[TheForge] shop floor

[terry l. ridder]

hello ries;

well i mentioned my idea at this mornings coffee and nearly everyone had
the same comment; "find a paver stone floor and take your wheel chair
for a spin around on it for several hours." i hate it when reality
strikes. ;-) even in a power chair it would be a bumpy ride and not at
all nice. so now that i am back to reality a concrete floor it is.


On Mon, 20 Apr 2009, ries wrote:

> 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
>

-- 
terry l. ridder ><>