Ye Olde Forge

[Screwdriver]

Maybe the heater wasn't the problem, buckets of petrol sound far more hazardous.
The heater would be easier to control the heat output, petrol fires are hard to regulate.

It's a motorcycle workshop primarily and I had just got the stove going when I pulled off a set of carbs.

We all know there's a surprising amount of petrol left in the float bowls and I was reminded of this as I poured it all over myself, right next to a roaring fire!

I do have a "fireproof" section, all steel and brick, where I do my welding but the stove went up against the opposite wall. The whole area gets a revamp when I install that massive machine bed welding table in there at the same time I make room for a Bridgeport... Zoiks. Maybe I could find room for just one more shed...

 

[selectedgrub]

Fascinating thread, thanks for taking the time to post up.

 

[Screwdriver]

Fascinating thread, thanks for taking the time to post up.

Thanks. To be perfectly honest, I am not entirely sure why it has become such an obsession! I have always planned on having a YouTube channel and I am pretty much building all of the facilities from my favourite YouTubers. Actually shooting video is a lot more difficult and time consuming than you might think. Producing a decent channel will be a full time job but then, I'm not doing anything else so I figure get it all set up and just crack on with it.

 

[God mode restorations]

Nice work there Steve. Looks great mate.

 

[frank horton]

screwdriver,
u must be very lucky to have a wife that put's up with all this..........I got lucky TOOOOOOOO.......mines a brick and is always helping me out in the shop.........
a brilliant job, hope ur neihbours aare a bit deaf tho......hahaha..........anvils and banging...........
we bought this house cos the nearest dwelling is 1/2kilometer away.......apart from my noise, I have 4 Boarder Collies.........wish u lived near me...........
glad there are people like u around.......
this has made my weekend.......
Frank

 

[frank horton]

screwdriver,
u must be as lucky as me with a wife that put's up with all this.....hahaha.....mines a brick and helps out in the shop all the time..........mines even offered to live in the workshop/barn till the house is sorted on our next move.........
seeing what u've done has made my weekend.........
have fun Frank

 

[gordon stephenson]

Great thread, I admire your dedication, Lots of hard work gone on there, Excellent job,

 

[Screwdriver]

Work moves on apace now I have sorted the neighbours garden/basement. I need to build the forge area around an existing brick structure.

I ummed and ahed for AGES over whether or not to use an extremely expensive pile of London reclaimed multi-stocks but they are so beautiful - I can't resist.

So I have put one more layer of bricks around the edge to raise it a tad and plan to have a metre high splash panel behind. Double checked YouTube to reassure myself how easy it was to lay bricks, then discover very quickly how easy it isn't!

That strange feature is not square, plumb or straight anywhere! Now I don't know why the former owner of this garden, a retired career criminal, long time inmate of HMP with his (alleged) association with The Krays(!) would have a bathtub sunk in a remote corner of the garden but hey, it's interesting so I'm going to keep it. I have dubbed it "the acid bath" and I'll just stick a lid on it for now. Might come in handy for something...

If it's not freezing tomorrow, the plan is to erect a 4x2 frame around the back, build the single brick wall to that, tied in with err, a tie and panel it around the sides with marine ply.

If nothing else it will be good practice for bricklaying and if it all works out, a lovely looking garden feature in its own right.

Oh and a single skin wall 1750x1200 high is way over £250 in reclaims... eek. Good job they were free.

 

[dobbslc]

Great thread Steve, You could almost live in that!
You'e right about the amount of petrol a set of carbs holds though...... could have been the Buncefield of West London if that had gone up!
Those stocks are nice I've just paid £1 a piece for some for my fireplace!
The last time I saw a "bath" like that was in the Stotfold asylum, said it was used for the offspring of the inmates! Nasty but very interesting place.

 

[Screwdriver]

Great thread Steve, You could almost live in that!
You'e right about the amount of petrol a set of carbs holds though...... could have been the Buncefield of West London if that had gone up!
Those stocks are nice I've just paid £1 a piece for some for my fireplace!
The last time I saw a "bath" like that was in the Stotfold asylum, said it was used for the offspring of the inmates! Nasty but very interesting place.

