Frigid temps and turning wood

[Roger Chandler]

Anyone besides me finding that all this cold weather is putting a damper on turning the last week or so? I have wanted to get into my shop for turning, but because of the frigid temps, snow and ice, I find that things like shoveling snow and cold conditions inside my shop has me just waiting for a thaw.

The mid-atlantic and northeast has gotten weather like the northern tier of the country usually gets......burrrr! I guess I don't tolerate the cold as good as I use to ...........:(

[Dick Latshaw]

Roger, I feel your pain. It only got up to 63F here today. :) We have been clustered around the fireplace, waiting for relief from this cold snap.

[John Thorson]

Minnesota, -20F I fire up the Knipco (space heater as you see on the sideline at a NFL game) to warm the shop then use the space heater... which can't keep up so I get 2 hours tops. I still have to wear insulated coveralls and lined boots.

[Mike Cruz]

Roger, while my shop is toasty warm, the cold weather and snow have left me exhausted, and I don't have energy to turn... It was -4 here this morning. I have never seen it that low. This winter, we've hit -2 twice. Never saw it in the negatives before. And now it has happened 3 times. I'm going to move to a warmer state...maybe Michigan or Wisconsin!

[Lawrence Tarnoff]

Roger, while my shop is toasty warm, the cold weather and snow have left me exhausted, and I don't have energy to turn... It was -4 here this morning. I have never seen it that low. This winter, we've hit -2 twice. Never saw it in the negatives before. And now it has happened 3 times. I'm going to move to a warmer state...maybe Michigan or Wisconsin!

Don't for any warmth in Wisconsin, Mike. Going down to minus 7 tonight. I have a space heater in my shop/garage, but it fails to get it warm enough any time the temp drops lower than plus 10.

larry

[Steve Mawson]

I start with the propane for about 10-15 minutes then the electric heater takes over to keep at 58-60. However does take a little longer when the outside temp has a minus sign in front of it.:cool:

[Michelle Rich]

36 below yesterday morning with windchills from hell. It does put a damper on the machinery..IT WON"T RUN! I'd be fine in a flannel shirt , longjohns, mukluks, and a hat with ear flaps! :-)

[Roger Chandler]

It got down to -1 yesterday morning at my house.........it was +1 when I let the dog out this morning. I have oodles of work to do today through the weekend, so turning will have to be put on hold till next week.....if I can get it in then!

I have a kerosene heater........which I don't like to use unless I have to because it emits moisture into the shop air and will in time cause rust on tablesaw top and bandsaw tables, lathe ways, etc. :eek: even though I keep them waxed.......still it will take its toll and require a fresh cleaning and application. I keep an eye on it!

I also have an overhead electric unit that helps [radiant] but it is not enough by itself when it gets below 40 degrees.

[Mike Cruz]

Yup, a balmy 1* here this morning, too, Roger. I think I'll wear shorts and a tee today!

[Brian Myers]

Feel your pain Rodger , finally dug out the kerosene heater and turned it on yesterday . It didn't really help as much as I needed it to. The shop is going to be a disaster zone for a while longer I guess.

[Doug Herzberg]

We must be the exception. Other than a couple cold snaps, I think this may be one of the warmest winters I can remember. Low 50s today. Back in the seventies and eighties, it seemed like we had several snowstorms which left my VW bug completely buried. Had to remember where I parked it. Haven't seen precipitation like that in many years. I was relieved to see forecasted highs in the twenties and thirties next week - but for that, it would seem like a waste of money to fly to Kauai for our 31st anniversary.

All that said, the average temperature in the shop at the beginning of the day is usually between the high teens and low thirties and it does slow me down, more so as I get older. I can certainly appreciate the snow bird mentality and may someday join their ranks. I've never picked up where you live, Michelle, and maybe you want it that way, but I certainly sympathize with -36. I don't think I'd move from the fire in temperatures like that.

[Dale Miner]

Frozen wood turns fine. Frozen woodturner, not so much.

[Brian Ashton]

Anyone besides me finding that all this cold weather is putting a damper on turning the last week or so? I have wanted to get into my shop for turning, but because of the frigid temps, snow and ice, I find that things like shoveling snow and cold conditions inside my shop has me just waiting for a thaw.

The mid-atlantic and northeast has gotten weather like the northern tier of the country usually gets......burrrr! I guess I don't tolerate the cold as good as I use to ...........:(


I used to live on the west coast of Canada and even there it was too cold on bare hands in winter when turning, gripping cold steel sucked the heat out of the fingers real quick… Never found a pair of gloves that gave good feed back to the fingers… If you're the sort that holds the tools with the finger tips (hand under the tool) it's a bit harder than if you're the type that holds the tools with the hand over (where the fingers are less utilised) then it's not as crucial if the gloves reduce the feedback.

[Jim Seyfried]

I have heated my pole barn (motorcycle and wood-shop) for years. I keep the thermostat at the lowest setting and turn it up to 65 deg. when I'm working in there. I decided it was cheaper to keep it heated than dealing with the condensation of just heating it up when I'm out there. However, it has been so cold that I have been working on stuff already in there. The logs that I have stacked on end (3') out side, are so frozen to the ground that I can't break them free to cut up. :eek:

[Quinn McCarthy]

Whiners!

