[TheForge] Fw: shop floor

Mon Apr 20 15:00:54 EDT 2009

Sounds like you all ready have a bunch of these -- I suggest you use them 
somewhere else and go with a concrete floor.

Some folks love dirt -- I don't.  I like to be able as other have said to 
move things.  Pavers or brick just don't stay level enough to work well 
unless you lay them as tile on a concrete sub base as wood block flooring is 
laid in some heavy shops and mills.  That costs way more.  Pavers and/ or 
bricks are really bad for any one having the least amount of walking 
limitations -- it is so easy to trip on that little raise 1/18 or 1/16 of an 
inch.  This has been a real issue for some in the Folk School shop since the 
dirt was replaced with brick.

As to moving things around I have found a great way to not need casters or 
wheels on everything.  Buy a pallet jack.  Then you can make tables, machine 
bases etc so that you just run the pallet jack under it -- jack it up and 
away you go.  They even make a small stubby pallet jack that would work for 
a lot of folks.  Having the pallet jack makes it easy to place project parts 
on pallets and move them around too.  Not much money for a lot of uses.

When you put in a concrete floor get a real quality job from someone who 
knows how to do this with laser leveling now days -- and put the floor in 
level.  For the few times you might want to use water on it a squeegee works 
great.  The dead level floor works great for equipment and it makes a huge 
surface plate for doing a lot of things.

One friend I know installs equipment anchors by drilling all the way through 
the slab -- then if he has to get rid of the anchor he just drives them on 
down until flush with the floor.  Don't do this if you have a high water 
table.

Dave

--------------------------------------------------
From: "ries" <ries at riesniemi.com>
Sent: Monday, April 20, 2009 11:10 AM
To: "terry l. ridder" <terrylr at blauedonau.com>; "Blacksmithing List 
Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [TheForge] shop floor

> 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/
>
>
>
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