My wee ole Knife Shop

dfarmerknives

dfarmerknives

Joined
Aug 7, 2004
Messages
3,415
My wife and I share a shed in the yard. She is a gardening nut. Technically, I have 2/3 of the shed, but don't tell her. I run an extension cord from the garage to a power strip to power the toys and lights. As long as I only have 1-2 pieces running at once, it is no problem. The garage is on its own circuit.

Notice the HVAC system in the door!!! :o

My next purchase is a dust collector. Take a look and let me know what you think. ;)
 
Thanks, I cleaned it up to put the new Coote in today. Couldn't put a new grinder in a dirty shop....
 
Hey bud,
Is that one of those anvils I hear about where General Shermans men broke the horns off, to keep the confederates from using them efficiently during the Civil War?

How the hell did they break them like that? With a heavy sledge hammer????
Very interested.

I just scored an absolutely free 200lb Hay Budden today, in good condition....
I love anvils... Tell me about yours...
 
Very cool! Trying to make a shop work in a small space is a real challenge. It looks like you're doing a fine job.

John
 
I loved your shop and forge. The forge is too similar to that I've been using last year. But these anvils confused me, how do they shand still there, dont they fall or shake by the hammer blows.

Happy knife making,

Emre
 
razorhunter said:
Hey bud,
Is that one of those anvils I hear about where General Shermans men broke the horns off, to keep the confederates from using them efficiently during the Civil War?

How the hell did they break them like that? With a heavy sledge hammer????
Very interested.

I just scored an absolutely free 200lb Hay Budden today, in good condition....
I love anvils... Tell me about yours...
Click to expand...
I understand thet it is a colonial period anvil. I am borrowing it, so I don't know much. It was broken in the Civil War. I asked someone else how they broke them and they didn't know. I am looking to get my own anvil, soon. Thanks for looking. David
 
jmxcpter said:
Very cool! Trying to make a shop work in a small space is a real challenge. It looks like you're doing a fine job.

John
Click to expand...
Thanks, John.
I feel like I am continually moving things around, though. You do with what you have. :D
 
galadduin said:
I loved your shop and forge. The forge is too similar to that I've been using last year. But these anvils confused me, how do they shand still there, dont they fall or shake by the hammer blows.

Happy knife making,

Emre
Click to expand...

I counter stacked the blocks and used the red flat one piece stepping stoned between every few layers. It is pretty sturdy. I have beat the he$$ out of it with no problems yet.
 
David Farmer said:
I feel like I am continually moving things around, though. You do with what you have. :D
Click to expand...

I know what you mean. This weekend was the "re-arrange the shop" weekend. I built my shop over the past two years and while it's well equipped, but was laid out rather haphazardly. Grinding machines were mixed with precision stuff, but no more!

My tiny shop's in a 12'x14' puppose built room in my garage. There's not a lot of room considering all the stuff I have in there. While the distances weren't great, it was a lot of work. I had to move my Bridgeport (2100 lbs) 12' and turn it 180 degrees. The Hardinge had to move 8' and turn 90 degrees and the little Yuasa surface grinder had to move two feet and turn 45 degrees. That's only the heavy stuff. There was also a bunch of tool boxes, cabinets, drill presses, workbenches etc. The heavy stuff got moved by the force of me hangin my butt off a big ass pry bar, a lot of sweat, a half dozen 1/2" black iron pipe rollers and my loving wife (changing rollers while I pried). When I was done last night, my arms hurt so much I could hardly type. I guess I'm not as young as I used to be:( I learned that no matter how much you think you've swept the floor, trying to move a Bridgeport on pipe rollers will help you find every last chip!

At least everything is now lined up so that once the welding curtain material arrives and gets hung, I'll have seperated the dirty (grinding) part of the shop from the rest. Yeah!

I'm whooped.

John
 
Man, that is a lot of work. None of my stuff is near that heavy, yet. A couple of Advil and a shot of your favorite refreshment, you will be good as new. Thanks for looking. David
 
Hey John,
Good job on the Bridgeport relocation. I FINALLY got to go meet a guy here in Atlanta, who has a full blown shop at his house. Tons of lathes, milling machines, etc.
We made a nice attachment for my grinder. The Bridgeport amazed me, and I would give anything to be able to own one one day. Not looking good for me though.
So happy to see you doing well with your shop.

I am very interested to hear more about the welding curtain, and how you plan to use it and hang it. Are you just going to tack it up to the ceiling and duck down under to to pass through, or have you got something better planned?
 
Alright razorhunter, just jack my thread, ok???..LOL :D hahaha

I understand you live in Atlanta? My wife is from Dunwoody, and we are going there for a few days in about 6 weeks. Think maybe I could get a tour of your shop?????? Email me parang1@comcast.net.
 
Yeah, dang, Hijack is officially retracted!

I'd love to have you in my shop. It's nothing huge, but it is very functional.
In all reality, it just depends on my schedule. I'd love to be able to tell you YES, anytime, but with my crazy work schedule, I'd be lying to you.
Feel free to get in touch with me when the time comes, and we'll go from there bud!
 
It's not the size of the shop that matters,it is the desire to do it that makes great knives and makers ;)
 
Anvils where de-commisioned in a few ways durring the civil war by Sherman and his men (Wilson also did some of thsi wehn time allowed)

1. Throw the anvil into a suitably large body of water, anybody who's lost something in a lake can tell you, you can't find it once it's sunk, and anvils sink fast!

2 Break the horn off by using a cold chisel to score a line along the cut plate at the body of the anvil and strike the end of the horn with a sledge, the cut plate was soft, and the bodies where wrought iron, so it was effective.

Most times the anvil would be cast into a lake or river when it was available, becuase it was the more effective method of decommisioning the smithy. but the horns would be broken off if the lake or river was too far away, not because it made the anvil useless as much as because it would demoralize the townsfolk and the smith.

Tony
 
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