Shop tour

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I finished the re-build of the smithy deck, and the addition of another storage shed. I thought I would give a little shop tour of sorts. The grinding room is not in the photos, as I still have some re-working to do in there. The smithy is open air, and all the equipment has covers that drop over them. The photos show the covers on and off. The NC forge on the swing arm is what I do most general forging in. You can see several specialized forges in the equipment shed and several more being built. The cabinets are filled with forge building supplies, blowers,refractory supplies, etc. Lots of other neat stuff sitting around. The new shed will be mainly for rolling equipment carts. I am building all my forges, salt pots, and other heavy things on rolling carts to make use easier.There is a bunch of other stuff in there right now while I am finishing things up.
The wood shop is out back, and has the non-spark tooling. I put a close-up of how I mounted my HF band saw. It should be pretty clear how it is done. Walls are racked with tools and supplies.
I'll do a tour the inside shop, workroom, and the grinding room at another time.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

More photos:

 

[mike malosh]

Mr. Apelt, I see in picture #4 you have what I am guessing is your salt bath in a ceramic kiln. I am building my low temp pot in the same way. How does this work for you? Satisfactory?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

More:

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

more:

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Yes, It is a pottery kiln with a salt pot tube. Used for tempering and niter bluing. Works fine. You have to add a PID controller, but the kiln does great. Can anybody say Martempering?
Stacy

 

[mike malosh]

Yes, It is a pottery kiln with a salt pot tube. Used for tempering and niter bluing. Works fine. You have to add a PID controller, but the kiln does great. Can anybody say Martempering?
Stacy

That's good to know! I thought i would try that route before I spent the money for a "real" electric salt pot kiln. Thank you!

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Wood shop:

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Last on band saw mounting:

 

[John R. Fraps]

Stacy,
Awful doggone clean...where is the dirt, the dust, the grime?
Seriously, Thank-you for sharing!

 

[WadeH]

Stacy you have to many really good toys there. Very nice set up. I am very impressed with your organization. My wife still has hopes that I will get that way, but there is not much chance of that happening. Anyway great set up there.

 

[Sam Salvati]

Stacy, nice bolt heading vice you have.

Thanks for the shop pictures, always good to see other's shops.

 

[Sam Salvati]

Stacy, nice bolt heading vice you have.

Thanks for the shop pictures, always good to see other's shops.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Part of this rebuild was to get things more organized. I am trying to get in the habit of putting things away in their proper place when I'm done with them. In the process of this work I sorted boxed of tools. I have so much redundancy it is pitiful. I plan on holding a hammer-in this fall, and will either give away or sell at pennies on the dollar much of the surplus tools. One example is I have twelve 1/2" combo wrenches. Only half are marked FORD PLANT NORFOLK. I'm not even going to go into the screwdriver drawer situation.
Stacy

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Sam,
That caulking vise was Bill Moran's. I really like the ability to step ,on the pedal and upset a piece of hot steel.
Stacy

 

[Sam Salvati]

Sam,
That caulking vise was Bill Moran's. I really like the ability to step ,on the pedal and upset a piece of hot steel.
Stacy

They are handy tools, and one I have been looking for for awhile. I remember seeing one with jaw inserts that had half rounds of different sizes made for holding round bar securely for heading/upsetting, which would be what I would use one for.

 

[J.Marsillo]

I see the tool bug got its teeth in you pretty good!! Nice setup Stacey:thumbup:

Hey is that Bamboo? I planted some last year, the F'ing rabbits/ wood chucks ate all the new shoots.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Sam,
The bolt dies are on the side of the vise.
Stacy

 

[69_knives]

Nice setup, but only one problem... you need more tools.

 

[efleming]

Nice setup Stacy! I really like the outdoor smithy...

Eric