Jori and Toma met at the old mill shed with a tape cord, a chalk line, and the assembly’s written list of needs.
Toma started at the forge. He measured the clear space around it and marked a line across the floor. “Nothing stands inside this mark while I’m working. The bellows need to swing, and no wood can sit near the hot side.”
Jori looked at the north wall where afternoon light entered through a narrow window. “I wanted my bench there.”
“You’ll get light there. You won’t get a bench there.”
Bai had found a seller willing to provide a hinged screen with a vented top. He brought the sketch and price to the shed. Toma studied the vent, then shook his head. “It keeps a log from rolling. It won’t stop sparks.”
“The lower panel is stone,” Bai said. “The vented part sits above the tool height. We can add a stone strip on the floor around your side.”
Toma knelt and pressed the sketch against the forge wall. “The chimney must stay open here. The screen cannot cover the draft.”
Jori moved the bench mark west by two feet. That put him nearer the bellows than he wanted, but left room for the screen. Toma measured the path from the forge to the door. If Jori put a cabinet beside the north window, it would not block iron or coal.
