SmithingEverything Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 I live in Texas and thinking about building a blacksmithing shop. I wouldn't be able to do electricity at this time. In the summer time it gets over 100 degrees outside. What are some solutions (besides only smithing in the fall and winter). I was thinking like a dogtrot method or something. Something like the old days. Maybe old day methods with added solar panel fans? Not sure how much solar panels are that would run a small/medium fan though. I also see that dug into the ground is a option also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 Well are you hot or are you hot and damp? Out here if you are in the shade and let the breeze through you usually stay pretty cool but go through a lot of water. If you are in the damp side of TX my best advice is to *MOVE*! Also swamp coolers work well when you have single digit humidities and can often be sourced cheap used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacobd Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 What part of Texas are you from? I'm near Waco. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWooldridge Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 I live just north of San Antonio. Aside from installing an AC unit, there really isn't much I've been able to do other than drink Gatorade and use some type of fan. My old shop had really big windows that were hinged at the top and propped up with a stick so it would catch breezes but it was often calm at that location. My current shop is located at the top of a hill so the ambient wind is better but it's still d*** hot this time of year. Get acclimated, drink fluids, take breaks often, etc. It only hurts between June and September...so just think of all that time you can be in the shop during December. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSW Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 Good cross ventilation goes a long ways. Big wide sliding doors across from each other work well. Also working out under a shed roof with no walls might be an option. If you look at old factory buildings, you'll notice a lot of them have a set of clerestory windows in a copula like structure at the top of the roof. They can be opened to let the heat out in the summer and allow natural light down into the building. Older homes had transom windows over the doors and double hung windows that accomplished the same purpose. You open the top part of the window vs the bottom most open today, and allow the hot air out, same goes for the transom over the door. The modern continuous roof vent is based on the same idea. Not the best image of the idea, but what I could locate quickly. Insulation can also help some to cut down how much heat enters the building, as will choosing the right materials. Black is a poor choice for a roof in areas that get really hot. White reflects a lot of that heat back, and the upper areas don't get as hot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccustomknives Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 My shop's under a huge oak, doesn't help a lot but you are either going to be hot or not smithing at all. Being from deep east Texas, I'm used to the heat. If you can run an extension cord and put a fan on you that will help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpankySmith Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 My "shop" is totally outdoors and only partially shaded by an ancient pecan tree. I've found a fan to be of little to no use, it just throws the heat and humidity around. I use a shade umbrella when the sun is directly overhead but honestly on a 100 degree day with a heat index north of that, it makes little real difference. Acclimating helps, hydrating helps, but every time I've forged this summer I have to literally peel my clothes off when I'm done, totally sweat soaked. I taken to giving myself a 4 Gatorade limit. When I've finished off the fourth Gatorade it's time to pack it in for the day. I am looking forward to winter and have already decided that next year from June to August I will be working on INDOOR projects only! No sense forging in 200% Alabama humidity. I can't even imagine being in a non-air conditioned building and trying to forge through the summer! At least outdoors there is the occasional breeze. Why NOT take the summers off, SmithingE? At least until you can run AC to the place? Your climate does place limiting factors. Though I'd have to admit in advance that even though I'm going to take next summer off to work indoors, I imagine given how strange weather is around here I'll still sneak out to the anvil on a few unseasonably nice days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmithingEverything Posted August 19, 2014 Author Share Posted August 19, 2014 It is hot, humid, sticky and mosquito metropolis . I live near Bryan/College Station, Texas. 25 miles east of Texas A&M if you know where that is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Special Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 When 3000 percent humidity you reach, live in Georgia you will, yes.... Yoda aside, might burn through ice like crazy, but suppose you could try one of these. Or failing that, do you have a roof vent? Or vent window with exhaust fan in the eaves? It's not air conditioning, but it helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmithingEverything Posted August 19, 2014 Author Share Posted August 19, 2014 I don't have anything at this moment. Just some land with spots to build something, something small, something cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacobd Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 Make it something well insulated haha, I bought a 5000 btu window unti for $30 all I had to do was replace the part of the cord a dog chewed on. Insulation won't run you more than a $150 for a small building, especially if you just use some r13, I work at Home Depot and the little rolls of faced r13 we sell are like 12 or $13. Then a cheap window unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L Smith Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 I think it is all part of living in Texas or the south! No escape in the spring or summer, at least here in N. Texas. Orient the shop for north south breeze. