Home metal shop.....safety and setup?

**Fyredup** · 10-11-2004, 06:38 PM

Gentlemen I need some help....I am quite new to this.

In anticiation of setting up my home/hobby welding shop in my attached garage a few questions came to mind.

1) Will it be safe to setup in my attached garage?
2) How can I make it safe?
3) How can I vent welding smoke and byproduct outside
4)What tools do you guys have in your shop?

I am sure most of you think these questions are quite general and non specific since I didnt get into much detail. I apoligize for that, but any pointers will help.

**korvus** · 10-11-2004, 07:08 PM

I don't have a completely fire-proof garage but, here are a few things I have done and a few things I intend on doing:

The front half of the garage is 12' x 10' and deticated to metal fab/welding. One wall is all stucco so no need to worry about sparks flying around there too much. The other wall is another story its all exposed wood framing covered halfway up with plywood. I plan to get cement based 'backer board' or something equal to protect and complete that wall. I have a door that opens to the back yard so air can flow through when the main garage door is open and for what its worth, an ordinary 12" fan to point at the plume to dispurse it. Most important: 2 fire extinguishers; one on both ends of the garage.

As for toys that make dust and sparks;

HH 135
Angle grinder, various grinding, cutting wheels
Skil-saw with cutting blade
O/A - coming soon.

-

**myplace46** · 10-11-2004, 07:40 PM

Well… jus to be on the safe side, since I share my shop with my alter ego who is into wood working, I don’t leave my shop for at least 30 min after my last weld or cut and have turned off the fans. Hopefully that way I’ll smell something burning before it gets out of hand.

**sixpac** · 10-11-2004, 08:04 PM

My shop is made out of wood floors and walls i have bought 1/2 inch wonder board to put on the walls and the 3/4 stuff for the floors. i have a few fire ext. around buy i keep a 5 gallon bucket with soapy water and a rag so if something starts smoldering i can place the wet rade on it are pour a little water with out wasteing the fire ext on the blaze
just my 2 cents

**Sandy** · 10-11-2004, 11:32 PM

No unatended towells, throw rugs, doggie beds, etc. in the weld area. They'll smoke a long time before bursting to flame. Towells for cleanup are okay IF you move them well out of the work area before resuming. A towell with acetone on the table could catch fire, get your clothing on fire and you'll be telling us the rest of the story.

Always do a cruise around then set down and ponder your work before going in for the night. Good for what ails ya too.

**49degreesnorth** · 10-12-2004, 02:34 PM

Some depends upon the kind of welding you will be doing, too. TIG is pretty non-messy, but if you run a plasma cutter in there it best be fireproof!

Of course, grinding makes sparks, too. I weld (TIG) in my basment but step outside for heavy grinding.

best,
Chris

**drizler** · 10-12-2004, 02:51 PM

I grab the comfortable chairs from our local border crossings when they get busted as the ****ed government is too cheap to buy new ones that any human would want to sit on. When time allows I weld them back together. I expect stuff to burn but had a nasty surprise last Spring. I welded a chair whose frame had suffered structural failure from one of our larger Customs Inspectors. After checking it out and letting it cool down I went back in the house for a while. When I returned that ****ed chair was just starting to burn nicely a half hour later. That thin veneer of fabric on the bottom had lit itself off after all that time in the doorway of a 35 degree F garage.
Its a ****ed good idea to keep a smoke detector lying around. Don't mount it just keep it handy so you can set it near whatever you are doing whenever you feel the need to take off for a bit. Its not a bad idea to let whatever will manage cool off outdoors where it can burn up safely if it has a mind to.

**Fyredup** · 10-12-2004, 04:03 PM

A lot of good suggestions.

Just curious, is it typical that Tig is the cleanest, then Mig followed by stick as far as the actual welding process goes?

As for the shop heres what I am thinking...

1)Put up a welding curtain that separates the metal working area and where my wife parks her car.(Will not be in there while I am working)
2)Remove all flammable liquids for good.
3)Invest in an exhaust sytem specifically for welding(wow those are big $$$)
4)Keep it clean! I am a woodworker and you can eat off my shop floor...In fact I had to when I bought that board planer that my wife wasnt suppose to find out about.
5)Cover exposed wood with sheetrock...

What do you all think...should that be good enough?

