Replies

1. 
   JohnWW | Mar 06, 2006 07:30pm | #1

   Why are you concerned about the humidity, personal comfort, its affect on wood, or possible rusting on your tools?

   John W.

1. 
   Heuglin | Mar 06, 2006 07:47pm | #2

   I think mostly its effect on tools and machinery.

2. 
   Hairface | Mar 07, 2006 06:15am | #3

   My Father put a wood floor in his pole barn and has been in it over 20 yrs , as far as I know he never has had problems . Lives in Northern Lower Mich , and one of the reasons for the wood floor  is the cold on the feet from concreat, and the drastic tempature changes with concreat  and the cost. 

   I have small problems with humity but only in the winter, I just spray the table tops of the band saw, table saw and plainer with Boeshield  T-9. But I have concreat floor .And don't heat my shop when I'm not working out in it, Father keep his heat on low, when he's not out in it.

3. 
   Lataxe | Mar 07, 2006 06:02pm | #4

   If you want protection from humidy 24 hours a day, every day, you need a source of heat that's drying, cheap and safe.  I'm afraid that's not a wood burning stove. It will suck in fresh (and presumably damp) air as it burns; it will not be practical to have it on 24 hours a day; it needs to be a special one to be safe in a woodworker's shed.

   In my small wood shed (10 feet by 18 feet) I have maximum insulation within double-skin walls, ceiling and floor, with double glazing and draft proofing (although there is ventilation). I run an oil-filled electric radiator with a thermostat to keep the shed at 10 - 15 degrees centigrade night and day.  This is also a good working temperature.

   The radiator is safe as it never gets very hot and there is no exposed flame or other factor that would not go well with wood dust.  It also provides a dry, convected heat.

   The hygrometer tells me that humidity in the shed is usually between 50 and 55%.  Nothing ever rusts or feels damp in there.  If I ever switch it off and forget to switch it on again, humidity creeps up to 70% in a day or so, unless its summer or the weather is otherwise sunny.

   In summer, the sun keeps the shed warm and dry, except for the odd very cold or wet night.  The radiator is dormant unless that cold night happens, in which case the thermostat switches it on.

   Even with this well-insulated shed and non-use of the radiator in summer, there is a significant but not uneconomic increase in the electricity bill - about an extra 5% on the house bill.  It's worth it to keep all those expensive machines and tools from being spoiled by rust.

   If you store wood in there, it seasons that too.

   Excuse the rambling, I can't help it.  :-)

   Lataxe

1. 
   John_D | Mar 09, 2006 01:33am | #5

   One oft-ignored benefit of a wood stove in the workshop is the fear that it instills in your stock.  What board will want to warp due to "internal tensions" when it sees what happens to scrap?My goal is for my work to outlast me.  Expect my joinery to get simpler as time goes by.

1. 
   Lataxe | Mar 10, 2006 02:34pm | #10

   I've often considered threatening recalcitrant wood in various ways.  After all, it works with computers (a snarl, a mimed kick or two and they often begin to work).

   However, what if a so-threatened bit of wood conspires with the table saw to get its own back, before I can put it up the chiminea?  I have a theory that this is what kickback really is.

   Lataxe

1. 
   John_D | Mar 10, 2006 08:13pm | #11

   Kickback: Revenge of the WoodMy goal is for my work to outlast me.  Expect my joinery to get simpler as time goes by.

2. 
   Heuglin | Mar 09, 2006 06:07pm | #8

   Thanks a lot for responding. You've given me s ome good things to think about.

4. 
   JeffHeath | Mar 09, 2006 04:04am | #6

   Heuglin

   My new shop is a 36 X 45 foot pole barn with a concrete floor, 12 foot ceilings.  R42 ceiling insulation, R19 walls.  I'm in Chicago area, and humidity for us is a huge problem.  I have controlled it in my shop for 2 years now with 2 dehumidifiers that I run constantly, and bought at Sam's Club ( a buyers club here, in case you don't have them.)  I'm sure there are better systems out there, but these 2 work just fine for me.  I've had absolutely no problems with rust on tools or machines, which I CANNOT say before I got the dehumidifiers.  They are the same kind that you'd put in your basement, that need to be emptied daily.  That's my son's job, every day during the summer.

   Jeff

1. 
   Heuglin | Mar 09, 2006 06:10pm | #9

   Thanks for the info. DeHumidifiers seem like a good solution. You've given me something to think about. Thanks.

5. 
   BossCrunk | Mar 09, 2006 03:22pm | #7

   Install a commercial humidifier/de-humidifier.

6. 
   csacoe | Mar 10, 2006 11:19pm | #12

   My shop is 36 x 16 with a concrete floor. I installed a Knight heat / ac , 2800 two ton. It cost about $ 3,200.00 with installation.

   It has a timer so I set it to come on an hour before I show up in the winter. In the summer, with the concrete floor, I don't have to turn on the air till around noon becuase the sun doesn't clear the trees till about that time.  And this time of year I just roll up both the doors. One on each end. Great cross ventilation. This shop was planned for a while. The concret floor has two coats of 2 part industrial epoxy. If you put up wood sideing of any kind, seriously consider useing a laytex stain. It goes on like a paint but wears like a stain. It will never peal or mess up like traditional paint does. Even with high out put flourescent lighting the power bill is very reasonable.

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   Edited 3/10/2006 3:43 pm ET by csacoe

   
   

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   Edited 3/10/2006 7:46 pm ET by csacoe

7. 
   forestgirl | Mar 11, 2006 08:34pm | #13

   "...not sure about the summer humidity problem."  If I'm reading you right, the emphasis belongs on "summer"....????  In other words, you know that when you heat during the cold winter, things will be fine humidity-wise, but you're concerned about the muggy summers when you certainly don't need heat, but the humidity will be high?

   First of all, I'll offer to trade places -- I've never been to Kentucky, and would love to try it out!  OK, enough joking around.  First of all, the wood stove idea.  I heated with a wood stove for 2 or 3 years, recently switched out to a pellet stove.  Personally, I don't see any big safety deal about using a wood stove in a woodworking shop, as long as you don't saturate the air with mass fumes -- in which case you wouldn't be alive anyway because you wouldn't be able to breath!  Store paint and other flammables away from the stove, have it installed properly, and be sensible.  

   A wood stove will definitely lower the humidity in your shop.  And that lower humidity will hold overnight -- I live in the Northwest and have just a little experience with humidity.  Question is, what do you do in the summertime when you don't want heat -- just a lower RH?  An air conditioner would probably work.  They dry the air out.  Might be kinda expensive. 

   BTW, I bought the pellet stove from a Knots member who is a professional and has seen his share of accidents related to flammables, explosives, and such, and he had no qualms about using it in his largish shop.  As mentioned, you just need to be sensible and careful.

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)