It was almost -40 yesterday morning here without the wind chill. You know it is cold when you have to force the dog to go outside. I use a pellet stove to keep my shop warm. Way less work than cutting wood.

When it is really cold I can't even get the back of the shop to 63 degrees.

Quinn

[Paul Engle]

When I built my work shop - mid 90's , I put in 6 inch insulation in the walls, 12 inches in the ceiling/roof and 10 inches in the floor in anticipation of colder climate and only use one 6 foot base board heater near the only window. A few years back it dropped into the minus and I could only get 68degress out of the heater in the shop. I did not use the dust collector (as it dumps out side) and the thru vent from the house is open only when the wood stove was lit so the collector pulls heat from the house . Being older , it seems I can never get warm ... wish I could go to Hawaii for the winter ....

[Pat Scott]

Maybe 5 years ago I had a HVAC company install a Hot Dawg natural gas heater in my garage. It mounts up high against the rafters so it doesn't take up floor space, it's fully sealed and vents to the outside, it has a programmable thermostat so I can set the temperature to whatever I like. If memory serves it was around $1,200 to $1,500 installed, but afterwards I wondered why I waited so long. That heater is worth every penny and has allowed me to work in the garage whenever I want no matter what the weather outside.

My garage is insulated (walls, ceiling, doors) which is the first step of course. I set the thermostat for 45 degrees at night so glue, machines, etc., won't freeze, and in the morning when I go out I wear a flannel shirt and can heat the whole place in 10 min. No more bundling up in multiple layers, no working in a coat, hat, and gloves, no cold tools.

I used to have a propane heater, but it took up floor space for the heater and propane bottle, it smells, I had to leave a door cracked for fresh air (which defeats the purpose in the first place. I'm trying to heat the garage but I have to leave a door open and let cold air in?), and at the end of the day I would have a headache from the propane. So if anything from a safety standpoint the Hot Dawg was a good investment.

[louis pittman]

Weather in bismarck has been up & down yesterday morning _19 today at 2 pm temp 42 above nice & warm shop n g & elec heat

louis

[Bernie Weishapl]

I did the same thing as Paul when I built my shop. I have 2" styrofoam and then 6" of insulation in the walls and 24" in the attic. I keep my heater at 68* during the day when I am out there and keep it 55* at night. The wood shop only gets heated when I turn the vent on. It was 42* in there the other morning when it was 7 below. In about a hour after turning the vent on it was 67*. I keep the other part of the shop warmer because I also do clock repair out there and can't let it get to cold. I am using a 60,000 BTU Hot Dawg.

[Karl Stowe]

What ever you do don't look at the 10 day forecast for my area: http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/Monterey+CA+93940:4:USIt is warmer now than summer time. We usually get fog and misty fog for the summer. But we are going for a drought. I would rather have cold weather (in the 40s, that is cold for us) than have drought. I will trade you guys some of our warm weather for rain, but none of that cold white garbage you have to shovel. Hope you all thaw out soonKarl

[Jeff Rich]

Yes, it has put a damper on my turning. I need to do some shop upgrades this year, new siding and insulation, as well as windows.
I tried to do some today....just could not handle the cold.

[Harry Robinette]

When we bought the house the one thing I said was walk-out basement.SWMBO said laundry on the floor with the bedrooms so,My shop is 69* year around all day everyday no steps and a 36" door.Only bad thing is all the work I had to do to put the laundry over one corner of my shop. I built a 24 x 24 garage for the 2 cars and all the junk you would have in the basement now my shop is 24 x 29 which is 2/3s of the basement and 1/3 is the SWMBO's glass shop stained and hot glass both.

[Alan Arnup]

You chaps over there have got it nice and comfortable. We have just had a heat wave
with more to come. Temperatures up to 45 degrees Celsius.
When travelling in the car I put the heater on, just to cool down (lol).

It is downright dangerous to attempt any turning in the "man shed" where the
temperature just cannot be tolerated.

Stay safe.

Alan

[Leo Van Der Loo]

He Alan you can have some of mine in exchange for some of yours :p.

Mind you my shop is 45F and when I'm not there, and gets cozy real quick when I turn the hanging propane heater on, blowing the warm air all over the shop, as you see the temps here for the coming days are just the regular for this time of year here, and yes the snow we got in late November is still here, + all the rest of it after that, just a couple of feet deep ;)

280887

[Jack Gaskins]

Anyone besides me finding that all this cold weather is putting a damper on turning the last week or so? I have wanted to get into my shop for turning, but because of the frigid temps, snow and ice, I find that things like shoveling snow and cold conditions inside my shop has me just waiting for a thaw.

The mid-atlantic and northeast has gotten weather like the northern tier of the country usually gets......burrrr! I guess I don't tolerate the cold as good as I use to ...........:(


The "last week or so,,,,,,,,,,,,,man I haven't been able to do ANY turning since Halloween 2013 due to all this dang snow and subarctic temps. Cant wait to get back at it if the ice ever melts off my lathe!