**uncrichie** · 10-12-2004, 05:52 PM

Lots of great suggestions. Heres my $.02. Be careful with welding curtains, great to shield stuff but it also hides the smoke and flames of things burning behind them. Hot metal fireballs roll pretty far accross the floor you'd be surprised. I weld and grind and cutoff saw outdoors, call be a chicken. Mine is hobby welding so I don't mind the inconvenience. Uncrichie...

**trashcan** · 10-12-2004, 11:10 PM

I like the chair story! I work in a fire tesing labratory and we test all types of things and you would be surprised how long some things can hide smouldering bits and peices, just waiting for you to walk off and then flame up. Best safety advice about fire is to be consious(sp?) about your surroundings and where your sparks are going. I have wood floors and walls and always spend about twenty minutes policing my work area after I'm finished.(It is a good time for a dip/smoke/play with garage gadgets and to plan the next angle of attack for a project while also being able to tell the wifey you are being safety consious(sp?)).Thump On!!!!

**jsoukup** · 10-13-2004, 12:24 AM

HAHAHA, some of the customs inspectors in Dallas are pretty big boys too, some must weigh in at 400+lbs! I'm trying to figure out how they ever passed a physical, let alone handle a gun and handcuff folks. I work at TSA and it's bad enough, of course throwing bags will melt fat off your butt. We go through tons of broken furniture and the government just throws it away. Of course one of my buddies keeps "hauling it off to the dump". Of course he's got all kinds of tables and chairs at his house now.

I just moved six months ago and my garage is so full of boxes that I don't dare touch off a spark in there. Everything gets moved outside right now. I have a nice concrete pad in front of the driveway under a big mullberry tree, all in my secluded back yard. I think I just need to put all of my equipment on wheels so it's easier to take out and put away.

**garfish** · 10-13-2004, 10:13 AM

I asked a similar question over on rcm or on sejw on Usenet about smoke from different welding processes getting into my house. My garage is beneath my house. Here is part of one response that I took to heart-

"...*Fire* due to sparks from any welding method. Plan on welding
outside. Welding under your house is stupid. If your O/A torch
is adjusted properly, there'll be no smoke. If you're using hard
wire, there'll be no smoke with MIG either. Smoke is mostly an
issue with stick and with fluxcore wire welding. But fire is always
the primary concern. Any welding produces sparks, and they
tend to go everywhere. One can smolder for hours before the
fire bursts to life, burning down your house, you, and your
family. Not good. Work outside, or in a separate shop building
from your house."

My 2 car garage is the usual mix of stored boxes, camping eqt, lawnmower, all my precious tools, kids bikes and toys, solvents, paint, a couple gallons of gas, scattered sawdust and blown in dead leaves hiding under the 2x4 wall shelving that I clean out a couple times a year. Lots of combustibles and lots of places for sparks to skip under and wait. The walls and ceiling are sheetrock which is good, but the hvac ductwork there passes through as it goes to the rest of the house. Kids room is adjacent to the garage.

I moved my 110v and 220v receptacles closer to the garage door, got a 10/3 extension cord, and work outside around the weather and darkness. Set up a 3/4" ext. plywood scap for a work bench on saw horses (that will hold a chop saw when I can get one). I leave the plywood outside for a couple hours. Have a fire extinguisher and a bucket of sand handy. It is a royal PITA, but I can sleep easy at night that my offsprungs are safe.

Some of the garage shop pics you see here are so amazingly clean and the weldors very experienced that it is likely safe, but I have too much crap in mine and I am an awkward weldor at best. Someday I'll get an outbuilding and hit the lotto, in reverse order

fwiw, Garfish

**garfish** · 10-13-2004, 10:56 AM

Look at this guy's set up outside. It is an interesting site as well.

http://www.savvyhomeadvice.com/WW/DEFAULT.HTM

**Rocky D** · 10-13-2004, 12:25 PM

Exposed wood walls have never bothered me...it's dust that is the real danger...it can smoulder for hours....I cringe when I see a guy that does woodworking in the same area as welding....gotta keep the area dust free. You do get smoke from MIG...just not so much, and I've ben breathin welding smoke for nearly 50 years and have never had any ill effects from it. There's much more danger breathin second hand smoke from cigaretts! Sparks from grinding will start a fire quicker than welding...don't know why, it just seems that way. As to cutting in a garage, have your sparks go into a pan of water. similar to this one.