How do you stay cool ?

[jayco]

I learned my lessons about working in hot weather from old men in corn,hay, and tobacco fields.They moved with slow deliberate,measured pace. They didn't fret or worry about the heat, but merely accepted it. TRy to avoid the urge to drinks large quantities of ice water---that always made me sick. I take breaks---hunt a shade---rest. I got heat sickness once---felt puny and sick for 2 weeks. It wasn't worth it,just to chop down those last few weeds!

[jayco]

Here's a trick I use in the shop to keep the heat from the forge out of my face when it's really hot----Take a piece of scrap sheet metal(old roofig metal is what I use)...cut it---say--10in. by 20in.---bend it in a semi-circle or "C" shape---just so it will stand on edge....cut a slot(think mousehole) to insert stock into fire.Merely place on your forge. This heat-screen will deflect some of the heat.Of course, you'll have to look over the thing to see your fire ,but it is easily removed.Use tongs---It'll get hot!!

[easilyconfused]

Another tip is, rather than setting up a fan to blow air in, set it to blow air from the attic/rafters out. That way, you blow the hot air that has accumulated out while sucking in cooler air at night.

[ThomasPowers]

for demos I like to roll up some ice cubes in a bandana and tie it around my neck to cool the big arteries and veins that are close there.

If I have to be out in the sun I will soak my blacksmithing wool felt hat and let it evaporate keeping my head cool---how did you think it got so disreputable?

[tbrforge]

bandanna on the head sweat evaporator. Lotsa water,( my daughter the med student said I should pee every 20 min. and to drink more water if I don't.)

every job I've had since high scholl has invilved fire. I think I have a genetic predisposition to tolerae the heat. I moved from Peoria, Il to Athens, Ga, I must like the heat.

when I tig weld aluminum racing heads, I have an ac hooked up on a cart and I position it in back of me so cool air enters my face shield and hits my back but doesn't mess with my sheilding gas

[Joseff]

Bandana on the head helps, sometimes a wet one around the neck does too. Used to be able to get cloth tubes full of hydrocellulose to soak and wear around the neck, they worked real good, but I never found wet stuff on my neck to be comfortable. A good product now is Under Armor, like sports pros wear. Just remember, its nylon, so it'll burn. I kept a big insulated mug handy with ice tea or ice water, drinking periodically while I worked. and such things as pickles are great for afterwards, when you really need the salt. And as far as that goes, if you've never had a nice cold slice of cantaloupe right after a hot session at the forge, you just don't know what you've missed. Mainly, though, learn to recognise the signs of overheating, and just quit.
Joseff

[the_sandy_creek_forge]

My Keep-Me-Cool is also a Followed-Me-Home. It is the big blower (12 or 14 inch diameter squirrel cage fan off of an old oil furnace the my grandpa had replaced. It seems to move about 3 times the air that my old circular floor fan moved, and it cost me exactly 35 dollars less than my old fan (which cost 35 dollars:) ). Of course, having the open intake and exposed belt it is not EXACTLY osha compliant but boy will it move the air. Also work great for drying out my garage floor after i spray it down:)

-Aaron @ the SCF

[rods8833]

I live in South Carolina and it get real hot , I wrap/roll six or seven ice cubes in a wet rag, like a ice sausage and place it around my neck, with a rubber band to hold it together at the two ends . It last about two hour until the ice needs to be replaced.

[Glenn]

As the heat continues during the summer, I am bringing this back to the top.

Sharing a spare window fan with the neighbor during the heat can go a long way to building a good working relationship.

Stay hydrated, stay safe, and check on your neighbors.

[Mike Turner]

I moved farther north to stay cool sorry Glenn could not resist.

[Frosty]

I moved to Alaska.

It was 71 today positively searing.

Frosty

[Archie Zietman]

I forge in the shade with 2 walls of my forge completely open, and a huge carton of orange juice and pitcher of water nearby.

