Frank Pellow's CD.....

[Chuck Wintle]

Frank,

I just received your CD and really enjoyed reading about your day to day experiences leading to the realization of your shop.

The level of detail you put into recording your daily/weekly experiences was interesting. But one question...why did you chose a wooden floor?

Would have a slab of concrete for the floor and cushion pads at each work station worked as well?

[Larry Browning]

I cannot answer for Frank, but I would like to answer for me.
I choose a wooden floor for the following reasons:
1) Much eaiser on the back, feet and legs as I walk around and stand in the shop.
I think the wooden floor is better for this that the cushioned pad over concrete. Plus, unless you cover the entire shop floor with the darn things you are walking on concrete most of the time and then I trip on them as I am walking around. They are hard to sweep. The surface is usually rough and the broom drags across them. Don't even talk to me about the ones with holes in them. Those have to be picked up to sweep under. (What a pain!)
2)I have several floor electrical plug ins for my TS, jointer, planer, etc.. If I decide to rearange the shop, it is a simple matter to move the floor plug. I also have DC ductiing to the TS under the floor which works very nice.
3)When (not if) I drop a freshly sharpened chisel on the floor it is still sharp when I pick it up. Not so with concrete.
4) Since the building is built with a crawl space, the floor is about 2ft above ground level. This allowed me to build a "loading dock" which I can back up to in my pickup, drop the tailgate and the bed is almost even with the shop floor. ( I really like that when I bring home new tools!)
5) I will never be temped to drive a car or truck into my woodworking shop. This is major plus as far as I'm concerened!

Larry

[Frank Pellow]

I am happy that you enjoyed the document Charles.

There are many reasons that I chose a wooden floor. These come immediately to mind.

1) I wanted to have the shop floor at the same level as my deck and the first floor of my house. This is about 40 centimetres off the ground, so a concrete slab would not be practical.

2) Wood is much warmer. The wood itself is warmer and I was able to easily insualte under the wood.

3) Wood is much more comfortable.

4) I can drop tools with less fear of damage.

5) The type of construction that I used was cheaper.

6) I am more familar with the type of construction that I used than constructing on a concrete slab.

[Frank Pellow]

By the way, anyone wondering what the free CD is about, please see the thread http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=23882