Why we built NOMAD- a shipping container shop.

Over the past few years, I've become increasingly drawn to exploring new places and discovering fresh ways to engage with traditional crafts, but had a great deal of difficulty finding a way to take my work with me. When my girlfriend first pitched the idea of creating a blacksmith shop inside a shipping container, I have to admit I was very skeptical. 

My mind immediately went to all the practical challenges: how would you put a chimney in without messing with the certifications of the container? How do you power it? Where do you put the anvil? But the more we thought about it, the more solutions we began to find. After a few weeks of throwing ideas back and forth it actually started to seem possible.

Cargo containers are a marvel of modern logistics, making it possible to transport heavy equipment between countries with minimal hassle. They come in various sizes and door configurations, offering a versatile framework for different kinds of setups within a standardized structure. A quick online search reveals a variety of prefabricated shops built inside shipping containers, but as far as I can tell, none are designed to be shipped internationally after modification.

So, my goal became clear: to build a blacksmith shop inside a container without altering its structural integrity—specifically, without compromising the shipping certifications. This was so much more complicated than I expected. 

Blacksmithing, by nature, requires a chimney, and installing one typically involves cutting through the walls of the container to run the flue pipe. Doing so would invalidate the shipping certification, rendering the container unsuitable for international transport.

To avoid this issue, I decided to purchase a container with multiple doors—both on the narrow and long sides. This provided greater flexibility for shop orientation and the placement of windows (since shipping containers can feel quite claustrophobic without them), without the need for extensive modifications to the container's steel structure.

I designed a sliding partition that mounts inside the shipping container and aligns with one of the existing door frames. When deployed, this partition creates a sealed interior space while allowing one of the container's original doors to remain open. The beauty of this design is that it preserves the container's structural integrity since we don't need to cut any holes in the walls themselves. This means we maintain the container's shipping certification and CSC plate validity, which is crucial for transport.

The system is elegantly simple in operation - when we need to use the space, we slide the partition against the doorframe and install the chimney through the open doorway. When it's time to transport, we just remove the chimney, retract the partition, and close and seal the original doors like normal. This modular approach gives us all the functionality we need while keeping the container's original certifications intact.

One additional consideration was the impact resistance of the container. Since a shipping container can function like a giant drum when subjected to impact, I needed to find a way to isolate the vibrations from my anvil. To do this, I removed a section of the container's expensive, shipping-compliant plywood flooring and replaced it with removable boards that I could cut into. I then installed the anvil post directly through the hole in the floor, ensuring that it made contact with the ground beneath the container, not the floor itself. This setup prevents the shock from transferring to the container during heavy forging work. The original flooring can be stored and reattached when the container is moved, maintaining its compliance for shipping.

For electricity, I chose a flexible solution. Electrical codes vary greatly from country to country, and a fixed electrical system tied to the container could require reworking the wiring each time I relocated. Instead, I opted to install a portable, solar-powered generator. This allows me to supply power to the shop without modifying the container itself and gives me the freedom to remove or reconfigure the system as needed, depending on the local requirements of each destination.

Creating a mobile blacksmith shop that could travel the world meant balancing flexibility with compliance, practicality with innovation. What started as her brilliant idea has become a fully functional, modular workshop that can be packed up and shipped anywhere, ready for new adventures.

I'll be updating this post with images and more information as I continue.

Stay tuned!