Building a Barn

I decided to build the barn to use as a blacksmith shop. The main reason for building the barn was to house a blacksmith shop that belonged to Larry Sandlin. The old shop, home, and land were being sold and the equipment had to be moved. Chad and I were the only ones both interested in and able to move the forge, hydraulic press, anvils, automatic hammer, steel saws, grinders, tables and tools, and as much scrap steel and coal we could manage to load and carry. We only had a weekend to move everything. Larry had a "crane" he had made for his old truck and that enabled us to lift some of the heavier pieces enought to load on a low trailer. The barn had not been built at that time so we stored them at my place, on a tarp and covered by a heavy tarp. They had been in storage for a year when I started the barn in the winter of 2009. I was building it by myself so it was kind of slow going and once spring arrived I was too busy with the nursery to work on it. I started back seriously about mid-summer and got it framed and bought the roofing. It was a type of steel roofing that does not require screws or nails but was much more of a job than I realized. I finally finished and then Mickey stepped in and helped me put up the loft and siding and so most of the painting. She also agreed to put up some stone on the foundation and a low wall that the barn sits on. We were almost finished by the time cold weather arrived. I started moving in the blacksmith equipment in late fall and Chad wired it up. Along with the equipment there is a large 3 phase electric coverter and a big motor with attached hydraulic pump. Chad wired and we tested everything and to my amazement everything worked.