Dave M

When working on heavy equipment we use both heat and cold. we place bearing in oven and pack shaft in dry ice then we go slow and steady.

I think in western MA. there are a couple of shops. There use to be one I think in turners falls or gil MA. but it has been some time since I lived there. I think there is a shop in north Hampton. There is a coal yard in worcester ma. I use to drive down from maine to buy it by the ton it was good soft coal. I'd say stop and see my shop but seeing how I am up in maine and just got the roof on it and it is still just empty. Well have a good trip.

Ok so here I go picking every ones brains again. I have pretty much finished building my new shop and now it is time to give my forges a permanent home. I have both propane and coal forges + welders, torches and a plasma cutter. Here is my plan let me know if this will work or if it is aready working for you. So for the coal forge I am thinking standard stove pipe (8" or 10" ) coming off the top of the side draft hood, run up the out side wall to the right height to give me proper draft. Now for the propane forge and welders I am thinking a sheet metal hood with with fan ducted outside but I am not sure if I need to run a chimney all of the way up the out side. I think I have to because the shop has a full second floor. Now here is were it gets ugly I need to heat my shop, if money was free I would use a direct vent propane heater but it looks like I will be using a wood stove for now. So it seems I would have 3 chimneys run up the out side of one wall, using the other walls is not an option. I also have to check the building code but I don't think that chimenys can be shared and in the winter there is a chance I would be using all 3 at the same time. Please tell me I am over thinking this.:confused: Maybe 1 chimeny for wood stove and use a hood that I could roll the other stuff under and or hook up to with its own chimeny. That would give me only 2 chimenys:).

yup just a 150 psi. air line, I saw an oxy gauge blow up on a drag lines cutting rig. oil got on the regs and gauges he hooked them up to the tanks with out cleaning them. He charged the oxy line and well BOOOOM . because petroleum based products and pressurized oxygen don't mix well.:o

On monday in prep for a big snow storm I had a plow to repair so I went down to my shop and fired up the compressor to use with an impact wrench and plasma cutter. It was 31 deg. in the shop. I threw the main air line ball valve to my filter, drier, regulator. I was standing right in front of it looking right at the gauge but the pressure reading was low so I am watching it to see what it is set at ( BOOOOM ). The gauge explodes and I get gashed right above the eye, parts and pieces all over . I have been a welder long enough to know better but I got sloppy.:mad: Any time you air up any type of pressure gauge you should always stand off to the side of them and never look straight at them when adjusting, the gauge face is the weak point and is designed to fail outwards. From what I can put together with my limited CSI skills, the diaphragm was frozen so the gauge over pressured. I did have safety glass on:cool:. replaced gauge, cleaned up and fired up the blue wrench and was out plowing by mid-day.

Well I have been running 2 fans in the shop in combination with a small electric heater for 2 days now and it seems to be working fine. When I poured the slab I put down a vapor barier but I did not put down under slab insullation:confused: I wish I had because the floor is sweating because the slab is so cold and the air is so warm. Oh well build and learn. On real damp days or days with big temp change I will use a portable kerosne heater that I have, until I can get the wood stove installed.

Thanks for all of the help:), that is why I love this site. I have a big shop fan that I use to vent the shop so this morning I will turn it on and leave it on. I will try to get my wood stove installed sooner then later. I dont mind a little rust on my hand tools. Its the power tools I worry about but for those some one told me to wrap them with packing blankets,so tonight before bed I will tuck in the plasma cutter and welders:rolleyes:

I have spent the last 3 years building a new shop. Why so long? beacause I built almost all of it by myself. So it is now weather tight and I have been moving my equipment out there from the basment of my house. So here is the problem I live in maine and the weather here has big changes. last night 20 deg. today 48 deg. every thing in the shop is covered with dew = rust later. I know easy fix install heater =$$$$$$$. So I am looking for any tricks that wont break the bank. This shop is 16'by 28' with 10' ceilings with full 2nd floor. the construction is 2"by 6" rough cut hemlock with white pine shiplap siding. there is no insulation installed yet. any suggestion would be great. I dont smith full time yet so I can,t count on the forges to dry it out inside.

I would like to introduce myself. My name is dave , I live in southern coastal maine. I have been welding and fabricating since my teens and blacksmithing since my late 20's. my first shop was our old llama barn 16x10. I am finishing up building my new shop 16x26 two story, I get the first floor 10' ceilings concrete floor and my wife who is a warm glass artist will get the second floor. This has been a long road as I work full time and am doing the construction my self with the help of a few friends. So I would just like to take this time to say hi.