Well, a couple of you have asked for it, and I've finally gotten around to it. Here are some photos of my new workshop.

Construction started in September. The builders packed up their tools about three weeks ago, but it took a couple more weeks after that to get the ventilation all set up. After a way-too-long hiatus, I finally got back in the fire yesterday and forged out a couple hunters. The good news is I haven't forgotten out to forge and I haven't forgotten how to grind. We'll see about the rest!

(I would have uploaded more photos, but even at the lowest resolution and smallest size, these three were apparently all I could fit.)

The shop is about 2200 square feet, split between two levels. The overall footprint is something like 30'x45'. I chose that width both because it was the maximum allowable footprint given my setbacks, and also because it's about the largest span you can do without any support columns. Obviously the shop is larger than one person needs, but I plan on offering classes, having apprentices, etc.

The first level has 10' ceilings and is divided into three areas. The front room, with a 9x12 garage door, is the hot shop. It's about 30'x25', and it houses two forges, a huge phase converter, my trip hammer, hydraulic press, welding area, o/a torch, and my belt grinder. Behind that, there's my machine room, which is 30'x15', and houses my bridgeport, drill press, buffer, three band saws (vertical metal, horizontal metal, and vertical wood), a 10" table saw and 12" compound miter saw. The last slice of the first level (~30'x5') houses a stairwell, compressor/storage room, furnace room, and a bathroom. The whole first level sits on sealed concrete (8" thick, plus 12" thick and reinforced under the trip hammer).

The second level is one large space, defined on either side by a 5' knee-wall running the length (behind which is a whole bunch of storage). The ceiling is 8' high. I've set up six separate workstations around the perimeter of the room: 1) finishing 2) wood 3) metal 4) leather 5) engraving 6) design (drawing)/and drying (e.g. glue, leather dye, etc.). When I end up teaching classes, my tools can be put away, and each student can have his own area. The flooring is a vinyl tile--the hard, durable stuff you generally see in hospitals or schools: scratch resistant, non-marring, easy to clean, and the tiles can be pulled and replaced individually as needed.

Systems-wise, I tried to think of as much as possible to make life easier in the long run. The forges are hard plumbed to exterior tanks holding a collected 800 gallons of propane, which also fires my furnace. I've drawn three-phase power from my phase converter to a couple of areas in both the hot shop and the machine room. I've hard plumbed air drops from the compressor (under the stairs) to a couple of spots in each space in order to run air tools or just blow off chips, etc. The vent hood over the forges is 6'x6' and encompasses both forges as well as my quench tanks, and the one over the welder is 3'x5'. Both are connected to an in-line variable speed turbine that will pull 20,000 cfm. Before my electrician started work, I did careful research and identified amperage requirements for all of my primary tools and figured out where I would want them placed. Then I created an overlay schedule outlining which tools would likely be used simultaneously when there are more people than just myself in the shop (e.g. when I'm teaching). There's a bazillion outlets (including several in the ceiling), split up over lots of circuits in order to handle the load.

Aaaaaaand I guess that's about it! If you ever find yourself in New Hampshire, give a holler!

Zack