Black Bear Forge Shop Tour 2024
A blacksmith shop tends to be in constant change and evolution. Join me as we look around my current shop setup.
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00:00 - Intro
00:37 - Material storage
02:09 - Small shop
06:19 - Cutting and grinding area
11:13 - Main shop
17:09 - Fireball Dragon Wagon
19:19 - Forging area
25:50 - Bench work area
28:13 - Earthship office
#blacksmithing #forged #blacksmith
Blacksmithing and related activities can be hazardous. These videos are not a substitute for competent professional instruction. Your safety is your sole responsibility. Always use appropriate safety equipment including eye and ear protection when working in the shop. Follow manufactures safety guidelines for the use of all equipment. In the event something shown in one of these videos seems unsafe, it is up to you to make the appropriate changes to protect yourself.
"I hesitate to show you this back room ..." proceeds to show one of the most interesting parts of the shop :-) Great tour, lots of helpful information for aspiring metal workers.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks for the tour. What a nice shop. I'm working out of a 10x10 shed in the yard that I have to drag most of the stuff outside to work on. Amd almost all my tools are stored in my basement. But i put the shed beside the basement door so it a little efficient
That's about the same as what I'm currently working out of, although I mostly keep my tools out in the shed. It was a smaller shed but I added on a bit recently, and I just got it up and running a few weeks ago but it's plenty of space for now until I get the big garage and workshop built. It's always surprising what you can do with such a small space though
Just took a full day Blacksmith class and joined the Guild. Can go use the shop 3 days a week and always instructors to help/teach the trade. Really enjoy your vids and looking forward to setting up a budget shop of my own. New sub!
John, thanks for the tour. May you eternally forge on!
It sounds like you’re giving a eulogy or he’s about pass away. That was an odd way of praise lol.
Great tour, thank you. Also glad to see the Fontanini anvil. Based on your recommendation when you first got it, I grabbed a 250 LB Fontanini. Very impressed with it.
thanks.. .. Black Art Forge..
Good morning John. Thanks for the shop tour, it's great the fact that you have taken years to build up all you have and still using most all of the tools. Keep up the good work and fun that you have around there and we all appreciate what you share with us on You Tube. Stay safe, Fred.
Love the channel long time viewer
Great job. Thank you 😊
It's nicecto see how you've laid everything out and what basic things I'll need when I eventually set up my little blacksmithing shop. Thanks for everything.
Janet has an anvil and a power hammer?! 😂 Well played good sir.
I watched all of it when you first started I didn't think I would but you made it interesting enough 👍 I really liked the last room I have thought about giving it a try here but I think it would be too humid for the earth to last
Thanks for taking the time to give us a tour John, we really appreciate it!
Thanks for taking us on the tour and for having us over godbless and good health, john.
Nice shops!
Love the tour!! Now do a video on how to get work done without piling up the shop 😊 I can cleanup organize,, as soonas I start a project,,, the pile is on 😆 keep up the great job, mt
You said the shop was a mess. Not so, it looks pretty good to me. Now if you want to see a messy shop come to my place. Thank you for sharing. Have a great day and stay safe.🙂🙂
You should do a project for replacing all those little red plastic containers with a cool storage cabinet of some kind.
Thank you John it helps to see how other shops are setup to then tweak my own work area
Nice video gave me some ideas for my shop!
i know that Will Stelter would love to get his hans on that old drillpress and restore it
Thanks for sharing this. I've been wondering about it for a while.
Wow, to think you know what everything is and what it is used for is mind blowing. There is just so much stuff and equipment. You are a very smart man and very talented. In my books you are a cool dude. Thanks for the incredible tour and thanks for sharing. Tony.
Loved the shop tour John! Horizontal surfaces do tend to collect things. My shop has a boat-shaped storage bin that hopefully I'll get to clear out so I can actually go fishing in it. My wood shop has a SawStop-shaped storage table that has collected a bunch of stuff. Takes me 15 minutes to clear off before I can cut anything.
Well I'm sure i could spend about a year there "touring" your shop. Thanks for everything you share with us. You are a fantastic human John.
Your shop is very nice. Glad I could see it evolve over the years! You had great upgrade in the last couple of years! Congrats John! Always a pleasure to watch your content.
Man of metal! Wow
Great shop tour always see things I would like to add, I like the office with the glass, can, and packed dirt. I would like to close my carport and make it an extra room this is food for thought.
Those windows make more sense.. I always thought you were filming at night😂😂
Thanx for showing me around your shop Black bear Forge. Tom in Ayr Scotland.
Thanks for the tour, what you call clutter is spotless compared to my shop😂 now I'm going to have to clean up. Have an awesome day
Thanks for the shop tour! I throughly enjoyed it.
I could spend hours browsing in that workshop. Gradual accumulation of tools and gear through necessity is a wonderful thing. I'm no way near your level and will never get there but happy with what I have, and everything has a purpose even if used only occasionally. My son has also discovered he likes making things (after 30 years of avoiding tools) and will be happy to acquire all my stuff. Thanks largely to your videos and instruction I now make a lot of the tools I need so thank you.
I have injured seeing your shops and has givin me ideas of how to set up my shop but just a note I injoy your channel more and have learned a lot from you. A big thank you and keep up the pashion.
