[TheForge] Foundations and shop design

[wmullett at bright.net]

As an architect, I would recommend that you do isolate the hammer foundation from the rest of the slab.  If you are really concerned about vibration, you should probably pour the foundation separate from the floor so that you assure there is no bond between the two.  

I would recommend a 1/2" gap formed between the floor and foundation.  1/2" fiber board or rigid insulation would work to form the joint but they will melt/burn from the hot metal.  Rubber joint filler would look a better but it too would burn or melt.  I would be tempted to just rake out the top of the material and fill the gap with sand. 

As far as the foundation size - that depends on your hammer and your soil.  I think for most small hammers, 12-18" is probably enough.  Make sure you have good bearing capacity soil - (NO top soil).  If it has a lot of clay, you may want to dig a little deeper and backfill with lean concrete or gravel/limestone.  Reinforce with 1/2" deformed bar in both directions at 4-6" on center and 1-1/2" off the bottom.  You can use some brick pieces to hold up the grid in four spots if you tie the crossing bars together.

The timber foundations work good too and they will absorb shock. 

Walt
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From: Ekaterina Harrison <ekaterina at wildblue.net>
Date: Fri May 23, 12:15 PM
To: theforge at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [TheForge] Foundations and shop design

Hi All,

We are just getting ready to a pour a cement floor in the new shop, we  
are building. I have the opportunity here to address and improve my  
work environment. I am very excited about this. One of the things we  
are doing is running steel under the cement across the whole length of  
the shop to to provide more grounding points around the shop and  
running pipe for airline hook ups and some conduit for stringing some  
wiring to the other side of the shop.

  One of the issues that I have been trying to figure out is the best  
way to mount a power hammer and treadle hammer. My current power  
hammer is bolted to the floor with a 1" rubber mat between it and the  
floor. As you might guess in the area around the hammer the floor has  
sustained some damage and I, also, have had a hell of a time with my  
tools jumping of benches when I work the hammer. So, it seems quite  
clear that in the new shop the hammer should have its own independent  
foundation. We have been considering several options:

We are planning to leave a graveled area just big enough for the  
hammer( surrounded by the cement floor) or possibly cut out the  
section of floor after we have figured out the best location for the  
hammer. And then :

1- independant cement foundation 1' thick
2- block up hammer on timbers

OR -  I have, also,  seen some blacksmiths simply leave a whole  
section of dirt floor for their various power hammer stuff. I have  
been considering this as well. The draw back to this that I see is  
simply difficulty in clean up. The plus is it seems to leave more  
versatility for adjustment of tool placing, replacing and upgrading.

Issues I have been wondering about:
If hammer is set on timbers is there a balance issue to consider - as  
in keeping it from tilting and moving?
I know that the treadle hammer ,I made, I never did mount it to the  
floor, figuring that it was heavy enough it should stay put. I was  
surprised just how much it did move across the floor.

Any suggestions, pro and cons, experiences of mounting hammers and  
general shop layout would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Ekaterina
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