Exhaust in forging shop

J

John L

Joined
Oct 28, 2004
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I am going to bring in the furnace and press for the winter and am wondering about exhausting. I have a 1000 sq ft shop and don't really want to lose too much heat unless necessary. What is recommended for a propane forge...hood...open door...?? Thanks
 
Living in Montana, my forges are indoors year round. I have a large hood over my forge table (which holds all three of my forges) Its non-powered vented to the outside via 8" single wall stove pipe. Once the a forge is fired, it quickly develops its own draft. Even with this, I still have gable fans in the forging shop and generally will open a small window on one end of the shop, and turn the gable fan on low, on the other end. The forge(s) put out enough heat that in my well insulated shop, it makes very little difference in the inside temp....even when it below zero outside.

Just make sure you afford yourself good ventilation. Forges produce huge amounts of carbon monoxide, and if you ever feel yourself getting whoozy or a slight headache....get the heck outta there and improve the ventilation!
 
It isn't something you should guess at in an enclosed space. do you work with a rated appliance or a home made forge? What kind of space is it?
 
I have a propane/carbon monoxide detector to monitor the levels in the shop.
Also a chart on the wall for symptoms of CO poisoning in case my wife finds me on the floor:D
 
Carbon monoxide fills the room from the floor up, if I remember correctly. I crack the roll-up door and have a carbon monoxide detector at waist level next to the forge. I've only had my detector register any levels that I worried about, and that was once when I forgot to lift the door.
-Mark
 
CO buildup and oxygen deprivation are serious concerns for closed shops.
An exhaust hood over the forge is preferred ( really a must). It should be big enough to self draft, or better, have a small draft fan. That will take care of most of the hot exhaust gasses, but you still need fresh air circulation. A small outside air fan in a wall, an open window , or some sort of fresh air source is a mandatory safety feature. The calculations can be done on paper, but for a normal size forge,running in a small shop, with an 8" vent hood, there should be about 3 Sq. Ft. of open air source.....roughly an open window. A 6" dryer vent with a draft fan drawing the air in will provide the same CFM as a still air open window.

Stacy
 
Having seen countless deaths and near deaths from CO exposure I'm so pleased to read such well informed comments on this issue. I think 10 years ago this whole topic would have been ignored.
 
deloid said:
Having seen countless deaths and near deaths from CO exposure I'm so pleased to read such well informed comments on this issue. I think 10 years ago this whole topic would have been ignored.
Click to expand...

Don't be too hopeful... just spent most of Monday in a shop welding up and patterning damascus. Had the CO detector unplugged. Plugged it in and when it went off, it was unplugged so the owner's didn't have to listen to it beeping... =]

I opened up windows and doors in self defense and I'm still here, but who knows what exposure I got.

Mike
 
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Mike, yes who knows what exposure you got, not me, not you.
Glad you are willing to take a risk, no loss to the gene pool if you don't make it one time.
P.S. I work in the hospital, see you their if you are lucky, guys like you are job security for guys like me.
Cheers Ron.
 
I think he was making a statement about the owner of the shop and not himself. Don't think Mike was to impressed with the unplugged detector.
 
If that is the case, sorry Mike, I was just trying to point out the folly of such, Working in the hospital makes you see how dangerous life is without tempting fate.
Cheers Ron.
 
The interesting thing about low dose long term CO exposure is that there are documented (neuropsych testing) personality changes and a loss of memory.

As I think about it now perhaps that might be a good therapy for some Hollywood loudmouths :)
 
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