Shop size

[JHemming]

I am currently looking to build my own shop But I have very little room to build it so is 10 feet by 10 feet a good size for a beginner.

[Geoff Keyes]

I'm sorry to say that no shop is EVER big enough, but, if 10 x 10 is what you have, then that will have to do. Try to build as much of your equipment on wheels as you can, and build racks on the walls for anything that will fit. My main forging space is a square with the powerhammer in one corner, forge just far enough away that I don't catch my butt on fire using the hammer, and the anvil about a step from hammer, in the other direction. So a square about 6 or 7 feet on a side. Of course, that doesn't cover grinders, lathe, mill, finish space, storage, or any of the other things that knife making entails. You do what you have to.

 

Good luck,

 

Geoff

[Paul Estes]

Well until I have a place that is my own I work out of a 10x20 tent. Ya make do with what ya got.

[son_of_bluegrass]

I'm forging out of an 8x9 shed. It is not big enough but it is what I have. So if you've got room for a 10x10, then you make it work.

 

ron

[Kenon Rain.]

I've got about a 10x30 shed, but 20 square feet of it is covered in what used to occupy a potting shed..

 

works for me, dirt floor to boot.

[Dan Scott]

If it makes you feel better. I have about 2ft. by 2ft by 10 ft. of storage space...I do all my work outside and have to take all my stuff out of that small storage space and put it back when i'm done. I seriously envy 10'X10'. Doing work outside is nice though, so if you can save space by doing that, do it.

[Kenon Rain.]

depends on where you live too.. Inside my 10x10 shop right now its 9 degrees Farenheit... outside its probably 8 or 7.. my quench tubs are frozen over completely.. Hell the river is almost iced all the way over..

[Cylvre]

depends on where you live too.. Inside my 10x10 shop right now its 9 degrees Farenheit... outside its probably 8 or 7.. my quench tubs are frozen over completely.. Hell the river is almost iced all the way over..

 

If you factor in the wind chill my shop area is -25F right now... I shiver just /thinking/ about it.

[Kenon Rain.]

haha

 

I'm not used to this cold.. Oregon is supposed to be wet, not froze solid.. we're starting to develop real winters these last few years.

[Bryan Bondurant]

Im lucky to have big place now but started off with nothing. I like to have a clean area and dirty area, that probably comes from messing around with darkrooms where you have a wet area and dry area but it works. Ive seen guys on youtube running grinders in their kitchens and all manor of places so size is not always a limitation of possibilities. I'm sure most people have started small unless they lived in a rural area and had a shop before they got involved in forging.

 

The biggest things are safety issues, dont burn down your place, dont contaminate your home with titanium dust, man made materials like Micarta, or tropical wood dust. A secondary consideration is available light, to much light or sun will make it harder to learn the temperatures by color. For me grinding anywhere you eat is a big no go as you could contaminate your food and ingest it, I'm not sure about the science here but it seems like a good idea to no eat titanium dust.

 

As far 10x10, if you own the space and plan to be there you could build a nice bench/desk into one side of the wall and add a bunch of storage into the design. If you use a grinder you could put it on wheels so you can move it, same with a gas forge, put it on wheels so you can move it into the corner when you don need it. Anvils dont move around so good but it can be done, just add slots for a dolly to slide under your anvil stand or build and table that will fit over the anvil when your not hammering so you dont have to move it.

 

This is out back, you can see a big vice mounted on a post (Left Hand Corner)where I file and grind on the back porch. I may add a cover for the forge later but its the dry season now and the sun is blocked so its nice and shady just after the noon sun goes past so I can forge in the afternoon. You can do the same thing outside anywhere if you your willing to work around the local weather, no need for fancy.

Edited December 10, 2009 by Bryan Bondurant

[B. Norris]

It all depends on what you want to do and how much time and money you can put into it. Forging equipment tends to eat up space and 10 feet square will quickly become a storage closet. On the other hand, if you are buying barstock, filing it to shape, heat treating with a one brick forge and then finishing with hand tools - the same space could be quite cozy. Having a clear idea of what you want to do and what equipment is going in will make things go more smoothly. In other words, having a plan helps!

 

~Bruce~

[dragoncutlery]

i went from a 1 1/2 car garage to a 12x12 x14 foot tall tower used both floors worked grate and i miss it some times now that im back to a 1 1/2 car garage it was nice being closer to my tools but i have more of them now so it works out 10x10 will work just dont be afraid to go up and over head storage is nice

[Brian Madigan]

I never have enough space. If I could stop accumulating junk and keep my shop clean it might be big enough. Nope still not big enough.

[Rich A.]

10'x10' will work. just don't try to have every tool known to man. I have a forge, anvil, grinder, and vise all in there. The vise and forge are both set up on a 3'x5' welding table. The anvil is one step right of the forge, and the grinder is on a pedestool in the corner. The shop is much bigger, but this space holds EVERY tool i use and is all I can work in. My buddies moms single car garage with 2 motorcycles in it, and all the junk from there house. We get one small chunk about 10'x10'.