Help!!!!

[ddushane]

Hey guys, I'm struggling with to many decisions. I'm setting up two rooms for my Knifemaking & engraving. I'm going to get into forging as well. I've got enough room to have about a 15'x12' area for forging, about the same amount for a welding area, then I'll have two rooms that I will have closed off from the forging & welding areas, and used for knifemaking, engraving, & lapidary work, these are about 15'x32' & 16'x35'. I'm wanting one to be a clean room for final sanding & finishing, lapidary, & engraving and the other room for the rough out, milling, surfacing, and other stuff that will be creating a lot of grit & debris. I'm thinking of skinning all of the walls with galvanized tin, the guy with Muellers said that it was actually more reflective than the white and was not as expensive, I'm also thinking of using it for my ceilings in the two rooms. Thinking of using 8 ft high output florescent lights with 110 watt daylight bulbs in the rooms. What do you guys think, Is there something I need to consider, I want to do it right this time before I move every thing in. I want plenty of breakers, plenty of receptacles,plenty of light, plenty of vacuum, and air. Any comments and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Dwayne

[Ray Rogers]

Well, I can tell you from my direct experience that if there is any connection at all between the various areas dirt and grit will find a way to migrate.

I'm not sure about the galvanized tin. My shop has stainless steel interior walls and I can't say that it seems to have much to do with how much light I have available in the areas where I really need it. My feeling is, save the money unless there is some other reason for using the tin.

Forging indoors will make for a very, very warm room. I know you must have given that some thought, big windows, open doors, whatever, but it's worth a little extra consideration. Not to mention the potential for trapped gasses and fumes.

If I read your post correctly, you are contemplating 8 ft fluorescent light bulbs. Don't. I originally did that in both shop buildings and my cabin, total waste of money. Not only are they considerably more expensive both for the fixture and the replacement bulbs but the bulbs burn out faster, the ballasts fail regularly, and they don't put out any more light than a 4 footer. Gradually, I changed out all of the 8 footers. Sometimes I replaced with two 4 footers, sometimes only with one and it's hard to tell the difference in the amount of light produced (only the area of coverage is affected). The bulbs don't burn out nearly as often and so far there have been no ballast failures at all.........

[george tichbour]

I have just finished redoing my shop with high gloss white paint on floor and walls and 8 ft fluorescent fixtures mounting 2 75 watt bulbs in each with daylight ratings.

It really made a difference to me and the high gloss paint can be cleaned down with one of those Swiffer things quickly.

I am fighuring that the high gloss white paint is doing most of the job.

George

[ddushane]

Ray, Thanks for the quick reply, The forging area will have a walk in door and a full drive in door that will be open when forging plus fans. My thoughts as far as the tin goes is, The building is a wood frame built in 59, It's got sheet rock but there are several places that need to be patched. With all the sparks, slag, cutting and so on with welding, and then what you get with forging, I'm thinking about fire hazards. As far as putting the tin on the inside of the rooms, tin is down to half of the price it was ten months ago, I can get an eight foot piece for $13.04 a sheet, buy the time I use wafer board or something like that and paint it, I'll almost have the same money in it, plus a lot more work and then if something bumps into it, you've got a whole. As far as the lights go, I was asking around hear locally and a guy that has a large building, using the high output day bulbs said right the opposite, he said he's never had to change a ballast on those but he has the others, and adv has some bulbs that are well over ten years old and still burning. I wonder why the difference between your experience with them and his?

George, I've been thinking of painting this floor as well.

[Don Robinson]

Hi there, Dwane!

You must have won the lottery! congrats on all the new stuff.

I wouldn't like reflective surfaces everywhere. Sometimes you gotta slow down and enjoy the music.

My experience with my 8 ft. flourescents has been great. Just don't buy the really cheap 4 ft. lights. They don't last.

[ddushane]

Don, I just bought a building that I've been wanting for 20 yrs, it's my back fence. It's 32' x 90', has a bathroom down stairs and has an upstairs apartment. I bought it for a lot less than I could build it.

In my current shop, I have a four two bulb fixtures w/ 4' lights & 1 double bulb 8' fixture. I've changed several 4 footers in the past 14 yrs but only one 8 ft bulb.

[Don Robinson]

Wow! Now that's doing it right. Huge, and a built-in bathroom. That bath will really come in handy when you get to my age. Every time I stand up I gotta go pee. I'm sure glad I have a bathroom in my shop, otherwise I'd never get anything done..

I'm proud of you, friend.

[Ray Rogers]

I don't know why my experience with the 8 footers has been so bad but I wouldn't have one around now. Mine came from Home depot, maybe they just weren't good ones. Anyway, as long as they work for you, go for it.

My first forge was in a very small, old wood building. I used tin on the walls near the forge where I could feel the walls get warm. I used stand-offs under the tin so that it was about 2" from the wood wall. After that, the walls stayed cool....

[argel55]

My experience is when I built a room for grinding seperate from forging that I went to Lowes and got the white panels for bathroom use. Bright white and all you had to do was pass a light broom across them to knock the dust down.