I've taken some time away from nose to the grindstone tool production lately to set up a small blacksmith shop that can wheel in and out of my workshop. While a dedicated space for metal work would be ideal, this mobile arrangement beats the pants off of hitting the road every time I need to heat up and pound some steel.
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| My parking lot smithy. |
The forge and anvil live in a corner of my workshop and I hand truck them down a small flight of stairs into the parking lot as needed. At the end of the day, after everything cools down, they roll back up the steps and into the workshop until the next time their services are required.
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| Adze blade coming up to critical temperature. |
I opted for a vertical tube forge design with a blown burner. Blown burners use a fan to supply the air to mix with the gas. The gas and air mixture come in on the bottom of the forge and the doors are at the top. This arrangement gives a nice, even heat with no hot spots which makes heat treatment a breeze.
There are a storm of new tool ideas on the horizon that this forge makes possible. Expect to see some of them soon and some of them much later. It also means that the adze production, while slightly dependent on the weather, will flow a little faster now.
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| Nice, even heat. |