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Hypercon
Basic Blacksmith Shop Layout
This is roughly the arrangement of the Lytton Creek shop. The smith stands between the anvil and the forge. This allows pieces to be removed from the fire and onto the anvil in a single rotational motion, reducing heat loss. This setup also permits easy operation of the bellows while in the same position. The lever for the bellows is located overhead in a horizontal line with the forge and the bellows. The handle for the lever is located midway between the bellows and the forge, the pivot in the middle and the connector rope at the back of the bellows.
The coal hopper is coated tin with a top hinged lid. When the lid is down, this top serves as a table for hammers. Underneath the forge is an iron rack for the storage of tongs, punches, chisels and hardies. The tool bench located on the other side of the anvil is used for files, fullering rods and other assorted tools.
This is a basic layout of the "hot" side of the shop and does not include cold work items such as drill presses and grindstones.
The shop is a half-wall, open air design and does not incorporate a ventillating hood or chimney. Instead, the roof over the forge area has been removed. Because of the location of the shop, wind over the roof is usually sufficient to create an upward draft which creates a chimney effect.
The forge consists of a 3/8" sheet of steel plate with steel and wood containment sides. The bellows is a two chamber pump of approximately 36 cubic feet when fully expanded. The tuyere is cast iron and contains a screwout plug at the bottom for cleanout.
The anvil is of traditional shop design weighing slightly over 120lbs with a hardened face and a single hardy hole of 1" square. One side of the anvil contains a horn (mandrill) radiating at an approximately 60 degree angle horizontally just below the anvil face and protruding approximately 10" from the edge of the face. The anvil rests on a cedar-elm stump of approximately two feet in diameter which is buried 18" below the shop floor and extends about 24" above the floor.
A number of different vises have been used in this shop at various times. The current vise is a large screw type which mounted on a hackberry trunk approximately 7" in diameter. The stump is buried about 30" below the floor and rises to chest level. This has not proved to be a very adequate mounting method because of the torque associated with some operations.