The Armour Archive

Since the old forge (a former tobacco stripping house) is on the portion of the farm my brother and sisters sold, I've been constructing a new building on my portion of Oakley.

Here's what the building looked like in March...

...and here's the work party on the July 4th weekend with friends from the Longship Company and Camp Fenby setting up the trusses that I pre-made and nailing on the purlins for the roof.

Since then we've tinned the roof, framed in the window openings (on the west, north and east sides, none on the south) and put up most of the plywood. More pictures as progress is made.

Looking good! What are the dimensions?

It's 12' X 24' (3.66M X 7.3M) about 288 square feet (27.7 Sq.M).

This is just under the permit level of 300 sq. ft. for our county. This simplifies life, (as long as I don't put in plumbing).

Here's another view from the southwest corner, showing the 40"+ doorway. I'm doing a custom door with cross planking, rose-headed nails, and the massive hinges off of one of my great-great grandfather's barns.

Just checked out the video of your viking longship. It is beauteous. What does it take to get the honor of pulling an oar on her?

Domnall wrote:Just checked out the video of your viking longship. It is beauteous. What does it take to get the honor of pulling an oar on her?

Basically, there is no charge for going out with us. Check the date for the voyages ( http://longshipco.org/upcoming.html ) confirm that the voyage is taking place, show up and pitch in. There's usually a short rowing tutorial and orientation for new guests and crew members so you can swing an oar and know one pointy end from the other. If you think it's really cool, you can always join as a full member ( http://longshipco.org/join.html ) and plan events, maintain the vessels, and organize voyages and events.

Most of our voyages are "training" voyages so civilian gear is fine. If we're doing movie work or a display we'll let folks know what the standards are. We also do occasional overnighters and longer distance voyages.

Next voyage is Saturday, July 26th, with assembly at 10:00. I won't be there, but several folks have expressed interest and we should have a captain available.

Meanwhile, at the new forge building, I've been working out the vents and chimneys for the coal and gas forges through the east wall tonight. No penetrations of the roof, but it does have a ventilated ridge cap.

More pictures from the new forge building:

And here we are with the gable filled in and some additional work on the windowless south wall. Now, I'm working out smoke stack and exhaust systems on the east end, as well as the 40" door.

Nice! Are you gonna insulate and install electricity? I would have gone 298sq ft if your code is 300st ft to need the permit hehe

Avedon:

I don't plan to insulate at this point; I dress pretty heavy (long sleeves, boots, etc.) winter and summer, and it doesn't get too cold in the tidewater.

Electrical service is the next "big ticket" item; about ~$1,000 to get the power run from the nearest transformer and pole. Pretty much a necessity in a modern shop; especially with me doing much of my work at night.

The 12' X 24' and 288 square foot size was mostlly dictated by modern dimensional lumber and supplies (not to mention my fondness for the "sacred dozen"). The use of 8' and 12' 4X4s, 2X4s and 4X6s; 3' X 8' metal roofing; 4' X 8' sheets of plywood, and such greatly simplified construction on a 2' spacing module. For instance the 4' high king-post roof trusses I assembled used a 12' 2X4 for the base, and 8' 2X4s for the rafters, and I not only had sufficient overhang, but all of the miter cuts were 30 and 60 degrees. Although I used some lap joints here and there, I was also liberal with 4d, 6d, 8d, 10d, 16d and 20d galvanized nails; over 30 pounds so far. Post and beam would have been neater, but it's the 20th century and this is a blacksmith shop. "Let's use some metal!"

I'm working on the the antique hinges for the door, straightening them and drifting them to fit the store-bought galvanized pintles.

He's just lulling you; it's actually a viking long house where he will store his viking raiders over the winter to be ready for the summer raiding season


Thomas, who's next forge addition will not be near as pretty; but a lot cheaper

Cap'n Atli wrote:It's 12' X 24' (3.66M X 7.3M) about 288 square feet (27.7 Sq.M).

This is just under the permit level of 300 sq. ft. for our county. This simplifies life, (as long as I don't put in plumbing).

Very nice. Out of curiosity what's the permit level for, above 300 sq ft what are the extra requirements?

Well it's definitely a beautiful shop cap n'... show us more pics when you get the rest finished, and your tools and electrical installed.

Hubert d'Aigues-Mortes wrote:

Cap'n Atli wrote:It's 12' X 24' (3.66M X 7.3M) about 288 square feet (27.7 Sq.M).

This is just under the permit level of 300 sq. ft. for our county. This simplifies life, (as long as I don't put in plumbing).

Very nice. Out of curiosity what's the permit level for, above 300 sq ft what are the extra requirements?