It was "a moment" bit like when I dinged the tank of my FireBlade with a live welding stick

I am a bit stuck at the moment. Here's the plan:

Build a rear single skin wall on top of the bath surround. There is no access behind. Not even to pop in the odd screw. There's a fence in the way.

There's not enough clearance to build a "return" to give the wall structure some support so it's free standing iyswim. I can't do that because the paving slab is a set size AND I need to be able to fit those lintels across so that the slab has support at the rear. I would like to have a column of double depth brick at each end but that's very tricky. Might just be possible to have a single double deep column of bricks in the middle.

Without the free standing lintels and paving slabs, it looks a lot worse...

So my question is, would the excessive amount of 4x2 noggins and wooden framing (plus the 25mm marine ply sheeting) be enough to support such a precarious wall? Remembering the two main roof support columns are basically 100x100 fence poles. I just think it might be a teensy bit wobbly, the only saving grace being the main support frame uprights will be tied into the base of the bath with metal brick ties attached to the wall.

I am going out of my way a bit to keep access to the bath which represents a serious amount of useable space. I could stick a compressor down there one day for example.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Could you screw L-shaped brackets to the fence, then tie them on to the brick wall?

 

[Screwdriver]

The fence is part of the problem. It's a giant sail so even the tiniest movement over the years is going to crack the bottom of that wall right off.

I just had a look and the uprights supporting the roof (two 100x100 fenceposts) are actually pretty solid. I'm going to tie those two side supports to the bath base, maybe with some super strong window fixing sealant and window bolts. Then just use long screws/nails to tie in the brickwork. I don't think it's a good idea to join the brick to the wood with mortar in this case so I am leaning away from using the wall tie strips.

I need to make my mind up asap. Want to get the bricks laid before winter sets in. Today is the day I think...

 

[blackolive (Ste)]

awesome, I love build threads like these

 

[Chillitt]

How about flogging the lovely bricks, bunging a sheet of steel across the back and getting a bottle of something warming with the change?

 

[Screwdriver]

How about flogging the lovely bricks, bunging a sheet of steel across the back and getting a bottle of something warming with the change?

Yes I seriously considered that. For a month. I even photographed them as I was collecting them, ready for eBay. Two piles of bricks, on the right is a load of new tumbled Smede Dean yellows, they're worth a few quid too but nowhere near as much as the London stock. I've seen them go for upwards os £1.50, sometimes £2.50 per brick! There was (is??) a spate of thefts of garden walls where the crims would drive their van into it and make off with the bricks!

Then I realised I really like the look of stock bricks and I deserve it. So I will sell something else instead and keep the London look™. Remembering this might end up as a YouTube backdrop. Plus I already have those bricks, recovered free from the clearance next door. A steel sheet (I do have a large sheet of steel handy) would still need support and getting that support in place is the tricky part due to access restrictions.

I am currently working on something like this:

I can use some 50x150 extra wide external grade (delivered in error by TP who simply sent me a load more 170x50 which I had ordered) because I can screw that into the main supports from the side (no rear access). I can then cross screw some long lengths of 4x2 as shown, also from the front. I then have a structure I can brick up to and include brackets and wall ties as I go.

They are pitched at 400 in this iteration remembering I am so slow at bricklaying it's almost funny. Be lucky to get 400mm in a day! My excuse is I will be working over a deep drop into an acid bath...

Once that's done, a few sheets of marine ply (recovered from the same job) and bobs yer uncle. The design needs to present me with a flat plane to attach ply, reach around the back of the non existing wall and allow me to fix it to the main supports from the front. I think this one is the way to go and I think it should be ok to tie the brickwork to it because I can fix as many brackets to the base as I like.

<edit> I am also considering a potential future window/chimney outlet above the wall, the drawing is unfinished atm.

