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How do you stay cool ?


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No one has mentioned pure wool. Not only does a pure wool flannel protect from radiant heat but acts as a perfect wick. You don't see the sheep complaining when it pushes 40C down here..er, not much anyway. Wool has a drawback though. You have to keep your fingernails short otherwise you'll tear your self to ribbons scratching the itches. But you get used to the prickles after a while. Otherwise a blue singlet - aka a "Jackie Howe" or "Wife basher" (....sorry, just telling it like it is) is a common item of apparel in the heat. It's almost attained "Uniform" status :)

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Chris,
Thats pretty much the reaction I was expecting. Wool is funny stuff, and us young folk ie below the age of about 110 have this preconceived idea that it is hot to wear so don't even bother to try it. Your concern sounds like you are allergic to it and of course that's a different matter. I have not heard of that before but I'm not surprised; it is just another conglomeration of molecules just like peanuts. Anyway if your not allergic it is worth a try. BTW a wool blended with a synthetic will have the opposite effect to what I've described. It must be PURE wool.

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Back in the 70's, I had a 100% wool dress suit that was a lot better in hot weather than anything synthetic. It was tolerable in summer and comfortable in winter. That was back before "business casual" came along and put the suit makers out on the street.

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Just be sure to strengthen the roof enough to hold that mega-ton Air Conditioning unit that will keep the entire shop climate controlled. No more rusting tools and no more need for sweat bands, unless the wife sees the electric bill for the shop. Maybe a spare /office/bedroom off in one corner for when she does see that bill. :wink:

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  • 1 year later...

Time to bring this thread to the top again.

With temperatures over 90*F (or 33*C) it is time to take on fluids and time shift to early morning or late evening forging. Any addirional suggestions?

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Air moving/ventilation. I picked up a squirrel cage blower with motor for a furnace, plugged it in and it blows a LOT of air. Really makes a difference in cooling the shop to have that much air moving, far better than any regular fans.

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What I do is wear full denim jeans, work boots, and T-shirt year-round. This gets me "conditioned" to the heat. I drink alot of water, tea, or gatorade. I may only be 17, but I know well enough the effects of too much heat. One year, I got over-heated so much that I couldn't eat or drink anything for 2 weeks cause i'd throw it back up. When this happened, I was really hot, and then suddenly went almost cold and felt fine for about an hour, then it was all down hill from then. After that, for some reason, I get hot very fast, but when I bale hay every year, I rarely sweat while I'm doing it. I always watch out for ANY and ALL signs of heat exhaustion cause my family and I know all too well about heat-stroke. When I get too hot, I stop what I'm doing, and just pour water all over myself. I got unusually hot while baleing once, and took a gallon water jug and tipped it upside-down on top of me. What ever keeps you cool, healthy, and ALIVE works. Everyone is different. Find out what works for you and stick with it. Remember, like some of the other guys, have said, heat-exhaustion has long term effects. Be careful and be safe.

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I also have one of those neck coolers. You soak it in water and it expands. I tie this around my neck and it definitly helps keep me cooler. Occasionaly I re wet it in cool water.

Sorry but the visual image on this one is just too great to let slip past. I figure that you put it around you neck and as you sweat, the cooler expands your eyes begin to bug out. :)
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We've mostly talked about air movement and personal effects but how you build your shop is important too.
High ceilings are fine in the summer and doggy to heat in the winter.
Good venting up high helps a lot, heat rises.
A shop built with a reflective outside shell, and an insulated liner also is beneficial. If you add a lot of thermal mass inside ( steel works excellently) then the shop will heat up a lot slower.
At night, when it's cooler, open up the shop to cool the thermal mass down as much as possible.
Water stores a lot of heat or coolness for it's volume. A big tank that you can shield from the sun and expose to the night sky can make real difference. In the winter you reverse the exposures.
When we have a big heat wave i set a rainbird sprinkler on the shop roof and turn it on for a few minutes every hour.
Kinda interesting how many blacksmiths and welders have also been firemen.
Guess not all pyromaniacs go to jail after all.

