Thread: Progress pics Snail forge under construction

Today I mowed the lawn in front of it. Tomorrow I'll move out the parts from the wooden play tower that I am building for the kids.
And take a brush to the floor and make it semi presentable. The weather should be ok so I'll probably get some pics tomorrow.

great I would love to see where all my Brunos are born!! tc

This is where the magic happens.
The horseshoe was a gift from my grandmother, long time ago. It reminds me of her and a smithy has to have a horseshoe.
The front part is my smithy. The back side is storage for garden tools, lawnmower etc, but also a huge pile of sacks of charcoal.
I stand alongside my anvil, not in front. So I put the fire and the anvil in the same direction. Then I can heat, take it out and hammer, without having to turn around every time.

the 2 big buckets are oil and water.
I always have in-use stock standing near the anvil. The pipes next to the anvil are my heat treatment pipes. They act as a heat buffer and keep oxygen and fire away from the steel. I still need to saw the end of the hammer handle. It's too long. I use a heavy hammer, hold it close to the head. Much better for the elbow and arms than holding a long handle.

Very nice.

thanks Bruno ,, great for my imagination,, this is cool ,, I now know where my razors and knives are brought to life thru heat sweat and hard work , tc

very nice, and a good general purpose space if you ever sold your house too. is the chain to stop the anvil being stolen?

The only thing that bothers me about the pics is the neat and orderly look of it all. As a visual artist I have no problem operating in a seemingly jumble of an environment. I like having everything flowing in and around itself. Gives me the opportunity to capitalise on accidental combinations of objects and colors. But I do admire the fact that without the order it could be a dangerous place in a forge. And best yet, it doesn't affect the quality and beauty of your work. (Close to finishing the paring knife you made me. Will then post pics of same.)

Very nice and airy spot to do your work, Bruno. Seems to double as a garden shed? Wonderful work with materials foreign to myself. Quite sturdy. Americans often live for the day. Much work in this country in the last 60 years that I see, is crumbling.
I dig seeing things made to last! BTW, I, too love the short handled, heavy hammer.
Looks quite nice!

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Very nice and airy spot to do your work, Bruno. Seems to double as a garden shed? Wonderful work with materials foreign to myself. Quite sturdy. Americans often live for the day. Much work in this country in the last 60 years that I see, is crumbling.
I dig seeing things made to last! BTW, I, too love the short handled, heavy hammer.
Looks quite nice!

I chose 5" thick concrete support beams, and wooden beams that are normally used for structural roof support. They're 8" high, 3" thick. I don't know of any reason it needs to be this strong, other than I want to over-dimension infrastructure. Should I ever have the need to hoist something the size and weight of a drive train, it should pose no problem.

Originally Posted by Razorfeld

The only thing that bothers me about the pics is the neat and orderly look of it all. As a visual artist I have no problem operating in a seemingly jumble of an environment. I like having everything flowing in and around itself. Gives me the opportunity to capitalise on accidental combinations of objects and colors. But I do admire the fact that without the order it could be a dangerous place in a forge. And best yet, it doesn't affect the quality and beauty of your work. (Close to finishing the paring knife you made me. Will then post pics of same.)

I work best in a clean environment. Not superclean, but I don't want loads of junk on my worktable or smithy when I start working.
It's not always this clean, but I do try to clean up from time to time and throw out anything that is not etiehr a tool, raw material, or work in progress.