdom

Do you guys have a fantasy that you daren't discuss with your wife for fear of the consequences?
Well I did too, but I finally couraged up and broke the subject.
To my surprise, my wife immediately agreed.

I am of course talking about my longing for a workplace where I could work undisturbed with drills, grinding stones and maybe even an anvil and a forge someday.

My neighbour is breaking up his driveway and we started talking about garages, car ports and garden sheds.
He said I should consider building a shed like he did to store stuff that wouldn't fit in a garage.

I immediately saw the opportunity to suggest the idea to my wife who was standing next to me. She thought it was a good idea to get the bicycles and lawnmower out of the garage.
I told her that I wanted it to double as a workplace so that I could do work that would be too noisy inside the house once the kids are asleep. She agreed that that would be a good idea. Partly because I also still need to do work in and around the house, and noise IS a problem with 2 little kids under the same roof.

Originally I wanted to work in the basement, but that would be too noisy because it is underneath the staircases leading to the bedrooms.
And it would be a problem to get in things like workbenches etc.

It will not be for this year or the next because we have more pressing needs atm, but maybe I can lay the foundations in 2 years.
I am already thinking about the possibilities. Perhaps I could make a BBQ on the outside to double up as a forge? (just a wild idea)
And if I properly design sound insulation, I should be able to use an anvil without disturbing the neighbors too much...

I think I'll go to the planning commission next week to find out what I could get a building permission for. I am hoping something like 20 square meters.

Ah, the possibilties ...

Sounds great! When you do get around to it, we will be expecting pictures, of course.

Hope it will work out really well. Planning permissions here are a pain, hope the Belgian councils are better.

Ever thought of forging straights?

May your own kingdom do better than the Belgian Kingdom at the moment.

Originally Posted by Kees

Hope it will work out really well. Planning permissions here are a pain, hope the Belgian councils are better.

Ever thought of forging straights?

May your own kingdom do better than the Belgian Kingdom at the moment.

As long as my neighbours are willing to sign an offical letter from the county, saying that they don't object to me building a shed against the border of my property, I should only worry about the max size.
I am not saying it will not be a hassle (it will) but it should be better than in the Netherlands.

I have thought about enrolling in evening classes to learn forging, but atm there is no possibility to do forge at home or close by, so I decided not to bother.
If I can build this place and the kids are a bit older so that they don'tneed constant attention, I hope I can still learn to forge, and start forging my own razors.

In the meaning I plan to learn re-grinding and eventually grinding my own razors by using stock removal techniques.

And yes, the Belgian kingdom is in a sorry state atm.

Best of luck Bruno. May your wife and kids be tolerant of not seeing their hubby/dad more than 5min/week over the next few decades

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

Best of luck Bruno. May your wife and kids be tolerant of not seeing their hubby/dad more than 5min/week over the next few decades

I will try to not go overboard. Razors are my hobby. my family is my life
Hopefully I will be able to turn one of my daughters over to my side when they are old enough so that I can work on razors AND have a family activity at the same time.

I hope she'll like younger men in case I have a son

You have to get permission to build something on your property? Talk about a bummer 'Round these parts, you could build a huge barn on your property and no one would make a fuss.

Originally Posted by Quick Orange

You have to get permission to build something on your property? Talk about a bummer 'Round these parts, you could build a huge barn on your property and no one would make a fuss.

I know how you feel, but in these parts it makes sense.
A typical plot of land in Belgium is less than 1000 square meters.
If you don't want to put a garage or shed in the middle of your garden, you'd have to put it almost against the border of your property.

Now, my neighbour likes to be in his garden as well, but if I were to build a large garage against the property line, I could put a large part of HIS garden perpetually in the shade, or obstruct his view.
How intruding and annoying the results are depends on the specific situation, so the rule here in Belgium is that unless you stay n meters from the property line, you'd have to have signed approval from the neighbours against whose property you want to build something.

I guess this is not unreasonable in principle. I am sure that if we could all have a couple of acres, noone would mind anything and these rules wouldn't exist.
Of course, if you don't get along with your neighbor, then you can forget about building anything close to his side.

That certainly does make sense, especially with the space issues.