I got to get my metal shop organized, I hardly ever use it anymore. Thanks so much for the tour, it is great inspiration and is getting me motivated to get out there and clean!
Thank you for the tour of your different forges. Mine is on the smallish size so I have been trying to think of ways to maximize the area I have. I really like the hammer/tong rack you have in the small one. May have to do something along those lines. Thanks again.
Thanks for the tour. I can see the natural workflow designed into the layout looks like less than three or four steps between stations. I'm looking forward to the May NWBA conference.
You have very interesting shop! Thanks to video and greetings from Finland! ❄️☃️🎅🏻👍🏻🇫🇮🇫🇮🇫🇮
I love to see others with as many unfinished projects as me - maybe more in this case! Good luck with them, and I hope this is the year you get them done!
Thanks for sharing your shop , I’m just starting my blacksmiths collection and learning about this hobby. Have some very big machines I got from a n industrial smith who was closing down . A huge assortment of tongs and spring swages literally a couple of tons . Two big power hammers . A large gas forge and an old punch/ shear . Now my our old farm workshop is in bad shape so I plan to build a new steel portal shed over top , then pull down the old shed . My engineer friend told me to get plenty of height , so it’s made me think about a mezzanine over where I’m planning to have my lathe and milling machine . Then I should be able to store much of the stuff that is currently sitting in the shed . I’m a farmer by day but build and repair most things . Thank you again from New Zealand 🇳🇿
Great!
Very nice set up in your work shop John, I really need to spend some time to clean and tidy up my work shop.
As awesome as that new anvil is, i sure miss seeing the old one in your shop. It's seen alot of work done on it. Hopefully whomever has it now appreciates it. 👍
I love any shop tour, especially this shop!!! Serious question: would you ever allow a viewer, who is himself a hobby blacksmith, to come forge with you?
I love my rock island vises, i got a monster 7 inch from my dad and found a smaller 4 inch one in my shop from my wifes grandpa
Cool look. I really need to find a place locally I can learn blacksmithing from. That said, I have a cool project I think would make a good video or two for you.
Thanks for the tour, always good to get feedback on what someone that has been in the field for a while thinks about different types of tools and machines, especially those that he would've done differently. As always good to get to see another video by you, good information in this video as well, thanks again.
Glad you enjoyed it
The dental lathe is designed to use for dental work. They have specific torque and speed, although some have variable adjustments, so you can use end-type tooling/bits for shaping/smoothing and polishing. It's better than a bench grinder's basic wheels.
Thanks for the tour. Very interesting 👌
YES! Thanks John!
Nice shop...just starting as a hobbyist with a 8x12...did build a masonry forge with a natural side draft chimney...I do like the idea idea of a gas forge on the side.
Thank you for this post, as asked for. Where is it located/
love the tour. like the basic shop with no power since thats what I would be doing.
John, thanks for the tour. I’m just starting out and working on building up my shop. Very informative video.
Glad to help
Thanks!
In the mini-office you need a recliner. 😂
Probably not enough room.
Are the Doyle Anvils and Vises at harbor freight any good? I love your content. Please keep on educating me. Thanks.
It's cool to see all the similarities between our shops. Same mind sets with differing environmental factors. I still film with a phone... maybe I should invest in a camera?
A camera does give you more control, but is also a bigger investment.
Wonderbar ! 10:50 FREE drill press for if you are the son of popeye and the cousin of superman and you also must be a tetris expert
Pretty much sums it up
I’m surprised that you didn’t talk about the fireball squares that were hanging on the wall. I want some for myself but they’re so expensive
I didn't feel like there was time to discuss the smaller tools hanging on the wall. That could take hours
If there is a local trade school, see what it would take to have the students do the roof. The materials will still cost money, but the labor might be free, and the expense could be a tax write off potentially.
Thanks for the tour, what's the deal we the wellsale table ?
Here is a video on that table -kzhead.info/sun/mcOnkaabg6mOfqc/bejne.html
My shop looks like a city dump at the moment, I'm having a good old sort out.
Hey John, ive been struggleing to find a tool that can hold up to the constant shocks and abrasion that my high sand iron and silica clay puts on my trimming tools. The tools i currently use have a wide and sometimes curved Chisel edge that allows me to skim off a thin layer of clay while the peice is spinning on the wheel. I often have to hold the tool in the air and wait for the peice to spin where the tool can bite off the high spots until it becomes level. There are cheep stainless and some high carbon steels that get worn down after just a few minutes. And the expense tungston carbide tools chip and shatter even faster. Do you have any recomendations for a tool steel that might be able to withstand what is essentially cutting through sandpaper like wood on a lathe?
The back "dump room/one day office" glass can wall made with cobb?
I think of it as adobe, but it is very similar
Is that a sword blank I spy next to the grinders?
Can you please make a stand for a fire poker and shovel out of 3/8 square stock. I’m making one and I need ideas and inspiration
I'll keep that idea in mind for a future video
How do you keep your bench so clear of clutter? Mine gets buried.
I clean it often, but it does tend to collect things
Hi john, what is the best way to contact you? I am I would love to add that large drill press to the collection. I am in Denver. and have all the equipment need to move it. I am always looking for antique machinery to collect.
I sent you an email
You've got too much stuff. Can I give you my ship to address? 👍🍻