My new workshop

[colinc]

Yes, TIG is a pretty spark-free process when everything is going well. I guess wood dust needs to be cleared up though or it is a recipe for disaster.

I had already decided that In fitting it out i must try to minimise places where dust can gather and ia new clean shed will be an excuse for fitting a dust filter up in the roof (note to self: put some eye-bolts in before fitting the ceiling).

I keep seeing ex-school hall maple and beech reclaimed flooring on eBay. Am wondering if that might make a good job of it? I am struggling to remember what our woodwork shop at school had on the floor.

Thanks for approving of the looks of it. I was very conscious when I drew it up that I didn't want it to be an eyesore. At one stage it started to look like a mobile home, but the sheen has gone off the paint now and it looks more like wood. I do need to sort the perimeter ground out, am going to use a gravel path to help absorb any run-off. Am planning to capture the rainwater and store it for use in our veg beds and greenhouse. The village allotments are behind us so am sure every bit of water can be used.

Any, back to the job!

Colin

 

[krashbandikoot]

Also, the floor is to be decided. I'd prefer wood but I am planning to do some TIG welding on aircraft bits so am concerned that it's fire-safe. I would really appreciate advice on this.

Hi Colin, I MIG and Arc weld in my workshop on a floor made purely of OSB and it's fine.

Even heat producing angle grinding where there are loads of sparks isn't really an issue as a fire risk.

If you are that worried then a bucket of water, (which you should have for any welding anyway since you need to dip the piece to cool it otherwise it'll warp), should suffice as any fire will be just a very small one. Yes it'll get out of control if you leave it to burn but I can't see that happening

If your welding is up to par then there shouldn't be any slag or hot metal dropping on the floor anyway, if there is then you're using way too much heat.

I've given one of my work benches a 2ft by 4ft metal top for the bulk of my welding work which may be an idea for you? It's 6mm mild steel so is reasonably heat resistant to any slag that drops onto it and has the added benefit of creating a good earthing point meaning you can work on a piece without having to have the earth clamp attached to the piece itself.

The only thing I need to do to it is give it a quick rub down with some wire wool first so I remove the oxidisation from the surface which can cause a bad earth. Other than that it works exceptionally well for me. I'll post some pics of my welding workbench later so you can see what I'm on about.

 

[stevep]

There's no need for expensive flooring Colin. Our portable workbenches at work have plywood tops and we never have a problem with them burning......save your money for some nice tools !

 

[stevep]

If you are that worried then a bucket of water, (which you should have for any welding anyway since you need to dip the piece to cool it otherwise it'll warp), should suffice as any fire will be just a very small one. Yes it'll get out of control if you leave it to burn but I can't see that happening

Krashbandikoot you are at risk of embrittlement and cracking by doing this.

 

[krashbandikoot]

Krashbandikoot you are at risk of embrittlement and cracking by doing this.

Sorry but you're not.

Cooling between welds is essential to prevent the material warping, embrittlemen will only take place if you're heating the metal to temper colours and immerse in water rather than oil on the wrong colour.

Cracking wouldn't apply to mild steel and if it's thin material, (1mm or less in thickness hence why a TIG is being used), again cracking wouldn't apply. TIG's supply a soft and gentle heat rather than an aggressive one, the only welding you would do where cracking and embrittlement would be an issue would be oxy/acetylene as the heat transfers along the material much better.

All electric welding projects should be cooled between welds, if it's no I have seen 6mm steel warp where welds have run within 20 mm of each other because the metal hasn't been cooled and it's just heated up and heated up.

 

[krashbandikoot]

Here's my workbench Colin, as you can see I have a wood based drawer with wood based compartments for screws and nail gun brads.

I've never even been close to a fire despite the wood available so tend to agree with Stevep that there's no need for special flooring.

Flat, intact wood is a lot harder to set fire to than thin strips or wood or wood that's been chewed and so has a lot of frayed ends.

 

[colinc]

Hi, I don't want to turn this into a welding thread, but rapid cooling is an absolute disaster on what I am doing which is welding 4130N chrome-moly for aircraft parts. Rapid cooling locks in stresses and leads to cracking. It is normal practice to normalise the heat affected area by heating to cherry red and the leaving to cool in a draught free area. That is why many prefer gas over TIG for aircraft work but oxy-acetylene at home raises too many issues like insurance so TIG and a mapp gas torch are better for me. I cannot really see a case where rapid cooling would help as it will always induce hardening of the base metal.

If anyone wants to discuss welding we could create a topic in the metalwork forum?

Regards,

Colin

 

[krashbandikoot]

Rapid cooling aside, the fact remains, (based on what you've just said), you're not putting out enough heat to create a fire risk with a wood based floor so I can't see a need to put down any special flooring.

If you are that worried, I'd suggest a metal topped bench, (as in my pic), and a sheet of metal on the floor where you're welding plus a bucket of water on stand by just in case

 

[colinc]

Agreed, bright red bucket on shopping list.

Colin

 

[colinc]

Hi,

progress has been stop/start recently, but I now have the floor and ceiling in. Just need to clear out the junk, offcuts, old kitchen units etc., and then I can start getting my machines and benches installed. I also need to trim the wall/ceiling junction and box in the steel frame but that will be easier to fit when I have my saw rather than the portable saw I have done everything else with.

The lights are just hooked up to an extension cable but am hoping that the electrician will be along soon to connect everything up properly.

Here are some photos of the inside:







The bulk under the sheets is the fuselage of a Jodel repair 'project' which I couldn't resist taking on. I never intended to work on such a big one at home and the wings are actually 200mm too long to fit inside. It proves that they say about never having a big enough workshop! Getting that in did prove that going to the expense and trouble of having sliding folding doors across the corner was a good decision.

regards,

Colin