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 There are other threads on this subject that suggest different was to keep tolerable cool during the summer heat. They include shade, cooling the neck with wet towels etc, a strong fan to step into the air when ever possible, etc. The air will cool any sweat soaked clothing. Lots of fluids, frequent breaks, and do not over extend yourself. One indicator that you may be in trouble is if you stop sweating. If you feel you are having ANY issues with the heat, STOP, QUIT, and go inside and sit in front of the air conditioning till you cool off. Do not drink cold water, you want room temperature water so it does not shock the body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Take insulation to heart. Be it a foot of earth or ore 3 1/2" of fiberglass. If you do not insulate the rood and walls, the sun will heat up the material and it will in turn radiate heat down on you. In the humid regions, their is a reason they built on raised foundations. Parasol roof and rap around porches help to. Maximize the shade and air flow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bessiecyr Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 Ventilation is the best option to keep your house or shop cool during summer. A best ventilation system like ventis reduce the humidity and moisture level from air which ultimately keep that area or nearby place cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JNewman Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 I don't know how you guys in the south work in the heat. In the summer I try to avoid using the gas forge on days that it is in the 30s Celcius (90s f) we do tend to get high humidity with the heat as we are on Lake Ontario. I will run the AC on days that are hot if i am only running the coal forge and it keeps it much more comfortable, even if it is just removing the humidity.. If you were using induction heat the AC would be even more feasible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 I hear you about how miserable forging in the heat is, when it hits 80f I shut the forge off and go inside for a cold one. Forging in the COLD is a PITA too but you can only take off so much clothing. A double roof can make a bid difference. Insulate the lower roof but the second is a sun screen with eaves and ridge line open for ventilation. Solar heat will induce draft and you can direct it say through windows, doors, etc. A thought I had was to direct it into a tall cupola and install a wind turbine. If you have in floor hydronic heat you can run cold water through it. Another thought I had was to turn my air compressor into a heat pump. It's a long dead idea but here's the basics. Anyone who has or been around an air compressor knows how hot the tank gets. Compressing anything forces the molecules closer together so they bounce faster and the whole sheds heat. Then as pressure falls the same molecules have more room to bounce and slow down, absorb hear. This is how compressor type fridges or heater units work, they just use more efficient gases. Atmosphere is some 70% nitrogen which isn't the best heat exchanger gas but it will work. My plan was simple, lay steel pipe under the shop floor on a gradient so it has a common low point and good flow so I could drain water. Put the compressor "tank(s) outside with the compressor. A little valving and I could use the under floor pipe as my compressed air reservoir as the reservoir it'd also be in floor heat. During summer a valve to carefully bleed compressed air into the sub floor piping becomes cooling. For the cooling cycle it needs an outdoor reservoir and I have those. Even without the heat pump system I'm putting the compressor and reservoir outside in a little insulated building of it's own. Think that's ambitious? I was thinking a horizontal turbine on the roof could not only help ventilate the shop but run the compressor mechanically. You've seen the whirly roof vent caps, yes? Those are horizontal turbines and any breeze enhances convective ventilation. Convection makes them rotate as well. Scale them up, I figured a 55gl drum as a proof of concept model. Make slits the length of the drum say 1.2" apart and give the remaining strips a bit of a twist. Hang the turbine on a axle and that's about it for the concept prototype thingy. Warm air rising from the shop or breeze and the drum turns, when it turns it turns a generator or perhaps the compressor directly. And how's that for a long winded not much help in HOT humid country post? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSW Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 Frosty what you describe is very similar to how some of the newer hydronic systems work as far as pumping cold water into the floor. Down side that I see is that the floor will sweat something awful in a high humidity condition. I have a customer who has this issue in her basement. The basement is always a nice 62 deg just about all year round. However when she opens up the bilco doors to the outside in the summer, everything in the basement sweats as soon as the warm moist air starts to enter the basement. It's even worse on he well pipes when they are using a fair amount of water. Then it literally rains from the pipes as the water condenses on the constantly cold pipes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 The human body produces sweat as a built in air conditioning system. Embrace it! OTOH, if you are sweating and then stop sweating, and its still hot, Worry! That is your body's A/C unit after the fuse has blown Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Frosty what you describe is very similar to how some of the newer hydronic systems work as far as pumping cold water into the floor. Down side that I see is that the floor will sweat something awful in a high humidity condition. I have a customer who has this issue in her basement. The basement is always a nice 62 deg just about all year round. However when she opens up the bilco doors to the outside in the summer, everything in the basement sweats as soon as the warm moist air starts to enter the basement. It's even worse on he well pipes when they are using a fair amount of water. Then it literally rains from the pipes as the water condenses on the constantly cold pipes. It's very dry here, in the 15-20% range typically. A glass of iced tea barely sweats here and you can feel your skin relax on rainy or humid days. Keeping high humidity air out of rooms, etc. is the same basic problem we have keeping the warm air in and the cold air out in winter. We have a "mudroom" which is basically an air lock off the front door. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 The human body produces sweat as a built in air conditioning system. Embrace it! OTOH, if you are sweating and then stop sweating, and its still hot, Worry! That is your body's A/C unit after the fuse has blown Scott Unfortunately our air conditioning is pretty dependent on relative humidity. If ambient humidity is 100% sweat doesn't evaporate and doesn't cool. Hyperthermia (heat stroke) isn't something we see often here, it happens but not often, I've never had to do 1st aid for it. Hypothermia on the other hand is a near constant danger. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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