Uploaded July 2016 | Updated September 2026, 8 hours ago
This summer I had an opportunity to revisit the site of my first workshop more than a decade later...my dad built the barn shed in the early 1980's from reclaimed wood and clad it in 50-year-old barnboard from one of my grandpa's graineries (look for a shot of the interesting interlocking profile of the boards at 2:23)...my first shop was outside in a lean-to under a tree in 1992, and in 1995 i moved into the shed...the last time i worked in that space was probably 2002 or so...
i took some video so i could remember the space and some of the details...the space is approximately 8'x12', the building sits on 2 skids (it has been transported to new locations by trailer a couple of times in the last three decades) and has an antique window installed in the back wall...
the concrete blocks and sheet metal (from the lean-to) around the forge area are still there, the siding has always been weathered and grey (the previous owners stained the front a few years ago and gave it a brownish tinge, the grey is original), the roof is in need of some work (35 years is pretty good!) and one pane of the glass is missing, but the rest of it is still going strong...the tree under which the lean-to stood has been cut down (1:11)...bonus footage of the current tenants on the top floor ^___^
i brought the single inside door pull home as a souvenir of the shop and that era of my work... (2:18)
see the current workshop here: islandblacksmith.ca/forge
This summer I had an opportunity to revisit the site of my first workshop more than a decade later...my dad built the barn shed in the early 1980's from reclaimed wood and clad it in 50-year-old barnboard from one of my grandpa's graineries (look for a shot of the interesting interlocking profile of the boards at 2:23)...my first shop was outside in a lean-to under a tree in 1992, and in 1995 i moved into the shed...the last time i worked in that space was probably 2002 or so...
i took some video so i could remember the space and some of the details...the space is approximately 8'x12', the building sits on 2 skids (it has been transported to new locations by trailer a couple of times in the last three decades) and has an antique window installed in the back wall...
the concrete blocks and sheet metal (from the lean-to) around the forge area are still there, the siding has always been weathered and grey (the previous owners stained the front a few years ago and gave it a brownish tinge, the grey is original), the roof is in need of some work (35 years is pretty good!) and one pane of the glass is missing, but the rest of it is still going strong...the tree under which the lean-to stood has been cut down (1:11)...bonus footage of the current tenants on the top floor ^___^
i brought the single inside door pull home as a souvenir of the shop and that era of my work... (2:18)
see the current workshop here: islandblacksmith.ca/forge
