Workshop space within an uninsulated Barn

[peterw3035]

Having build a home workshop in my garden during the Covid lockdown, a recent change in circumstances has resulted in the opportunity of me moving to a much larger workshop space away from home. Its probably 4 times the size and secure within the two pairs of green doors.

I'm just concerned that the lack of insulation and risk of condensation in a well ventilated barn will make workshop activities less than ideal. There is no natural light and limited power so I will need to install lighting and a suitable number of power points but the space will allow much more working space and storage.

My workshop interests include all types of woodwork from turning, carving, small scale joinery and general hand tool restoration. Does anyone work in that sort of workshop and have issues with damp & rust that cannot be overcome?

 

[Cabinetman]

Funnily enough I was investigating this the other month, I decided that a room within a room was the solution. So I decided that it could be made from 3 or4” Kingspan fastened to the inside of a 2x4 framework which is screwed onto an insulated shed type base, then OSB as an internal sheathing. I also decided that it didn’t need to be ultra strong, ie the framework not built to housing standards as all it needs is to be able hang things on the wall. The "roof" would just be dropped into place, probably with reflective tape over all the joints.
Didn’t go ahead with it as a move was likely instead, which was a shame as I would have liked to see how successful it was. Mine wouldn’t have been very large as the equipment would have been outside and just a bench, and handwork done in the room.
Obviously it could be made much larger to have all your equipment inside, I certainly wouldn’t move good kit into a damp space, totally soul destroying to see the rust, damhik!
Ian

 

[Blister]

Stay in you home workshop is my advice.

 

[niall Y]

I've previously had two large unheated workshops, both on a farm in Kent. One was a cow shed and the other an old milking parlour. My kids at the time would always joke that it was colder in my workshop, than outside - even on a winters day.

Fast forward to now and I have a nice well insulated workshop here in Wales, however, I have real problems with rust in the new workshop. Which, strangely enough, I never had in the older, more primitive, ones

 

[simonridout]

I have done exactly this. I have a large barn, which used to have cattle cubicles, a tin roof, which rained condensation in frosty weather and Yorkshire boarding sides. Rust was a problem for tools and table saw etc. I built a 11 X 4.2 M inner workshop. First a one brick high plinth on the concrete floor, with opening for a pedestrian door one end and 2 M wide double doors the other end. Sides are 50mm wide metal formwork, 2.4 m high, interior and exterior walls are OSB, lined with rockwool. The ceiling is home made I beams at 1.2 M centers, each made from 2 bits or 2.4 x .3 M OSB with four 4.8 M lengths of 5 x 2 cm batterns nailed top and bottom. A trial beam could support 100 kg mid span. I suspended 6 cm thick kingspan sheets below this, joints tapped for the ceiling, with tripple wall polycarbonate sheets as roof lights to allow some natural light, sufficient to move around, but LED batten lights are used for work.
The floor is covered with 18mm thick stable mats, each 6' X 4' (yes imperial sizes), but jointed. It works well, quickly warms up if heated in winter and no more rusty tools.
The only change that I would make if doing it again is to make it 3M high, so that it is easier handle 2.4 M sheets inside without touching the ceiling.

 

[af99]

My workshop is a large thatched barn with 4m of clearance, no heating, and completely uninsulated. I stumbled onto something that has stopped the surface rust on my machines.

I share the space with bats and a returning family of house martins and they poo on everything - tools, workbenches, anything. I didn't want to animal-proof the barn - and I am not sure I ever could - so I started covering anything important in moving blankets. They are quilted and have a bit of weight to them. They stop the guano but I also noticed they stopped the surface rust as well. These are the ones I use:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BQR4Q4G8

I can't decide why it works. I thought initially that they were absorbing condensation before it reacted with the cast iron surfaces, but it also seems to work when draped over tools with the fences left in place to make a little tent, like my router table, so maybe it is just an insulating effect. For my bandsaw, I got a couple of quilted seat protector pads and I put them either side of the blade.

It is a modest pain to have to take the covers off before a session in the workshop and then remember to put them back on again afterwards, but I have been using them for 18 months or so and have had no flash rust at all in that time. I have a few tools that I don't cover and they continue to rust as before.

 

[Sideways]

I can't decide why it works. I thought initially that they were absorbing condensation before it reacted with the cast iron surfaces, but it also seems to work when draped over tools with the fences left in place to make a little tent.

This works in my shed too.
The worst rust hazard is opening the doors in the morning when tools and machineryhave cooled down overnight, while the outdoor air has become warmer and damp - think rainy spring mornings.
Atmospheric humidity can be so high that when it hits the cold metal, you get instant condensation. This effect has made my workshop look like someone just sprayed a hosepipe around it.

Blankets stop the damp air hitting the cold metal so freely and are a big help in reducing condensation while metalwork comes up to temperature. Anything insulating - like moving blankets, fleece, etc - but not cottons because cotton absorbs moisture and can aggravate rusting.

Placing covers over cast iron surfaces helps too. Plywood sheet or plastics. On my tablesaw these days I use that thin foam for walls behind radiators, then cover with sheet material to let me use it as extra work bench.

 

[niall Y]

My workshop is a large thatched barn with 4m of clearance, no heating, and completely uninsulated. I stumbled onto something that has stopped the surface rust on my machines.

I share the space with bats and a returning family of house martins and they poo on everything - tools, workbenches, anything. I didn't want to animal-proof the barn - and I am not sure I ever could - so I started covering anything important in moving blankets. They are quilted and have a bit of weight to them. They stop the guano but I also noticed they stopped the surface rust as well. These are the ones I use:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BQR4Q4G8

I can't decide why it works. I thought initially that they were absorbing condensation before it reacted with the cast iron surfaces, but it also seems to work when draped over tools with the fences left in place to make a little tent, like my router table, so maybe it is just an insulating effect. For my bandsaw, I got a couple of quilted seat protector pads and I put them either side of the blade.

It is a modest pain to have to take the covers off before a session in the workshop and then remember to put them back on again afterwards, but I have been using them for 18 months or so and have had no flash rust at all in that time. I have a few tools that I don't cover and they continue to rust as before.

It is most likely to be the lime content. I believe lime -wash was used to inhibit rust on ironwork.

 

[peterw3035]

Thanks for the comments, it's clearly a trade off but I'll see how it progresses. It just means I'll have to adopt some of the useful suggestions and be a lot tidier than I am at present !!!

 

[LizBurg]

Late to the thread I know, but if you do go down the room within a room route, you might want to consider making one of the walls removeable so on the odd occasion you need to get something in bigger than the doors, such as a new machine, you can.