Shop Heat for Winter & HT Question

colu41

colu41

Joined
Dec 24, 2014
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I had a few questions so instead of hogging the forum with multiple threads I'll do them both here.

1st thing. I started building knives late last winter. As a matter of fact I bought my 1x30 grinder just after New Years. Now that I have my 2x72 Variable speed Grinder w/ VFD, electric oven, and other cool toys, I need to figure out how to heat my shop. Its only a 12' x 18' or so area.
My main priority, is to have a wood stove. Its easy, and its cheap. My work has scrap ashwood every single day so, material to burn is not a problem. But obviously I cannot run a wood stove 24/7.
I'm worried about my equipment, and product, that may be affected by the cold.
Epoxies, oils, digital controls, all of that sitting there in possible below zero weather sometimes (Upper Michigan :rolleyes:) Will it be ok until I'm done with work and am able to heat it up, or do I need to find a permanent heat solution?

2nd question
I finally am going to HT my first blade in my oven. It was finished yesterday, just need to add some thermal paste to the heat sink, now its fully ready. I was just going to throw a 1084 blade in there to start. Has a 7" blade so it would be slightly too big to HT in my small forge anyways. But my question is, I understand 1084 HT, but how do I know the blade is up to temp in the oven and ready to quench?
Its easy when I'm holding the blade with a torch on it and can check with a magnet but, if I heat to 1500*, how long should I let it sit before I know the blade is at temp? Not sure I understand that fully. And also, should I put the blade in cold, and slowly heat up the oven?

Thanks in advance. Sorry for the long post.
 
Get a radiator- type oil-filled electric heater for your shop. You may need 2.
They are safe and work very well.
 
Can you place your items you don't want to freeze into a cooler, and run a lightbulb into it? Just a thought...
 
How much stuff do you have to worry about? Epoxies? Digital controls and electronics will be fine as long as the humidity is low. Maybe just throw everything in a bucket and take it into your house then forget about the heat problem?
 
Epoxies and things yes, I could just bring in the house. But as for my vfd, thats wired to my grinder, in which is bolted onto my workbench. I can't just bring it inside. Same with the PID controller on my oven.

& Hellspawn, I would completely "dislike" your post if they had the button. lol.
 
I've had a vfd on my compressor in the non heated part of my garage for 3 winters now with no issues. I live in kansas where we get plenty of below zero nights, but it's your stuff do as you please.
 
Generally cold will not affect electronic or electrical parts. Some cooling actually helps them.
Oil filled radiators are sold at wal-mart and are pretty cheap. They are radiant heat type heaters though you could put a fan behind one on low to circulate the heat a bit.
 
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Oil-filled radiator heaters plug into the wall. They're electric. They cost about $60 each.
 
I'll look into those radiator heaters. And Kelly thanks. Maybe I wont worry about it TOO much. I just put a lot of time and money into my small shop in the last few months that I want to take all the right precautions when taking care of everything. Since I really want a wood stove, maybe I will build me a small one for one side of the shop, and get one of the electric radiator heaters for the other side.
I will have a small couch in there to relax from time to time. Nothing better than sitting next to a fire, when its cold outside :D. The daughter is really excited about it actually. lol
 
Wood fires put moisture and dust into the shop air.

I want in floor cement propane hot water heat.

I'd settle for an externally vented propane heater
It puts the moisture and exhaust outside.
 
colu41 said:
I'll look into those radiator heaters. And Kelly thanks. Maybe I wont worry about it TOO much. I just put a lot of time and money into my small shop in the last few months that I want to take all the right precautions when taking care of everything. Since I really want a wood stove, maybe I will build me a small one for one side of the shop, and get one of the electric radiator heaters for the other side.
I will have a small couch in there to relax from time to time. Nothing better than sitting next to a fire, when its cold outside :D. The daughter is really excited about it actually. lol
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Your only fear with the electronics would be moisture from condensation from changing temperatures... Wood stoves are great I had one that I used to heat my whole house, burned hedge, put a few logs in the morning and would still be over 70 degrees when i got home at night with a few strategically placed fans...
 
kellygoose said:
Your only fear with the electronics would be moisture from condensation from changing temperatures... Wood stoves are great I had one that I used to heat my whole house, burned hedge, put a few logs in the morning and would still be over 70 degrees when i got home at night with a few strategically placed fans...
Click to expand...

Ok. Cool. Anything that can help with moisture or is that just a certainty?
 
I would think long and hard about a wood burning stove.The install on those things can be pricey even if you already own it.The way I see it you have only 3 options based on where you live. The wood burner(yikes)Propane/Natural Gas or 220V electric(high BTU).I went with 220V electric with mine because of simplicity.Cost wise for me an 80,000 BTU NG garage heater and wood burner would be about the same.
 
I use oil-filled electric radiators. I made it a habit of spending the first hour or so at the forge. It takes the chill out of the air. Make sure you insulate the building or its all for nothing.

Be careful using a wood stove if you ever intend on installing a dust collection system. If it is vented outside the negative air pressure could pose a CO problem.
 
Rick Marchand said:
I use oil-filled electric radiators. I made it a habit of spending the first hour or so at the forge. It takes the chill out of the air. Make sure you insulate the building or its all for nothing.

Be careful using a wood stove if you ever intend on installing a dust collection system. If it is vented outside the negative air pressure could pose a CO problem.
Click to expand...

CO problem? And yes it's insulated.
 
If you have a wood stove and somehow manage to get a negative pressurized room(exhaust fan, outside venting dust collector) you could draw carbon monoxide from the stove into the room. The same could happen with an oil/gas furnace. Something to keep in mind for sure. Especially in a little shop that is well sealed. One powered exhaust fan in a window(without a balanced return) could cause issues.
 
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