Well, here's the exemption paragraph from our County land use folks:

"Detached accessory buildings, such as storage sheds, are exempt from building permits if they are not in the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area, are smaller than 300 sq. ft., are 10 ft. from any existing building, are 5 ft. from side and rear lot lines and do not need plumbing. (bolding mine)

Therefore, what I'm really, technically, building is a "shop for the farm, with some metalworking capabilities"; not purely a forge, right? (Which is true, considering the amount of work I've done over the years for ours and our neighbors' farms in terms of hinges and repairs and such.)

Now, if you go over these limits you get involved in all of the procedures and processes listed here:

http://www.co.saint-marys.md.us/lugm/docs/CAG7.pdf

The .12 cents a square foot fee is no big deal (what; $36 for a 300 sq. ft. shop; or $103 for my original proposed 24' X 26' dream shop?) but the process itself (which we have just dragged ourselves through getting our new house built) is interminable; with many check-offs and approvals. (And I'm a 30+ year bureaucrat, and I understand the process and the necessity, and it was still pure torture!)

Thus, I had a powerful incentive to stay under the permit limit.

Once I finish the metalworking shop, I'm starting on another structure for my woodworking tools and lathe. (Putting a wood lathe in a small forge shop just doesn't seem all that prudent; no?) This will be located the requisite 10' from the new forge building and all I need is about 12' X 12'. Presently I'm planning on building this along the same lines as the current project, but given the lighter duty it will receive, I may be seduced into a kit shed of equivalent size if the monetary and time invested math comes out right.

Avedon:

Thank you. It's in fits and starts, but it's getting there. Target for full operation is November (mostly to save up the money for the electrical). Hey, ho; you pay as you go!

Reality may vary!

Can you off set the next building and run a roof between them to have a place to drive a truck under to unload in wet weather or store wood and metal?

Thomas

x2 maybe you can join shops/attach hehe..

this was enough

A. A title page with the following items:
1. Code Listing (see below);
2. Life Safety Code Analysis;
3. Use Group Classification;
4. Construction Type Classification;
5. Height and Area information;
6. Occupant Load Calculations;
7. Live and Dead Loads;
8. Total Number of Units (for multi-family dwellings);
9. Automatic Sprinkler system information (see below);
10. Index of pages.
B. Subsequent pages shall consist of:
1. Floor, Foundation and Roof Plans;
2. Sections through foundation, walls and roof;
3. Details, including fire separation assemblies and penetration systems;
4. Exterior Building Elevations;
5. Schematics for plumbing and electric;
6. Schematics for mechanical work.

to make me recoil. I think in more remote parts of the country and other states it is not so bad, probably just schematics and fee and a safety stamp.

Try to do as much of the electrical as you can with outlets, lights, and what nots because it will save you a ton of money. If unsure about code ask home depot or your electrician. I've had electricians standing around smoking cigarettes at 50$ an hour because they needed me to go get something that I didn't have for them. Ugghh.. these days I do nearly all the electrical in my shops myself. Just too expensive to have someone else do it. It's easy to do and learn and easy to ask qusetions at places around town if your stuck or have questions. Plumbing is very much the same way. A lot of these things can be done by the ammature.

More Progress. Here's the east end, including the masonry surround for the smoke stack for the coal forge:

And here is the front door, with the recycled hinges and awaiting further hardware from the forge:

Hmm, plus the squirrel cage ventilation blower for the shop exhaust...

I've mounted the door (picture forthcoming), and mailed in the payment to the Southern Maryland Electrical Cooperative! I might make November after all!

Now let's see if I can run the stupid .tif file (new scanner only does .tif! Crummy format... grumble, growl...)

Nope! Stupid thing won't size-down or convert.

A part of the push to wrap it up (besides really wanting to get the shop up to full capacity) is that my "landlord at sufferance," who earlier stated that he could conceive of "no earthly use" for the old stripping house that shelters my present operation came to me alst month and told me he wanted to use it as a meat house. (Should I tell him about the squirrels up in the attic?)

I did give him a call the other night to let him know I was hoping to be out by the end of November, if not before. It's the first time I've ever heard him sound happy!

Well, maybe Thursday...

Well, here is the latest picture of the new forge. More door hardware is being forged, and latches for the shutters, on dark and stormy nights when I can't do other work.

The semi-decorative work on the gable end actually reinforces the roof edge at the overhang. A simplified version is at the other end, and will help to stabilize the smoke stack for the coal forge.

For contrast, here is the old forge building on the "sold" part of the farm:

Oakley Forge is up and somewhat functioning; at least enough so that I could wrap up some Christmas gifts and artwork for MarsCon in January.

Here's some exterior shots:

Here are some interior shots. The cold-work end with the pavers and the hot work end with the sand & gravel floor. Still a little cluttered, but I'm making progress.

Forgive the picture quality; I shot at night with no flash.

Here's the last two:

Here's the transition from pavers to the sand and gravel floor at the hot-work end, and a close-up of most of my hammers and tongs.