[Justin Caradoc]

I have never been a firefighter but I am a fighter in the SCA. Wearing 40+# of metal during 90

[civilwarblacksmith]

Make sure the shop has plenty of ventilation. If you can put a solar powered or regular powered fan in the gable ends of your shop or the highest will help greatly to draw alot of the heat out while pulling a draft through windows and eave vents.

Drink plenty of fluids. You can also buy neck wraps that an absorbtion material inside of it. You soak these in cool water and the material swells. Wear it around your neck like kerchief and it will keep you cool.

[Dave Hammer]

couch potato

[Bentiron1946]

Me, I stay indoors. I just can't take the heat like i did when I was 50 and in good health. When it gets up into the 100's with 30-40% RH I just wilt so now I stay indoors. In May and June when it is in the 100's with5-15% RH it isn't to bad outside side because your sweat evaporates real fast to keep you cool but that high humidity is a killer.:cool:

[KevinD]

I'm a mail man and those mail trucks are like ovens. It's unbelievable some times how much cooler it is outside the mail truck when I have to walk to someones door to get something signed for or to leave a package.

I can't imagine what it would be like to have to forge in the heat for a living.

Come on fall time!

[jayco]

I try to avoid forging in the afternoons if possible.Here, in july and august it gets pretty uncomfortable between noon and six p.m. So, I try to plan forging sessions for morning or evening.

In that noon to 6 p.m. timeslot, I might be working in the garden,sharpening tools, putting away tools, trying to figure out how to make something,.......
I might be on the computer catching up with IFI.........

Or I might be taking a nap!

[philip in china]

I try to avoid drinks with any acidic content e.g. fruit juice. Your body latches immediately onto the water and leaves that acid core there inside you. I still think water is best. I dissolve a small amount of sugar and salt in mine. That way you are getting a rehydrate type drink without the price tag of the lttle sachets. (The sachets of rehydrate are excellent though).

One point about which I am careful is on having a beer. (At US$ 0.15 per pint here boys). When I have finished a hard day and I go home I always want a couple of beers. What I always do is take a pint of water first. Let my body soak that up like blotting paper and only after that do I have a beer.

[Nick]

In the summer I like to bring a jug of iced water or lemonade into the shop. It gets pretty warm in the shop, even when there's a breeze.

[6013]

Try crushed mint leaves in the water.

[Glenn]

Or in a Julip after a long day (grin).

[Dan W]

All the preceding is good practical advice. However, for those of us who suffer large muscle cramps after a hot day of sweating at the forge, or just plain working in the heat, its not only fluids that need replenished but electrolytes as well. If I know I'm going to really sweat I take three calcium-magnesium and Zinc tablets before I even start work and usualy two more before I go to bed. Your body will absorb what it needs and the rest will exit the body via the bladder. This will prevent the painful muscle cramps associated with electrolyte inbalance.
As for 100% wool. That advice is also sound. The itching is not an allergy to wool, it because the wool has not been washed properly before its made into cloth. Manufactorers only wash wool three times before the weaving. Whats causing the itch is the dirt, grass stems etc thats left in the wool after the wash. Wool should be washed a minimum of 5 times before weaving into cloth or spinning into yarn.
My wife has a degree in textiles, specificaly dark ages textiles. She also gets raw wool which we wash, spin and weave ourselves. 100% wool is cooler and more comfortable in both summer and winter than any synthetic. In fact any 100% material is, including cotton and linen. I wear her hand made wool products year around and we live in Florida. Wool will also keep you warm even if it gets wet. It acts like a divers wet suit.
There is also the safety factor. I would rather have my clothes burn off me rather than melt into me as synthetic fibers are want to do. (Based on 14 years emergency room experience).
100% natural fibers are best and heat stroke can kill you

[Glenn]

Time to review how to stay cool.

[olfart]

Uncle Sam's Army introduced me to salt tablets back in 1959, and I keep some in the cupboard all the time since then.  A salt tablet with a big glass of cool (one ice cube) water revives me better than any sports drink.  To stay cool when out in the sun, I wet a Frogg Toggs Chilly Pad (artificial chamois cloth) and drape it across my head, neck and shoulders, then wear a big floppy hat with mesh around the top to let the hot air out.