Anyone grind exclusively sitting down?

M

matto6

Joined
Jan 30, 2017
Messages
237
I am in the process of setting up a workspace to make knives,. Grinder, band saw, drill press, etc. But I have a major space problem. I created space on one side of my garage, declaring that one car will need to live outside forever to make room for a new hobby.

But I'm struggling with the idea of metal dust. It will get all over everything in the garage. Including the other car, even if I pull it out while grinding. One option to roll the grinder outside every time I use it. But winter is coming... and it's dark at 4:30pm. This seems absolutely miserable.

Then I realized I have a 10'x14' "basement" (room?) underneath my house that is 100% self contained - no connection to the house. It contains my central AC blower, and some junk I keep in there. It has a concrete floor and tons of power running through it that I could tap. I'm wondering if I could declare it to be the "grinding room".

The only problem is that the ceiling is only 5' high, and I'm 6'0". Standing is horrible. But I could install a low workbench for my grinder and cutting tools, and have a range of adjustable rolling chairs to put me at the correct height to grind, cut, etc.

Is this a crazy idea? I've heard of people grinding sitting down to save their back. And it would create 140 sq feet of workshop out of nowhere for me.
 
Last edited:
I'd go for it.
I grind sitting down, it lets me grind more relaxed and saves personal energy.
 
5’ ceiling? I’d try to change that or just use it as a storage area. How would you move about the room? I get the rolling chairs would help but might be times you need to stand up to do things.
 
5' Ceiling sounds like a Dungeon...Dust control and clean fresh air return will wreack havoc on your respiratory system. You will be tracking that fine dust in to the house beware it gets every where!
 
Richard338 said:
I couldn't do it. I think it would drive you nuts.
Click to expand...
Yeah that's what I'm worried about. I like that it would keep the dust contained but it would probably drive me crazy.

So what do people do? Just dust up their entire garage and everything in it? Or grind outside?
 
Busto said:
5' Ceiling sounds like a Dungeon...Dust control and clean fresh air return will wreack havoc on your respiratory system. You will be tracking that fine dust in to the house beware it gets every where!
Click to expand...
Well that's why I was thinking it was OK in this room, because it doesn't enter to the house. You have to go outside.

But the AC blower being in there is a problem.

Having it in the garage doesn't solve the dust problem, right? Do people grind outside?
 
matto6 said:
Yeah that's what I'm worried about. I like that it would keep the dust contained but it would probably drive me crazy.

So what do people do? Just dust up their entire garage and everything in it? Or grind outside?
Click to expand...
Wet Grinding helps with the dust and also speeds up your grinding as the steel stays cool, no need to use a dip bucket.
 
Sounds to me you are Blessed with a "two car" garage......
I'd kill for that.

Put Both cars in the driveway.

The 5 foot tall ceiling is a no go.
 
I have my grinders on an 8' rolling bench. I do all my knife grinding, handle shaping etc outside.
 
some sort of curtain in the garage , combined with ventilation/ dust collection which you need anyway, should go a long way in keeping the mess down.
 
Crag the Brewer said:
Sounds to me you are Blessed with a "two car" garage......
I'd kill for that.

Put Both cars in the driveway.

The 5 foot tall ceiling is a no go.
Click to expand...
OK on convinced the low ceiling is no good.

I can pull the cars out but having a thick layer of dust in the garage is still a problem. It'll get tracked into the house, etc.

Horsewright said:
I have my grinders on an 8' rolling bench. I do all my knife grinding, handle shaping etc outside.
Click to expand...
I might have to do that. Do you grind outside in winter?
 
matto6 said:
Yeah that's what I'm worried about. I like that it would keep the dust contained but it would probably drive me crazy.

So what do people do? Just dust up their entire garage and everything in it? Or grind outside?
Click to expand...
In my old place I had a two car garage and took over one side. I kept everything on two long benches along the wall, with the grinder closest to the garage door. Sweep up frequently. Family members hate 36 grit metal splinters more than anything. You can install a dust deputy/ shop vac to collect a lot of it and then try to be diligent with cleaning up.
 
matto6 said:
OK on convinced the low ceiling is no good.

I can pull the cars out but having a thick layer of dust in the garage is still a problem. It'll get tracked into the house, etc.


I might have to do that. Do you grind outside in winter?
Click to expand...
Yes and we get winters. Insulated boots, Stormy Krommer hat, Carhartts and insulated coveralls when really cold, wool fingerless gloves. Funny story. My daughter will come up and help out sometimes. She actually does most of my blade cutting out and profiling. She really enjoys profiling. I pay her for this help. While back she was coming up to work. It was one of those terribly cold bitter days, just nasty bitter cold. Course ya know mom. Oh its ok baby girl you don't have to go outside in this, you can work another day, yada, yada, etc, etc. Alyssa, my daughter pulled on her beanie, zipped up her Carhartt and said; "I ain't no bit..!" We worked for a couple hours then we were pretty numb:

5Pbr65N.jpg


9qttduT.jpg


Course other times of the year are better but we get er done.

Buffers too:

VM2VSYu.jpg
 
matto6 said:
Yeah that's what I'm worried about. I like that it would keep the dust contained but it would probably drive me crazy.

So what do people do? Just dust up their entire garage and everything in it? Or grind outside?
Click to expand...
I have a piece of pex tubing mounted in an arc to the ceiling around my grinding area, and use a translucent tarp with shower curtain rings hanging from it to contain the dust within. There's a floor or bench mounted barrel style air filter in there mounted to the wall, and the wall behind my grinder is peg board that I drilled to holes out to around 3/8", behind that wall is a 20" box fan with a furnace filter. Lastly, there's a small shop vac under my grinder whose hose I can attach to a half round piece of 6" metal duct that is under the belt when I'm working with the nasty toxic stuff.
My shop is a 120 square foot space, and I also do my leather work in there, and grinder dust doesn't seem to have gotten over everything. I'm going to be making some improvements and refinements but for the cost and how easy it was to put together, it works surprisingly well
 
Here’s my less than ideal fix for the same dilemma. For reference, I make 8-10 knives a year and just have tabletop tools (drill press, bandsaw, and 1x42 grinder) and do leatherwork inside, so this is enough room for me:


EhUyl54.jpg


I got a cheap pop-up gazebo and draped a drop sheet from when we painted around it. It’s secured with some spring clamps. I’ve got a small work table in there and the tools plus some lighting and it works. There’s a Shop-Vac under the table and I sweep pretty regularly.
In our previous house, I just had the table by the garage door and used a fan blowing out to try to keep dust down. When we moved and I had cleared everything out, I found grinding dust everywhere. So far this is working much better.
Oh, and I’ve started doing most of my grinding sitting down so I have a stool in there too.
 
Last edited:
I sit down for almost all blade grinding and stand for almost every other grinder use.
Mostly to not stand in the same position for longer periods.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top