Hi Roy I'm right handed and I find it better to have my forge on the left (Tong) hand . No cross over hand stuff and when I turn I'm ready to grab the hammer if I don't it in my hand already. Just seems more logical.

Good advise. All of my equipment is moveable so i'm constantly repositioning based on what I'm doing. But eventually I'll have a solid setup and love your triangle.

I have a friend that is wanting me to make a Damascus push knife for him for a sizable amount of money, so this is my first attempt at forge welding a stacked billet and I found this very helpful. Thank you.

there are so many great channels about smithing on KZfaq but yours is by far the most informative for us newbies. Thanks for all the info and God bless!

gave me a very good perspective on how to arrange forge and anvil for most efficeint use. Never put in a lot of thought into this and it gave me pause for thought. Thanks for sharing.

Great tips. I've been doing the mistake of 'locking' my setup (aka not bother to move it around for a better flow). Will do it now after this video! Thank you Roy for taking the time to teach us your tips and tricks. Much appreciated.

Great tips now I have to move my shop around a little thanks again and God bless you and your family

I like learning how to set up the shop

I always wondered about the distances in the "forging triangle", thanks again Roy!

Thanks for the tips! Even though I try to work ergonomically and efficiently, you brought up some things I hadn't thought of.

Excellent again, Roy. 🔥😎

Very nice. I tell the ones I teach to blacksmith to keep the travel distance down to a minimum. Half step or quarter turn from the forge to anvil. Keep stock and tools close by. Work close to the bender, power hammer and such as much as you can. Each extra step is a waste of motion. If you make a hundred of something and need 10 extra steps to get somewhere and ten back you've put in 2000 steps nobody will pay you for. And a loss of time. As far as the anvil to the left or right I do both. My traveling forge has the anvil to the right so I face the public. In the shop different workstations go both ways. I haven't seen a difference and didn't even notice until I watched your video. As far as the gas forge I set it up so I'm a half step over with the forge angled slightly away. I don't want more motion than I have to. I tell people OCD is your friend and make you money. I even go so far as to have my hammer orientation on the anvil so when I reach for it I don't look, it's where it is always. Jack Andrews in his book Edge of the Anvil talks about blacksmithing in a tepee with a dirt floor. He would rake the floor in the morning and check his footprints when done. He then set up the work relationships for for the tools to be efficient.

Great info that may have been overlooked.I have moved my shop around a few times.

Great info Roy, really helpful.

This is much more efficient use of the space and travel you need to do. I hadn't considered it before. I'm reaching over my anvil and into my propane forge. Will make some adjustments in a few weeks. Thanks for the tip. Cheers.

Who would have thought that a video about how to set up your anvil could be interesting. But it was! Great work, keep it up :)

Good tip on the round rod! welding something up to position for the first stick

Good job buddy I didn't know the way to set up my anvil vise forge so once I had it but then moved everything to better places for myself

Kind of funny but when watching I actually took measurements and my forge and anvil are very close to what you pointed out here,and I don't think I ever consciencly put any thought towards it!Guess it just seemed right.Anyway,I appreciate what you and your wife share and wish continued health and prosperity for the both of you,thanks again!

Good advice Roy my set up is definitely similar but I can move everything around so it changes every once in a while.

Congrats on 40k Roy. Well done and well deserved 👍🏼

Thanks Roy needed that

Have you tried having your forge on your left? Pulling your work from the right crosses over your hammer and other tooling (risking knocking it off the anvil). Then after your piece is at the anvil you get to grab your hammer. If your hot piece was coming from the left side it would not cross over your waiting tools on the anvil allowing you to pick it up while still turning to face the anvil and positioning your work for the first hit.

As you know when the club demo's for the public, we set the anvils out and set them as you do. So that one only has to sidestep and turn 90deg. What I thought you were going to discuss is the age-old debate of horn left or right... Supposedly I'm a bit of an oddball, I'm a right-handed smith forging on an anvil setup for a left-handed smith, I prefer facing the anvil with the horn to the right. And it irks me to no end when I set the anvil horn right and someone turns it back!

Good tips . Great view angle to demonstrate you point. Also thanks for thinking about lefties! If you were left handed would you have Olga rotated 180 degrees ?

Thanks! Good tip!

I use a little chunk of railroad track next to my forge to weld on

Congratulations on the 40k mark Mr. Roy

I have gotten something out every one of y’all’s videos. Your advice and the way you present it works for the way I learn. Great stuff man. Question though . . . Is there any reason I couldn’t put my forge in a corner of my shop?

The post anvil idea is awesome idea. Probably what 6 or 8 inches square? Or hey I reckon if a fella had a r/r track anvil one could rig it up so it could be right at the " mouth " of the forge. That way w the little stock youd would have only a few inches of movement from the fire to the anvil just like with your post anvil idea. MR. Roy it's to early in the morning for you to be making me think so much lmbo lmbo. Blessed days sirSir, Crawford out

Great information as normal thanks

Very informative

Thank you for the explanation. I have ZERO experience with forges (yet), but from a conservation of movement perspective, it would seem that placing the forge on your tong side would mean you eliminate most body turning to the point you might even leave your feet planted. Thoughts?

Hey Roy, do you have any insights to share about the orientation of hand cranked forges? I've only recently begun smithing and I have a small bellows. I like having the firepot to my right, because that wat I can hold the work in my left hand, but that means I'm also cranking with my right hand, which is tiring when also hammering with it. Or maybe it's just tiring because I'm a beginner and not used to it yet. I will experiment some more with orientations soon.

Ass backward on the left vs. right handed thing. You're set up for a lefty. There's no turning or stepping in your forge for a lefty. For a righty in your forge you're twisting and reaching across yourself. For a right hander the forge should be on the left hip.

Metric, use it.