Glenn Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 (edited) If your shop is unheated, what do you do to winterize your shop? Storage* The slack tub will freeze and as it gets colder. What do you do to keep the container from being damaged as the entire tub becomes a solid chunk of ice?* Do you give any special attention to the wooden handles etc before they are put away for the winter?* Do you give any special attention to the hand tools, power tools, or power hammers, etc before they are put away for the winter??* Do you put out poison for the rats, mice, and other critters looking for shelter in your shop?* Do you cover the chimney to keep the rain and snow out?* Do you need to cover your coal to keep the rain and snow out? Does it hurt the coal if it gets wet and freezes? Edited October 19, 2015 by Glenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpankySmith Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 I learned lesson number one the hard way, we had a very hard freeze in Alabama that took out my slack tub, swelled the bottom out and open. From that point forward I started following Frosty's good advice of hauling in water each time when I forge in the winter. A couple bucket fulls of hot water and I'm good for the day, just remember to dump it at the end of the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noobrider Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 Depending on extreme various winters here (some year around never snow and freeze and the other year -20 C° ) I just give my handles a nice rub with oil and put them in a dry spot. My Coal/coke always stays in the bags and without any cover from rain/snow/ice. It never hurt the coke.Sometimes the coke splits while freezing, but it never loses quality. My power tools rest in my garage during winter and the new "Workshop" is lightly heated it never drops under 4 C° in it. so I don't care much about anything stored in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThorsHammer82 Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 I will be adding poison to my list of must adds to the shop for this winter.Otherwise, I'll put a space heater out there to keep the damp out, and everything else is business as usual. if I can keep the damp out, everything else seems to do just fine through the winter. We rarely see low temps so the quench tub rarely sees more than a thin layer of ice. When it does get cold we might see 1" of ice. 2" at most. When it gets that cold I empty the tub. Rain will fill it up again for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 Don't need mouse poison when ya got a bunch of cats. I also learned a lesson last year like Spanky mentioned I'll be sure to empty it this year and just fill it as needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rthibeau Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 my slack tub is a stainless steel beer keg, freezing doesn't bother it. It doesn't take long quenching hot steel before it's thawed enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 I just empty my slack tub and bring out a jug when I start. It can take a considerable amount of HOT steel to melt even 5gl. of ice at -20f.Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 Check the coolant consentration, clean the batery terminals and instal ne wiper blades... 1/2 my shop is ready to go, reinstal the wind breaks and the other half is ready... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 Glenn, thanks for reminding some of us to winterize our shops. I forge outside and my slack tub (5 gal. bucket) freezes solid during the cold blasts. I just ordered a heater to drop in it. Hopefully, now I'll have mostly water and little ice when I need it. Other than that, all the other stuff is weather-proofed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seldom (dick renker) Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 only thing i do is put a heat lamp over the slack tub. work in the shop most of the winter with a wood stove providing heat, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacob Nothstine Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 I move all chemicals into the house, paint, oils, waxes, cleaners, some could stay outside but don't like the idea of them freezing and thawing then re-freezing. I label them with marker when they were opened. Cover the metal by the garage door with a blanket to keep the snow off it when the wind is blowing hard into the garage. If you have wet sharping stones make sure you keep them inside or they could crack. Had that happen with a grinding wheel that was water cooled. I cover all my machine tops and other exposed metal with Johnson Wax Paste it helps keep the tops from rusting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Since I live in the desert Southwest, winters are mild compared to what you need to deal with. We get a yearly average of 4" of rain- 3/4 of which comes during the summer, no snow where I am, and average over 300 sunny days. It does get cold, I have seen 20°F here, so we do freeze pipes from time to time. My smithy is open to the elements, and the 55 gallon drum walls are more to block the winds that can reach 50mph. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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