No more hide glue in my armpits
And other benefits to shop heating and cooling
Working at Fine Woodworking obviously has its perks. Awesome colleagues, amazing authors, and an unreal shop. But it wasn’t till I began working on an article in issue #265, “Heating and Cooling Your Shop,” that I realized one of the biggest benefits of our unreal shop: climate control.
For the article, I researched HVAC options available to both existing structures and new construction. Some woodworking pros weighed in with their experiences, recounting the ways they’ve tried to keep their shops comfortable enough to work in. Around this time is when it hit me: Climate control in the shop is a game changer.
For years prior, my work spaces had nothing approaching HVAC, unless you count the drafty doors and walls. So I adapted my practices—sharpening with oilstones, for instance. While it’s easy to dismiss these as relics of Ye Olde Workers of Wood*, they’re practical as all get-out for someone dealing with the seasons, particularly winter, of the northeastern U.S. For one, I don’t have to worry about forgetting to bring them in, risking them fracturing as the temperature drops below freezing. Plus, I’ll trade the relative slowness of oil for the icicles of water any day; speedy sharpness is no consolation for having wet finger tips in cold temperatures.
Using metal tools in the winter is no fun either. Metal gets wicked cold, and handling it when it’s frigid hurts right to your bones. All of a sudden, my chisels, gouges, planes, and squares become bitter enemies.
The high heat of summer’s only marginally better. Tank tops work fine and all, but sweating all over your piece isn’t exactly a best practice. Plus, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to wash hide glue out of my armpit hair because a panel glue-up, as always, was more than I’d bargained for. (It’s three. Three times.)
All this just gave me excuses to not be in the shop. Sure, staying inside and trawling eBay for old tools is fun, but it’s no carving, joinery, or heck, even sharpening. Plus, justifying a tool purchase becomes much harder when you haven’t actually worked wood for awhile.
So what’s a woodworker to do? My upcoming article dives into two choices, mini-splits and PTACs, for keeping the temperature and conditions in your shop seasonable. Both are ductless HVAC systems, albeit at divergent price points and different levels of efficiency, especially in the cold.
When I pop into the shop now, I do it all in relative comfort. The climate control is an astounding luxury and privilege—especially considering it’s in a dang shop—but that fact isn’t wasted on me. I never thought I’d say this, but add not having armpits that smell like adhesive made from dead animal to why I’m one lucky duck.
*Please don’t read this as mockery. I love every one of ye olde woodworkers, from your pitsaws to your matched T&G planes.
Comments
Could you please elaborate a bit on the price points for the ductless AC units?
Where I live the winters are reasonably mild and I don't need heat. I do need cooling in the summer. I work in the garage and have had it insulated and put new high R inslutated garge doors on. This helped immensely and I have tried a $600 portable AC unit (which I vent the hot air outside). It's still not quite enough.
I had the folks who had installed the new furnace and AC units a few years ago come back to give me a quote for a new ductless AC unit for the garage. They wanted between 15 and 20K (more than I spent on the whole house unit). There has to be something better than the $600 unit that also costs less than the ductless unit they mentioned.
Hm, that price is a lot higher than what my research has turned up. How long ago did you get the quote? And how big's your garage? For a space about the size of a typical two-car garage, a PTAC should run you about $1,000 if you install it yourself and a mini-split $3,500 and above—and I don't recommend you try to install these yourself. Crucially, though, these numbers are loose and should be taken only as rough starting points.
Maybe get quotes from some other HVAC professionals? With mini-splits becoming more popular in the U.S., you may have different results this time around.
I had a Mitsubishi split unit installed in my garage in 2014. The technology is incredible, as it will put out heat when outside is 15-20 degrees. It is unbelievably efficient. I have developed a very slow freon leak and am no longer under warranty. Cost to repair will be significant. However, overall still pleased with performance. I believe I paid about $2000 from a wholesaler for all parts including a lot line hide parts I didn't require, then paid $600 for installation. I had an existing 30 amp circuit, so there was no real electrical work required. Other than connections to units. Since I mounted on interior wall, it required condensation pump to expel the water. Hope this helps
Thanks for the feedback. That was just a little over a year ago. It is a three car garage and around 600 square feet. I will check another company.
I was actually quite annoyed with them. I have had excellent service with the company in the past for the house unit. I wanted a ballpark figure over the phone which they wouldn't do. When the person came out (same one who installed the house unit). When we discussed what I wanted in the garage, it took like 90 minutes (again, great service and they listened to me). I about got sick when I heard the price.
Barry, I think you might be using the hide glue wrong, it doesn't go in your armpits, it goes on the woodworking. Just a thought.
I wanted to follow up since my initial comments. I followed up with the company. My memory was off. It wasn't 15 to 20K. It was $10,600. Still, it was very spendy. I had scheduled to have them come back out to see what options we could do to bring down the cost (I had some ideas based on a better understanding of how I would use and and how we use and have modified the back yard).
My wife chimed in when I mentioned that were going to be out in the next week. She then said "well, why don't you then just work in the spare bedroom?"
Of course, the house is well air conditioned and that would mean a zero dollar cost. Also, that will give me the opportunity to build a workbench that suits how I woodwork with hand tools. Having seen the most recent Tools and Shop I also feel inspired to remodel the entire room (not right away). There is nothing wrong with my garage. I did a nice remodel about three years ago but it looks a bit sterile (white walls, white pegboard where I hang the tools, etc). It works well but I want something more full of wood walls and beams.
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