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When I went camping this summer in MO, where it always seems to get hot when I visit, I bought a "neck wrap cooler". It's a tube of cloth, with a water absorbing material inside. You soak it in water for a couple hours, then tie it around your neck or head, and it slowly evaporates the water, cooling the tube, and you. Worked pretty well. I still drink ice water or fruit juice constantly in the shop, but the neck thing does help.

Jeff

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Fluids, Moving air and all the other hints and tricks are a must.
I would like to add a side note. Someone in an earlier post mentioned "tell someone if you feel it" I would second that statement. That is the best thing to do after you have taken all precautions against. It can sneak up on you...still feeling like you can function and are fine. But others can see it better in your movements , eyes look far away and speech is almost silly or doesnt make sense, sweat may stop and your skin is clamy almost cool to the touch. I have seen it a few times and I had a "mild case once myself. Three 16 hour days in a 120 plus degree closed kitchen(no ventilation) on a big fancy catering job and the stress level make it perfect is off the scale....
I don't really remember going home when the job finished, don't remember sending my crew home, wife says I took an ice cold shower and fell in bed, woke up a day later like in a time warp and weak. Went to the doctor and he said all was fine and I was very blessed to be healthy....Have not had it happen since but it shocked me into paying attenttion for myself and those around me. Many times when we are in the middle of something we can not or do not grasp what is happening, making others aware could save someones life. Maybe even your own

A neat kitchen trick trying putting a couple of cold slices of cucumber on your forehead. Sounds funny... Looks funnier... but Cools you right down.

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Maybe this was covered already but, I prefer a wet (or dry; It'll be wet soon enough ;)) bandana to a hat. For me, a hat seems to store heat in the empty area between hat and head and I sweat even more. Evaporation cooling works better when cloth contacts head. No air space to collect heat. This works even better on bald heads like mine. :)

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All good advice so far. One thing I'd add, since it's my particular ailment/problem. I sweat. All I've got to do is think about doing something physical and I start to sweat. In order to sweat, you have to have excess salts (aka electrolytes)in your tissues. Once your salts are gone, you no longer sweat. All you do is urinate, and no amount of water will rectify the situation. Your entire system works on osmotic potential across membranes, and it relies on one side having a higher concentration of salts than the other in order for the water to move the right direction across the membrane.

I have to pre-hydrate, then continue to hydrate and supplement my electrolyte levels. I have a couple of friends who are internal medicine Dr.'s and also marathon runners. When I worked construction in Nv., I'd get heat exhaustion nearly every day in the summer while sheeting floors or roofs, all while draining a 3gal. Gott water cooler by myself ever day. Well Dr.C. prescribed some salt pills basically, and wow what a difference they made. Unfortuneately, they are no longer available for some reason. Now I use a product called Emergen-C. It's a powder in a little packet like cool-aid. It has a lot of electrolytes, without all the sugar in gatoraide and similar products. Anyway, my advice is to make sure you don't run out of electrolytes, or all the extra hydration will do you no good.

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  • 5 months later...
  • 4 months later...

You know being "hot" I think is just as much a state of mind as it is physical. I found myself feeling hotter and miserable while doing craft shows as more people come by and comment on how hot it must be and how miserable I must be standing by the forge working...I say staying cool starts with a mind set and is maintained by drinking fluids and being aware of your body's own limitations...

I know a guy that never complains of the heat no matter how hot it is or how hard he is working....and takes a break to drink coffee. I think he is partly insane, but the guy hasn't fallen over dead yet from a heat stroke. :D

Peyton.....besides I am way too cool to ever get too hot! :p

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Have a big fan hitting me as I stand at the forge but it doesn't blow across the anvil. Drink lots of water and one gatorade type stuff during my 12 hour days at the state fair. Bandana to wipe the sweat and clean my glasses pretty much every heat when it's real hot.

And when it's 90+ with weltering humidity at the state fair what do I say to people who say "Man that must be hot back there"?

"Yeah but my feet are cold" :D

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Back on the farm, me and my dad used to just lick table salt that we sprinkled on the back of our hand for ease of licking. Making sure you are properly hydrated before makes a world of difference in itself because you can wind up dehydrated and getting heat stroke before you realize you're thirsty.

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One thing that works well for me in the heat is called headsweats(thats the name of the company there are others).It is basically a sweat band with a bandana stitched to it. You can probably get them online or at a local bicylce store.


Sean

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