- Joined
- Jan 9, 2008
- Messages
- 588

Hi guys,I am a beginner at knife making and blacksmithing and am getting ready to set up my home shop.
I will be using a 11'x17' garage that has a 11'x14' room adjacent to it on one side with my extensive woodworking shop on the other side.
I am initially thinking to use the garage portion for the blacksmithing/forging section.
In that section I will have my forge and anvil, a hydraulic press, heat treating oven, and work surfaces/vises etc..
In the adjacent room I will have work surfaces, buffer, my mill, and metal lathe.
Not sure where to place the surface grinder.
I am undecided as to where my 2x72 grinder disk grinder, and metal bandsaw should go. First thought is that the grinder and metal machinery should not be in the same room because of the amount of grinding material coming off of the grinder. Bandsaw will get minimal use beyond cutting off sections of stock and roughing out blade blanks, so I am undecided as to where that should go. All handle and woodworking elements will take place in the existing wood shop.
I would appreciate any and all feedback and suggestions, including whether or not I should remove the dividing wall between the room and the garage to make one larger work area (easily done).
I have an extensive dust collection system for the woodshop, but unsure as to how to utilize dust collection for the grinders other than a five gallon bucket with water. I have a extra Jet dust collector that utilizes a filter canister rather than a cloth bag, but am not sure as to whether that's wise to use or not with all the horror stories I've heard.
Thanks in advance.
I've attached photos of my first knives so you can see where I'm at so far.
Jonathan