Working in the cold ???

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Permalink Reply by nateswoodworks on October 26, 2009 at 10:42pm

The tools should be no problem. If it gets really cold the belts will get stiff and cause some vibration and different noises(just like your car), just something to expect. The main thing to worry about is the medium. Wood when it freezes stops all expantion and contraction. If you build a project and the wood was at a higher moisture content when it froze and you have panels or a table top, well that could be a disaster. If the panel contracts a lot you could end up with the dreaded rattling panel, if a table top is the project warping and twisting could happen. One way to avoid this problem is store the wood somewhere in your house, bring it out and work on it and return it back to the house for stability. From info I have read if you have had the wood in your shop for sometime before it froze the problem is a lot less likely. One way to tell about your wood before you use it if it is in your shop is to cut a small peice off and measure how wide and thick it is, write it down, and bring it into your house for a couple weeks and compare. Thia will point out any warning signs to look out for. Isn't winter a blast, I live in Mn. and swore I would always move down south. I just got my house paid off here so you know I ain't moving now:( Oh well it's only cold for 6 months.

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Permalink Reply by Paul-Marcel St-Onge on October 26, 2009 at 11:25pm

I usually just tough it out. I use a radiant heater to keep my area warm.

And before someone points out that I'm in the Phoenix area, I do have a picture from last winter:

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Permalink Reply by Wesley Hoffman on October 27, 2009 at 5:01am

I just bought one of those cylindrical kerosene heaters with the metal cage around it and it heats my 1000sqft house with no problem. It bought it brand new from my f-i-l for $20 but I think you can get them retail for like $80. Once I get my new furnace installed I'm gonna move that heater to the garage so I can keep working through the winter. I figure there's a bit of a fire hazard but I can keep it secluded enough to soothe my worries.

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Permalink Reply by Germain on October 27, 2009 at 5:44am

I live in Colorado where it gets below zero in the winter. I've insulated my garage shop. This made a HUGE difference. I have an electric heater, but it's just a 110V model.

The challenges I have are warming up the shop and keeping it warm. It's takes awhile to get it warmed up. Then, almost inevitably, my wife will open the garage door and I have to start all over again. (I'm going to have to start unplugging the garage door opener.)

The problems I've run into when trying to work in a cold shop are:

- Finishes are completely unusable
- Glue is completely unusable
- When a cast iron surface is below zero, or even below freezing, you can't touch it without going, "Ouch!".

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Permalink Reply by Rick LoDico on October 27, 2009 at 6:17am

I've never had a problem in the past with an unheated garage. I just kept anything that would freeze inside the house until I needed it.

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Permalink Reply by Aggie83 on October 27, 2009 at 8:48am

I am in an opposite situation. I am just getting started out in the garage because it is finally getting cool enough to work out there. If next year is anything like this year, I will be pretty much forced out of the garage by the end of May.

This past summer was bloody hot and humid, with a couple 50 day stretches without rain. Now, we seem to be regressing back to the mean on rainfall. I'll take the rain, I don't miss days where it is 100 degress and 85% relative humidity.

Texas - all desert and tumbleweed - LOL.

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Permalink Reply by Aggie83 on October 27, 2009 at 8:50am

I hear that freezing cold cast iron tastes like chocolate. Confirm or deny? Double dog dare you.

Germain said:

I live in Colorado where it gets below zero in the winter. I've insulated my garage shop. This made a HUGE difference. I have an electric heater, but it's just a 110V model.

The challenges I have are warming up the shop and keeping it warm. It's takes awhile to get it warmed up. Then, almost inevitably, my wife will open the garage door and I have to start all over again. (I'm going to have to start unplugging the garage door opener.)

The problems I've run into when trying to work in a cold shop are:

- Finishes are completely unusable
- Glue is completely unusable
- When a cast iron surface is below zero, or even below freezing, you can't touch it without going, "Ouch!".

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Permalink Reply by Mike Darr on October 27, 2009 at 10:48am

I live in Florida so cold season is my favorite time to work wood.

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Permalink Reply by Dave on October 27, 2009 at 1:54pm

I live in Ohio too. My last house i had a pole barn with metal siding - no insulation. I heated that with a kerosene cylinder heater. it would heat the air rather quickly but the it would take a while for everything inside the garage to warm up.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Nunya on October 27, 2009 at 5:25pm

Yeah I just moved shop location to a metal building that I haven't got the time to insulate right now so its gonna be a cold shop in the good old Missouri winter but hopefully wont have any major issues keeping all my wood/finishes/glues etc in the old shop until next spring might leave a few pieces in the new shop to see what kind of difference it shall make.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Jones on October 27, 2009 at 6:22pm

I have a garage shop (northern Virginia) and I get some shop time each winter but not a lot -- especially in Dec. - Feb.

I decided to try to warm it up this year. In August I insulated my garage door with a fiberglass kit. Last week I insulated the garage attic and walls by blowing in cellulose. And I bought a radiant heater from a Lee-Valley special-buy a couple of weeks ago. Hoping for more shop time...

On a side note, I ALWAYS keep my glues and water-based finishes and dyes in the house in plastic bins -- winter or summer. Glue lasts a longgg time when stored inside.

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Permalink Reply by Karl Bauer on October 27, 2009 at 8:53pm

I seem to be a year or two ahead of most of you. My detached two stall wood shop (South Dakota) was re insulated this year and has a 30,000 btu heater ( and auxiliary wood burning furnace ) plus a window mount 12,000 btu air conditioner. I can keep my 640 square foot shop comfortable all year round. Now the 40 foot run to get there when it is 10 below zero is another story. :o

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