Shop at a Glance

My Old Shop at a Glance
Note: I have moved into the central Idaho mountains and have a new and much larger shop.

This page is intended to provide a quick view of my "Golden Age Forge" shop facility. I want to prevent you from being burdened with going through my "Shop Construction Page," unless you actually want to see and read about the various specialized features in the shop, and how they were built. This page will simply provide a quick and easy way to view many of the sequenced images that I have provided in my "Shop Construction Page." After viewing this page, if you are interested in further information simply click the link above and explore, or you can contact me at (208) 462-4028 if you have a specific question. Besides the many image links, the thumbnail images are linked to full sized images also.

Golden Age Forge in Summer
Shop in the winter

My New Shop and Home

I have moved to a new home, and now have a new shop. I retired and bought a ranch in Garden Valley, Idaho. Please click the following link to get a quick introduction to my new life, and a view of my new shop and home. All the same tools shown below are now in my new shop, as well as a number of new ones.

My New Home and Shop Page

Shop Interior

The following images show you the interior of the shop looking in all directions. These images have been updated and are now current.

Looking NW, Including the Forge Hood

NE Wall, including Forge, Hammer Racks & Foundry Bench

East Wall with Foundry Bench & Acorn Table in Foreground

SE Corner Showing my "Office" and Various Items

SW Wall Showing Steel Storage Rack

Power Hammer

The following images show the various stages of getting the Little Giant Easy Helve Hammer restored and into place in the shop. The image above shows the hammer ready for its move into the shop.

The Hammer When I first Brought it Home for Restoration

Restored Hammer on Base Ready to Go to Work

Hammer Up on Platform Ready for Lowering on to Base

Hammer on Base with My Helping Friend Zeph

The Finished Hammer Before Power Connection

Power Hammer From the Right Side, Up and Running

Hammer's Variable Speed Drive Prior to Move into Shop

Foundry Bench

The following images show the sequence of construction of this most complex bench. The bench contains a hidden hermetically sealed foundry sand storage bin, capable of holding 2000 pounds of Petrobond casting sand. It contains about 1400 pounds of sand in the above image.

Bench Frame Showing Internal Structure and Buckets of Sand in Storage

Front View of Bench Frame

Bench with all Four Top Panels in Place

Bench Prior to Sand Bin Installation

Painted Sand Bin Ready for Installation

Sand Bin Installed in Bench w/Top Panel Support Bars in Place

Front View of Sand Bin in Place w/Base Support Frame

Hermetically Sealed Cover in Place

Foundry Bench Post Vise Decorative Mounting

The Completed Foundry Bench

Misc. Shop Facilities and Home Built Tools

The following links show various shop tools and some of the facilities I built to support them.

-The Acorn platen table was in considerable disrepair when I received it. There were numerous scabby angle iron trays welded on the stand, and the platen was covered with weld spatter. It also had large pipe section leg extensions that were very solidly welded on to the four legs, as can still be seen in the "after spatter removal" image. I moved the 1400 pound table from the front of my house to the shop patio by myself, shown in the "moving" image. Also, in order to make room in the shop for the table, I had to build a car-port next to the shop for the little car that had lived in the shop. All was completed today, 20 Jun 03. The shop is a new and far better place now that the car has a home of its own outside the shop.

-The top link shows the latest addition to my shop. This is an "old" Keller power hacksaw. I put old in quotes because the saw was used only to cut off an occasional gun barrel in a local gunsmith shop for the last 50 years. It was bought new by the owner who recently passed away. His sons are now running the shop and didn't want it any more. Except for 50 years of accumulated oily crud it is in new condition. I made a caster mounted stand for it, and two wheel stops to keep it in place when it is running. It cuts so quickly that it has become my default cut-off saw, with my band saw now used only for light weight cutting needs. I have been looking for one of these saws for ten years, and thanks to a bladesmithing friend, I learned of this one in time to get it before someone else grabbed it.

"New" Old Saw - on New Caster Mounted Cart (Still needs a full clean-up)

Acorn Platen Table in Place in the Shop

Fully Restored Acorn Platen Table - Just Painted

Moving the 1400 Pound Acorn Table by Myself with Pipe Rollers and Come-along

Acorn Table after Trays and Spatter Removed - Pipe Feet Still in Place

The #6 Fly-press

7" & 8" Post Vises Mounted on 8" Post set in Floor Socket

Post Vise Tray

Peddinghaus 275# Anvil on Antique Stand

Kohlswa 160# Anvil on "Removable Caster" Stand

Kohlswa Anvil with Casters Removed

Work-Station Anvil on Removable Caster Base