Get in the shop early or late, keep the air moving on you with fans. I’m lucky enough to have a shop that is built under trees which also help. DP www.wardprobst.com
Discussion Forum
Get It All!
UNLIMITED Membership is like taking a master class in woodworking for less than $10 a month.
Start Your Free TrialCategories
Discussion Forum
Digital Plans Library
Member exclusive! – Plans for everyone – from beginners to experts – right at your fingertips.
Highlights
-
Shape Your Skills
when you sign up for our emails
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. -
Shop Talk Live Podcast -
Our favorite articles and videos -
E-Learning Courses from Fine Woodworking
-
-
Replies
You move to Wild Wonderful West Virginia. I think my shop got up to about 75 degrees today. Outside was a comfortable 85. I wish it would just stay that way.
Yes it was hot in Sequim today too got up to 70. but it was so cold in the morning the heat went on and fall is in the air.
John
I spent the weekend in Montery, CA. 'never got above 70 (it just about never does).
Want to get away from the heat? Get near the ocean.
Not always true--I live in the Houston area--60 miles from the Gulf of Mexico and we've been in triple digits the last two weeks, and it's not a dry heat. It's an absolute sauna! Dog days of summer. I don't go in my garage shop in this weather. Tom"Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand"
60 miles is way, way too far away. I lived on the beach in in SoCal years ago; it was be pleasant there and, move inland a dozen blocks or so (over the first hill) and it would be blazing hot.
Use your preferred search engine to look for "cooling vests". They range in price from about $40 to $300 depending on what type you get and from whom.
The most expensive use phase changing salts (or similar) or ice packs that you chill in a freezer or tub of ice water, and then put in the pockets of the vest. They last a few hours, are dry, and work well inside coveralls etc.
http://www.labsafety.com/search/cooling+vests/42611/
http://www.labsafety.com/search/cooling+/42610/
The less expensive (the ones I've got) have water absorbing silica gel sewn into the vest. You soak them for a few minutes in water. They cool by evaporation and will last for between 2 to 6 hours or more between soakings, depending on how much gel is in the vest and how much air movement there is. The disadvantage with it is that you are damp but when it's that hot you'd be hot and sweaty anyway. There are hats and bandanas available too that help in the heat.
http://www.labsafety.com/search/cooling+/42609/
http://www.labsafety.com/search/cooling+/12464/
http://www.labsafety.com/search/cooling+/42739/
When the plant I work in gets hot this time of year 40C inside (tin building) I wear mine and I'm still going strong at the shifts end. Everyone else is wiped out.
The ones sold by safety companies are more money than those sold by others like this one sold for motor cyclists. In the end you get what you pay for.
http://www.webbikeworld.com/r2/silver-eagle/cooling-vest.htm
Or you could look for an air conditioned pub with friendly staff and wait for the heat to go away.;)
Wine:
"How do you handle the heat?"
Same as everyone else since the commercialization of air conditioning.
Hastings
Temp and humidity here on the sunny Gulf coast are both in the high 90's, but my shop is air-conditioned so other than walking from house to shop I'm staying pretty cool! AC is cheaper than dealing with the heat in my opinion!
W,
I had a swimming pool installed. I had them put in some special holders for my water stones. Now when it gets to hot, I just dive into my sharpening center. I cool off and end up with chisels that work better.
Mel
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
It is well over 100 here in North Texas -- as usual in August. I find that if I work too hard and too late in the day that I have very bad results -- bright red face, exhausted, severe muscle spasm later. I suspect this is electrolyte imbalance. Wish there were still salt pills around.
For the workshop, I have a window air conditioning unit. Without that, I'd have to work before 10am and after 7pm, or wait until fall.
Joe
Hi Joe,
Try Staminade or one of the modern sports drinks about twice a day. This will do more than the old salt ever did. The other things that works well over here is black tea, the staple of our bushmen, but they did tend to salt their meat pretty heavily.
Dave
I will take your advice. Certainly worth a try. I used to drink that stuff when I did a lot of cycling, and I never had the problems I do now, but I was not as old then either.
A couple of weeks ago after working from about 7:30 through the solar noon rehabilitating beds, pruning trees and repairing outdoor woodwork, I really was out of gas and felt bad. Even a long nap did not help much, although my complexion got back to normal. That evening, every abrupt move and some that were not brought on the worst leg cramps I ever had in the large muscles of the upper inner thigh.
It was horrible.
J
Leg cramps?A few years back I started to have the same problems whenever the weather was warm and I had exerted myself.The classic prescription is to eat bananas and up your water intake, but I just couldn't drink enough water to solve the problem. But Gatorade or PowerAde does the trick for me -- 2-3 of those 32 oz bottles per day, plus however much water I can drink. I pee a lot, but at least I don't have those cramps anymore -- like someone jabbing a dagger in my leg in the middle of the night.********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
Dave,
Gator Aide?
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Bob,
Any of those sports drinks, they are just electrolytes and sugar. (so dont use them in a camel back or you will rot your teeth)
Our army has worked in these temps for years and we kill someone every now and again from dehydration. The real trick is that you can mentally acclimatise to the work, but your body needs regular fluids before you think you are thirsty. Early signs of problems are headaches and not thinking clearly. Also short temper, but generally only your workmates notice that.
After a death up north about two years ago there was a very large campaign to educate the soldiers. The message was "piss clear twice daily" you can say lots of things on an Australian Army education campaign to get the message across.
You can front load your fluid at the start of a session, but there are problems with this. Plain water can dilute the existing balance in your system and cause its own severe problems if taken too far.
None of this was around when I was a regular or when working stock, so our method was 3-4 breaks a day with at least two cups of tea each break. Coffee is for breakfast and dinner.
This is probably the single most dangerous part of working outside in Australia aside from Skin cancer - and will kill you a lot quicker if you don't take care. But if you look after yourself there are few problems.
Sorry for the passionate response
Dave.
Edited 8/16/2007 6:45 pm ET by Patto
Did you know that frozen swimming pools are flatter than float glass and/or granite slabs?
Just pitch some of my patented N. H. Granite Flakes upon the surface and start honing away to keep warm!
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Bob,
"Bob's Patented New Hampshire Miracle Ice-Skate Self-Sharpening Dust" Just sprinkle a pound or so on the ice. A few double Hoosegows on the magic dust and you are good to go. "Always take your dull skates...for granite!"
Mel, get in on the ground floor, granite dust is still dirt cheap.
Ray
Man it has been just nasty hot around here the last couple of weeks. We were supposed to hit 102 and I would believe we did. There are only two times of the year I don't hit the shop much, real cold spells in the winter and any time it gets above 90. I tried a window a/c in the shop but it couldn't keep up. I try to spend more time in the house working on design and studying from books and magazines.
The family and I went to Jour De' Fet in St Genevieve on sunday and there wasn't anybody there. Normally this summer craft show is packed with both vendors and festival goers but it was dead this year. It hit 104 at one point during the day and was nearly unbearable.
My side of the winter vs. summer debate is this. No matter how cold it gets you can always put on more clothes but when it gets hot you can only take so much off.
When it was in the upper 90s here in Jersey, I made sure I had an installation scheduled. Let the homeowner provide the AC while installing a wall unit built in the non-AC shop when temps were cooler!
I was finishing a dining table at the end of our last summer. I had are al problem with drippinf sweat onto the finish, particularly the stain, as it was going on.
Single Malt must go straight through the pores - the sweat simply disolved the fresh stain and left blotches that needed repair. In the end i stripped that first attempt and made sure I kept dry as the stain went on.
Dave
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled