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Portable Blacksmith Shop Drawings

By Jock Dempsey

I've been asked numerous times about drawings and details of my portable shop. The fact is there were not very many and there were no "detail" drawings. There were many sketches and little slips of paper with dimensions worked out but no formal details.

I am a "maker". When I make things for myself I figure out many of the details as I go. Often things that were sketched one way were built another either because of other considerations, time or available materials. The dimensions for the frame were on a slip of paper with the materials order and cutting list. It is long gone. There were many other sketches and some may still be hiding out in various files and sketch books. But these were all I could find when I sold the trailer. If I find more, I will add them to this archive.

The sketches below were intended for my use only. When I draw or write for myself I do not do nearly as nice a job as when I am doing so for others. These are my personal "short hand" from 25 years ago.


The sketch below is of the forge corner. The forge was laid out and built in the trailer from this sketch. The materials used, were what I had on hand and suit the purpose. Parts were cut to fit the alowed space.

On this same sketch there is a materials cost list and details of the roof trim and a pull-out grill that I never made.

Due to the various diagonal and triangular shapes there were a lot of sketches with calculated dimensions as below. The roof sections were not symetrical because the trailer was rectangular. The left side triangle is wider than the right.

The sketches below were for grills to cover portions of the trailer. The tall "gate" became a ladder with alternate openings similar to the middle drawing. The horseshoe grill was made later by Jim Wilson.

The hinged vise bench set the vise out away from the trailer so there is room to work around it. The location of the forge, vise and anvil were all determined from a work flow layout and then transfered to the trailer design.

Today I am more inclined to make better drawings when I build things, not for myself, but because I now realize that others may be intrested in building the same. If someone wanted to build a similar portable shop trailer for any craft, I would gladly design one and provide details, but at a cost.

Portable Forge Shop Back to main article.

2002 Jock Dempsey


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