The Smithy

Purpose / Function

The Smithy is an all around crafts-place. A forge, a kiln, and charcoal pit make up the bulk of the work done at the Smithy. A lot of wood working is done at the Smithy as well, but mostly The Blacksmith loans out the space and tools for others to work on projects. Half the wood harvested by each household goes to the Smithy. The wood is used to fuel the forge and kiln, used to be turned into charcoal, and for constructing tools or processing wood to be used in projects. In the winter months when the Smithy is closed the unused wood is distributed amongst the community to be used for heating.

Alterations

The Smithy is really the front yard of the house where The Blacksmith lives.
Most prominently in the middle of the yard, a good 10 yards from the street, is a cinderblock structure. It has two walls about twenty feet long and twelve feet high made of cinderblock, and an angled tin roof. At the highest point of the roof is a large round stove pipe, which leads down to the forge. The forge is made of a 50 gallon drum resting on twisted rebar legs. Laid out to one side of the forge is an anvil, various buckets, and other large objects used for shaping metal into the desired shape. Along the wall opposite the opposite the forge is a row of sealed 50 gallon barrels. The barrels contain sand, clay, gravel, wood ash, lye, quicklime, glass ingots, and charcoal. Each is topped with a wood burned sign, labeling the contents. A metal rod mounted to the cinderblocks runs from one side of the wall to the other, and hanging from it are various tools, scoops and containers for working with the materials.
Opposite the side of the building used for metalwork, are the tools for glasswork. Molds made of pottery are carefully stacked on shelves, in drawers, and under tables. On top of the tables are fragile wax models, and neatly stacked where there is room are are open sided boxes held together by metal clamps. One table in the middle of the work area has a wooden lip adhered to the perimeter, where cold glass can be broken and crushed to place in the molds. Underneath the table on a low shelf sit two crucibles made from the remains of used propane tanks.
Fifty feet to the south sits a a rectangular clay kiln. The base is eight feet by eight feet, standing four feet tall. On the side facing the forge is a what appears to be a door, but pulling on the handle drags out a metal box lined with fired clay that fits inside the center of the base. On the far side of the kiln is a sturdy set of wood and metal scaffolding that climbs the tower of the kiln starting just above the base and moving up to an additional level covering the twelve foot height of the kiln. Each level holds a series of drawers of varying heights that when pulled open reveal metal shelves sturdy enough to hold heavy loads of pottery for firing.
Twenty feet north of the forge is the charcoal pit. It's a large circle, ten feet in diameter, and a good four feet deep. In the center an enormous welded monstrosity of a container takes of up half the space available in the circle. The square container holds stacks of dry hardwood, and a thin layer of kindling covers the bottom of the rest of the circle. Off to the side on the ground is the cover; metal, several inches thick, with two pry bars used to move it over the pit when needed. 
The house sits behind the crafting areas, watching out over the works in project. On the north side, under the window are two 50 gallon barrels converted for lye leaching, and a wheel barrow for carrying the ashes. On the south side is a brick patio where finished projects rest on tables waiting to be picked up by their creators or those who ordered the creation. The backyard of the house is surrounded by six foot privacy fences, creating the only outdoor space the family doesn't share with the community.