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  #1  
Old 06-15-2012, 03:38 PM
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Drac Drac is offline
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Converting the garage

Hi all,

Due to the rising heat here in the Texas summer I loss several months each year when the garage pushes temps over 110F. Add into that the difficulty of working in a garage below 40F for the couple months of winter and I loss a lot of time during the year with the shop being in the garage.

I've contacted a general contractor to change the garage into a real shop or at least part of it. My idea (not to scale) -



The beige area is the garage door open, yellow the opener, and the gray as the new wall. New shop are should be the back area. Should be 12+ X 22+. I having a 40amp sub-panel put in and one of the hotel HVAC systems. My Dad had recommended it and the contractor had done it several times before. The advantage of the system is both heat and AC in a fairly small unit with a low profile. Disadvantage is it is 220 unit that will probably take up 20 amps of the sub-panel.

With the additional 20 amps (in a 220 setup) though I should be able to run the shop. I've been running it for three years on just the 2 20 amps that go there now. I assume the lights and GFIs are split among them. Even if not they should support the equipment that will stay 110. I plan to rewire the KMG to 220 and get a new oven that will be 220. I will increase the lighting and mount all the new plugs using surface mount.

Will also have all the walls and overhead insulated.

Any other recommendations?

Jim


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  #2  
Old 06-15-2012, 04:45 PM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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I don't have any useful suggestions but I had to chuckle when you said was difficult to work in at 40 F in winter. I heat my shop in the winter to bring it up to 40 F just so the liquids won't freeze - which is where it stays almost all year around. Today, it's about 45 F in there and that's after I've been running the HT oven for about 3 hours. At the end of July it might get to 65 0 70 for a couple of weeks but by mid August it will be on its way down again ....


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Old 06-15-2012, 04:48 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray Rogers View Post
I don't have any useful suggestions but I had to chuckle when you said was difficult to work in at 40 F in winter. I heat my shop in the winter to bring it up to 40 F just so the liquids won't freeze - which is where it stays almost all year around. Today, it's about 45 F in there and that's after I've been running the HT oven for about 3 hours. At the end of July it might get to 65 0 70 for a couple of weeks but by mid August it will be on its way down again ....
I wish. To me a comfortable temp is around 65F. Main reason to raise the temp is for curing the epoxy.

Jim


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Old 06-15-2012, 05:12 PM
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Ray, I would love to come see you in August....Alabama heat makes me


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Old 06-15-2012, 05:59 PM
argel55 argel55 is offline
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All I can say is make sure there is not an air connection from the shop to the house. Steel dust will be all over the place
You will not see it at first but it will settle and cover everything.
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Old 06-15-2012, 06:09 PM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is offline
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I'm with Ray, I find the comment about the shop being too uncomfortable to work in when it gets below 40 degrees a little amusing considering the number of times I have tossed my tongs into a frozen slack tub. But then again we're are talking about the equivalent of my "cold" shop, not my "hot" shop. Standing close to a forge running at around 1600-1800 degrees does help take the chill off. I think that I would get a little unhappy if my basement was under 60 degrees let alone 40.

Doug


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Old 06-15-2012, 06:16 PM
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I don't run a forge so 40 F is a solid 40 F. Below 60 gets a little uncomfortable for just a t-shirt. Not to comfortable working with ling sleeves let alone jackets. Too much material to get caught in machinery.

The garage is isolated except for a path for the wiring. Hard to explain but the garage shares the roof with the 2nd floor but has a breezeway between the first floor. Should be safe.

Jim


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Old 06-15-2012, 06:43 PM
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My forge is outside under a roof, no sides. I tried to run it in the winter - once - but it started raining inside under the roof. Aside from that, it took too much effort to warm up all the steel in my hydraulic press and 500 lbs anvil so I wait for warmer weather to make my little bit of damascus ...


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Old 06-15-2012, 10:11 PM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is offline
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I wear long sleeves around my forge to keep the heat off my arms, especially when I have it cranked up like the time I was trying to forge wrought iron. Getting the forge over 2000 degrees will put some heat out the front of it and it can get a little uncomfortable on bare skin.