 

[gaz1]

follow last pic step your bricks in 1" this will allow the fence to move but not knock your wall loosening It the frame then can be used as support as well as a fill in

 

[Screwdriver]

follow last pic step your bricks in 1" this will allow the fence to move but not knock your wall loosening It the frame then can be used as support as well as a fill in

I see what you're saying. The model isn't clear from that angle but the framework is held away from the fence.. Although it's a good strong fence, I want to keep any structure away from it and there is just enough room.

The model is correct, the acid bath is set at a shallow angle to the fence. Just gives me enough room to squeeze some woodwork in behind the existing plane of the wall which also has to meet the roof joist and not poke out beyond the overhang. It's quite good fun trying to figure out the best way to proceed but the weather is looking pretty good now so I guess I better get out there and actually do something.

Maybe just a quick cuppa tea first...

 

[gaz1]

no need for back wood work use noggins between the woods and also drill through the wood and use stainless steel screws or a thin bar as you build up the wall tie in via your wood posts

as you need access to paint the wood its the best option to use also with nogins there you could put hooks in so your hanging stuff off of them

 

[Screwdriver]

no need for back wood work use noggins between the woods and also drill through the wood and use stainless steel screws or a thin bar as you build up the wall tie in via your wood posts

as you need access to paint the wood its the best option to use also with nogins there you could put hooks in so your hanging stiff off of them

Well, the model doesn't quite show the full range of problems. The bath structure is fixed in relation to the posts which pretty much had to go exactly where they are. The problem is, a straight line from the bottom of the proposed wall goes through the middle of the post. So in this solution, I use 150mm deep joists so that the fixing point for the rear panel (remembering the whole point is to build a complete plywood wall here) can be offset 100mm. The rear support members can then go on the far edge, that is, 150mm deep. That still means the plane of the woodwork intersects the thickness of the brickwork so the wall is going to be inset slightly into the framework. A picture paints all these words better than I can.

I have made the 150mm wide upright transparent here. I can bolt it to the roof support post from the side. There is no access to the rear. That gives me a mounting plane exactly in line with the rear of the wall so I can easily run those support members. Remember, I have dozens of lengths of 4x2 and while I have actually sold a fair few to some local builders, there's still a great big pile to get through.

Having the horizontal supports in place mans I can build up to them, ensuring the wall is in fact perfectly aligned. These reclaims were handmade and have already been used in (on average) EIGHT different structures before they arrived here. They are all slightly different, some are even bent (I blame Adolf Hitler) so you can't easily make a perfectly flat wall or even straight line with them. It sort of averages out.

The other issue with them is, they are soft. Very soft so if you fit a rawl bolt into them, they will most likely burst open in a single skin, so I need to engineer a solution which allows me to place the fixings in a the dead centre of a brick, rawl plug/screw or window fixing bolt only. The bonus with this design is the centre post above, the one on the edge of the wall, can be fixed in place later with an adhesive sealant (I got a couple of boxes of those too) so that I won't need to drill into the new brickwork and risk loosening it ot bursting it open.

Thank's for the replies. What I was hoping for was no-one would say "omg, no it won't work because xxx". Like I said, I have been over thinking this for some time now, knowing a single skin wall would be somewhat precarious unless I had a plan.

 

[Screwdriver]

One way to do it is to fit the panel (outlined in blue) over the top of a 4x2 upright, almost flush with the surface of the wall.

The advantage being, the upright goes in after the wall is up (it doesn't need that much strength in the short term which gives me time to change my mind and maybe go for a 2x2. Also I can safely screw brackets to the new wall and use adhesive sealant then tighten it up without stressing the new mortar. Plus I don't need to fit permanent wall ties into the mortar as the wall goes up. I think it needs those uprights so that the wall is actually supported, with the uprights stopping the individual cross members behind from flexing.

Must admit, this isn't how you would want to build a structure if you were starting from a blank page and buying materials as needed. My mission is to reuse found material andI have to work with the existing structure. I'm not moving the sunken bath!