Shop Tour

J. Neilson

J. Neilson

Joined
Feb 6, 2001
Messages
3,621
Hey all, I've been promising to do this for some time and I guess today was it. This is a quick look at the hot and cold shops I've got here on the mountain. Hope you like it, if you have any questions, feel free. It's nothing fancy.

Hot Shop
Forges & Hammer
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Box forge I'm working on, anvils & tongs
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Coal forge & quench bath (axy./acet. is across from this)
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Cold Shop
Main work bench
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Grinders (2 Grizzlys, a 1x42 baldor/kalamazoo & my very first grinder, a 1x30 harbor freight job)
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Drill presses, wood bandsaw & stress reliever
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Second work bench (sanding & temp. MIG welding area)
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Metal bandsaw, buffers (got a 3rd on the floor I need a stand for still), drying kiln & apt. size oven for tempering/boiling.
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I'm still planning on putting some windows in, hence, the one wall. The 36" exhaust fan over the grinders is taking up the slack for that right now. I hope to eventually put a door on the forge room too. Some things just seem to take forever.
;)
 
looks really nice J. I'm going to find a nice work table or two and put my shop together a little more before i take some pics. How is tat forge working out for you?
 
Wow J. That's serious! Nice place. Now I need to arrange my work bench too.

I have to ask about what you use for heat on the non-forge days.

Steve

PS, seeing your 'stress relief' system, I think I'll reconsider coming for a vist.
 
Thanks for the tour J. Maybe it will inspire me to organize my workshop a little better :confused: ? Very impressive setup. No wonder such beautiful work comes out of it :eek: !! Next, we need to see Tess' work area, where all the leather work is done. Thanks again.

Ken
 
Nice working area. Looks like you got room for a press in there! :D
 
Thanks for the tour, that's cool! My shop has a 3/8" hand drill, a craftsman 1 X 30" grinder, a little bench vise, a temporary brick forge and a hound dog in it so to see yours is inspiring! Thanks
 
Thanks guys,
HF, The new forge is working great, I'm in the process of converting the other one too. I haven't decided what I'm doing on the box yet though.

Steve, on the heat-treating: it just get's done no matter what day it is. The cold shop is in the barn. It's about 13' x 30'. The hot shop is on the corner of the barn. It was the old milk house. It's about 12' x 12'. Still got room to grow. That space where the "stress system" is at I'm hoping to put a 3 in 1 machine in if I can ever find one I can afford.
You still better visit.
:D

Burchtree, I've got the spot for the press marked out already.

Thanks for the comments, keep 'em coming. I'm in the process of building a new shop for Tess. She's been working out of a spare bedroom in the house but, has outgrown it. I'll post it when it's finished.

And John, come on up for a visit. We're having rabbit. Everyone else is welcome too.
 
J., That is some setup! Really nice, and it looks like you really have your bases covered. That is how you keep hitting all those home runs with your knives. Dave Larsen has visited my shop. He says I have a great sense of humor, he is still waiting to see my shop! It's under the junk piles, Dave. Yep, I really do like your shop, J.! Color me green, fella.
 
J No doubt it's nice, power hammer is cool, even though you're going to build a press.
 
Dang J, all that room you must rattle around in there like a marble in a coffee can! :D I can see you need a taste of the reality squeeze of "normal" home owners! (And I thought I had a spacious setup - Not Even! :rolleyes: ) Nice place J, thanks for the tour. The dartboard and heavy bag are touches of a man at home with his work. ;)

John is right, his shop is buried under heaps of free stuff he's talked people out of, and no amount of giving it away ever seems to reveal the work area!!! :D :D

John, you got to get that new shop running buddy, it's time to fill all those Christmas orders!...
 
J, Just got my shop up & running...Power to the machines..IM BACK....starting my runs for the Harrisonburg show and the Guild Show.
PS send me your address...going home to bBuffalo this Christmass..you never know...Silly Rabbitt
Hi to Tess & little J,
 
Just an observation...

These "shop tour" threads are always interesting to me. For one, the different ways we do things depending on what climate we live in. Down here where its "too darned hot" in the summer, all of our forges and hammers are usually outside under a cover. Our knife production usually slows down during that time. most work is done in the mornings or late evenings. In the winter we have "cold spells" that get "all the way down" to 25 degrees AT NIGHT sometimes but usually warm up to 45 degrees or higher during the day.

I see your shop and the new one that Ed Caffrey just built at his place in Montana and it is just amazing (to me) what you have to do to plan for in the winters.

Nice set up by the way.

Craig
 
J,
Outstanding! I love shop tours almost as much as new shop equipment! Almost! :D :D :D Great Set up J., but it does look a little to clean to me......:p
 
J.

Wonderful tour. Man, you've got some space there. I can't imagine what kind of mess I'd be makin' if I had that much room to make it in. Did you clean up just for the photos?:D :D

Dan
 
When I built this shop (cold) I was just getting into knives (really hadn't thought about making a living at it though) and I put this shop together specifically for that purpose. I wanted to have tools grouped for their purpose to try to save running back and forth and enough space between tools to work with the occasional monster blade. I didn't clean up for the pix. The shop normally looks that way. It's far from clean but, I do have this nasty habit of putting things back when I'm done so I can find them again. I'm going to counciling for it. :D Unlike a freind of mine, who shall remain nameless, who lost a 175lb. anvil in his shop 10'x15' shop for 2 years.
 
I like the way your tools are all layed out. I end up with a pile that gets bigger until I can't stand it any longer then I clean up and the cycle continues.

Does that sound familiar to anyone else.

Thanks for the pics it is always interesting to see how the other half live/work.
 
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