More to the point, with many here working in one room workshops, where do you store your finishes, thinners, paints, fillers, spray cans etc. Courious. I suspect some put stuff on the floor, others in a ventilated cabinets and yet others on an out of the way shelf or counter. Where do you store yours?
John
Replies
Boiler........ On shelves at eye level.
James
At the moment, on ordinary wooden shelves. Every so often, I think about getting a metal safety cabinet, but I haven't yet. They're pretty expensive ($500 for a small one--16 gallons).
-Steve
I've been using a small under the counter 'frig that died. Fairly stable interior temp due insulation plus it has adjustable shelves. Not explosive or static proof but it works for what I need. ...The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home....aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies !!
The stuff that won't freeze in a little garden shed away from the house. along with gasoline for the mower.
The stuff that will freeze in the shop or garage.
Mike,
Thats not a bad idea, My shelves and counters, where the paint sits is the eyesore of the shop.Cut safe,
John
Thanks,
I got the idea during plant safety briefings. We had the $500 cabinets inside, but still, if we didn't need it "right now", volatiles went into cabinets outside where they could burn to their little hearts content without burning down the factory.
Mike
I keep all of mine in the baby's room. That way they don't clutter up my shop.
Rob
Now Rob, that's not very nice. You know you're suppose to store that stuff at your in-laws.
Paul
Paul, I used to do that but I got tired of making the drive every time I needed more toluene.
Rob
Now Rob, that's not very nice. You know you're suppose to store that stuff at your in-laws.........
Yup. Right next to the fireplace.
Poor baby!
Edited 2/10/2008 8:38 pm ET by Tinkerer3
A few years ago, I made a wooden cabinet for finishing materials. The plans/article said it was almost as good as an expensive metal one. Although I have not tested it in a shop fire, I like it:
3/4 or 1 inch exterior grade plywood joined carefully and with lots of screws; back and front of the same plywood; tight-fitting door with a spring-loaded hinge and a good catch/handle; lip along the bottom to retain any big spills.
The idea, according to the article, is that if a fire encounters a large, almost air-tight cube, it takes a lot longer to burn.
In the meantime, it is a good storage place and keeps the fumes in.
Jim Bell
You could also make it out of plywood treated with a fireproofing chemical. It's kind of expensive, but It shouldn't cost to much for a cabinet of that size.
Rob
Unless a cabinet is very thick with fireproofing, it acts as an oven in a general fire and boils the contents of the various cans so that they burst and add their fuel to the excitement.
If I recall correctly from various shop safety briefing, the purpose of the special cabinet is not so much to prevent the stuff from going up in a fire as it is to;- put all flammable and/or dangerous if breathed stuff in one enclosed place where it can't get knocked around and spilled (or forgotten and crushed) and where it can be easily inspected and got rid of when it is out of date or no longer needed.- be fairly airtight so that the folks in the shop are protected from the stray chemical fumes day to day- fairly airtight so that if it does spill inside the cabinet, the fumes can't trail over to the nearest ignition source and flash back to the spill- identify (by position, color, and signs) where the bad stuff is in case of a fire so that the firemen can either foam it or steer the heck away from it.
By the same token, we had special (bright red) foot operated air-tight trash buckets into which were thrown anything with an oil or solvent on it (and only that), and emptied outside at the end of each shift.
I built some racks to store them in the barn basement. The shop is on the main floor. I have many gallons, mostly in five gallon buckets. Was in the apartment business and a local business was having a sale. Then I went out of the apartment business. Right now, I don't know what I should do with all the paint. I have lots of other junk also.
A local Habitat for Humanities would probably be very happy to take it off your hands and also provide you with a receipt if you need one. Also, any local charity that volunteers for 'fix up'work....The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home....aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies !!
I decided I had too much miscellaneous "junk" in the form of finishing supplies, so more in the interest of neatness I made this cabinet. Melamine coated for easy wipe-off; piano hinges on doors.
Frosty
"I sometimes think we consider the good fortune of the early bird and overlook the bad fortune of the early worm." FDR - 1922
Excellent! I could live with that one. Nice solution.
Thanks,
John
I decided I had too much miscellaneous "junk" in the form of finishing supplies, so more in the interest of neatness I made this cabinet. Melamine coated for easy wipe-off; piano hinges on doors.
Frosty
"I sometimes think we consider the good fortune of the early bird and overlook the bad fortune of the early worm." FDR - 1922
Cans of finish and solvents in open "drawers" in one of the tall cupboards that came with the garag.....er, shop. I made the bins from scrap, sides about 3" tall. The cupboards are deep, so needed pull-out arrangement using drawer slides. Cupboard is the furthest area from the pellet stove (once a wood stove). No flammables are located high, only chest level and down, assuming a fire would crawl on the ceiling.
Big jugs (gallons) are on the bottom of that cupboard.
I use a tall metal cabinet very similar to the one jfrostjr posted above. It was an ignition parts cabinet, a son gave it to me, the only cost was some Krylon and 4 knobs.
I store most finishes in an old refrigerator. Solvents are stored on the floor (concrete) at one end of the shop between the overhead door and the walk in door. As far from wood and machinery as possible. In case of emergency, they can all be removed from the building easily. In nice weather I keep the doors open so it's almost like storing them outside. My shop is a metal pole barn.
John, I just use a couple of those junker poly Wally World cabinets. They're about 6' tall by 4' wide by 18" deep (or something like that) with double doors on the front. They're cheap and have about four shelves.
Why, whatcha worried about?
Denny
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