In the cold shop I wear whatever I happen to be wearing short or long sleeved but the cuffs are buttoned up tight on long sleeved shirts. No cuffs hanging open to get caught between the belt and the drive wheel.

Doug


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Old 06-15-2012, 10:16 PM
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I understand where Drac's coming from - I have all that heat plus 99% humidity in summer. I rewired to add a panel just for the garage and put in a small A/C. It doesn't get the heat down much in the summer, but it knocks down enough humidity to make it bearable.

I might add that we had an INTENSE rain the other day - 4 1/2 inches in 30 minutes - and I got water in the garage for the first time ever (including a couple of hurricanes and tropical storms). So this weekend will be spent dragging everything out and cleaning. I ran the A/C a couple of days to get most of the water out.

What I would suggest is that you make sure when you wire up the garage that you run separate circuits to any critical areas. For example, I have the socket for the air compressor on it's own breaker. Also, go ahead and wire up the circuits for GFCI.


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Old 06-16-2012, 06:29 AM
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DwaneOliver DwaneOliver is offline
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I had the same problem Jim , my new shop is 10 X 20 for the inside portion , then my forge, welder, chopsaw are on a 8x20 lean-to outside. I have a small 220 elec heater that keeps it 65 in the 5 deg winters here. For the summer I have a swamp cooler....its so damm dry here in the desert it works.
The new shop is a seperate building from the rest. I needed power right away , so I ran an SO cord from the nearby shed, off a 30 amp 220 breaker.
I installed a 100 amp panel in the new building, and wired it to code.
Amazingly I am still running off that one 30 amp breaker , and I've never tripped it.
I was prepared to dig 300' of ditch to lay in a new wire for the new shop, but its working so far, and in a couple of years we are moving anyway.

Probably didn't help in any way , just wanted to let you know what was working for me.

Dwane


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Old 06-16-2012, 01:21 PM
Larry Peterson Larry Peterson is offline
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Friend Drac,

A shop space is a wonderful thing! There is no such thing as a perfect vacume in the universe. If there is space it will be filled with something. Plan your space and defend it like a gladiator! Friends and relatives will assist filling your shop space if you allow it. Wives are also a major threat to shop space when it comes to storing stuff.

I have traveled this path and I speak the truth. Best wishes on your knife making journey.

Larry Peterson
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  #13  
Old 06-17-2012, 01:05 AM
EdStreet EdStreet is offline
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Well here is how I have my forge setup currently, soon to be elevated!



That background is so distracting sometimes

Shame we cant bottle that heat up and use it in the winter time.

Ed


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Old 06-17-2012, 06:13 AM
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Congrats Drac, always good to get your shop established more the way you want it.
(I agree, fill it up the way you want it fast, before the "squaters" start poaching space!)

Just a note - being uncomfortable while working in a knife shop is just as dangerous as have the long sleeves unbuttoned and flapping about. You will be distracted and that is not good. Comfort is a relative thing....find your zone and work within it.

Speaking of safety - Ed you need to coat that K-wool, everytime you fire up that forge you put millions of micoscopic ceramic fibers into the air you and others are breathing. It will get in your lungs and stay there......definitely not good for your health.

Get it sealed up then load all that up and bring it to Trackrock end of Sept. You'll have a lot fun.


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  #15  
Old 06-17-2012, 08:07 AM
Jacktheknife Jacktheknife is offline
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Crex,


What do you mean by 'coat' the K wool?
My forge has K wool covered by refractory cement but the cement cracks off in front and I can see K wool. I mean I could re-coat K wool with cement if that will help. Or wear a T-shirt over my face for breathing protection. Oh! and I always have a fan going behind me when I'm forging this time of year especially when I'm quenching.
But detail what you mean by coat.

Thank you...

Jack the Knife

Oh, and Drac... I live in south Dallas county!
I go to the 'Home Brew Headquarters' on Coit between Belt line and Arapaho in Richardson but live on 'my 25 acres' between IH 35 and IH 45, one mile from the Ellis county line, south of Lancaster. Small world ain't it?


Thank you...


Jack the Knife

Last edited by Jacktheknife; 06-17-2012 at 08:23 AM.
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