[TheForge] shop floor

[ries]

if you are mainly a hand tool shop, I guess this would work.
Right around a coal forge and anvil, sure. And, I suppose, if your  
only big tool is a power hammer, which you place once and leave there  
forever.

But if you are using machinery, I think its a terrible idea.

The great luxury of a concrete slab is that in a few minutes, for  
almost no money, you can rotohammer a few holes in, and using concrete  
anchors, bolt down a machine, or a jig, or even a work in progress.
And, if you decide to move it, its 5 minutes with a cut disc in an  
angle grinder to chop the bolts off flush.

Pouring dedicated footings for a machine tool, and then being stuck  
never being able to move it doesnt sound good to me.
And dragging heavy things, or rolling big carts, much less driving  
forklifts, tractors, cars or trucks that need fixing, or rolling  
gantrys- these are all things I do all the time in my shop, and each  
paver would catch, tilt, or break if you did any of these things.

A forklift is the biggest single time and money saver, not to mention  
it is the big advantage for old bodies that arent so strong anymore-  
not having one in my shop is unthinkable. Even 300lbs seems might  
heavy to me, but I can unload or move most anything quick and easy, by  
myself, with my forklift.

I have all my welders on wheels, as well as several other tools, and I  
use shop carts, big and small, all the time for temporary tables, to  
hold material during processes, and so on. You need a smooth floor.

I work on concrete all the time, and I love it- it doesnt burn, its  
easy to clean, you can find little parts if you drop em, and you can  
bolt anything anywhere.
I just wear good shoes.
For most shop work, I wear Birkenstock clogs- they dont burn easy,  
they resist light drops, and your legs and back dont ache. Once in a  
blue moon, if we are working all day with 500lb beams or 1000lb  
fabrications, I may drag out the ol steel toed work boots, but not  
often.
Of course, I do very little stick welding- 99% of the welding I do is  
Tig, with no sparks flying around.
The Birkis are just fine with grinding sparks, my socks never catch on  
fire. And I have stepped on red hot pieces of 3/4" square before, no  
problem, the Birki soles are self extinguishing, and dont even smell  
that bad. I kept wearing that pair for  two more years til they  
finally wore out.

If you are more macho, you can get orthotic inserts for your red wings.

But a bumpy floor- it would drive me nuts.

Ries


On Apr 20, 2009, at 1:34 AM, terry l. ridder wrote:

hello;


i was look over the to-do list for the morning and reading through
several catalogs online before crawling off to bed when it dawned on me
that the shop floor has another alternative to concrete, paver
stone/brick. the advantqge of paver stone is that it may be removed
without the need and expense of a concrete saw and it may be
readily reused unlike concrete which must be crushed into stone
before being reused. so does anyone have paver stone for their shop
floor?

the paver stone catalog that i was reading is here.

Pavestone's Retail Product Catalogs
http://www.pavestone.com/content/view/150/510/


saturday, i found paver stone on sale for $0.39 usd per paver stone. so
i purchased enough paver sone to cover 700 square feet. that is to build
a backyard patio and replace the concrete sidewalk in the front of the
home with a paver stone walkway. this is one purchase that i am letting
them deliver. the paver stone weighs in at 6 lbs per stone. there are
4.5 stones to a square ft. there are roughly 450 stones per 100 square  
feet.

700 square feet x 4.5 paver stones per square foot == 3,150 paver  
stones.

3,150 paver stones x 6 lbs per paver stone == 18,900 lbs.

3,150 paver stones x $0.39 usd per paver stone == $1,228.50 usd

i am not up to moving that just yet. i am still out of shape. ;-)


just for grins. the shop is 28 ft by 40 ft. that is 1120 square feet.
assuming for the moment that the entire shop floor is paver stone.

1120 square feet x 4.5 paver stones per square foot == 5,040 paver
stones.

5,040 paver stones x 6 lbs per paver stone == 30,240 lbs

5,040 paver stones x $0.39 usd per paver stone == $1,965.60 usd

-- 
terry l. ridder ><>
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Ries Niemi
Industrial Artist
http://www.riesniemi.com/