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be careful if you are in shop without AC'

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allen levine

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new york city burbs
you can hydrate as much as you want....the heat , especially if you arent young or in great shape, will get you.
the heat index today here on long island is over 100
ilts close to 90 with dewpoints in the mid 70s.

its brutal.

I drank 90 ounces of water and seltzer this morning while working in the shop, but I started to feel effects from heat.

it cant be beat.

I turned on AC, if the shop cools down to 80 or so Ill go back to work. otherwise, I wont go back outside.

so just be careful, it creeps up on you.....and then boom, it strikes.
 
Hot here been around 107 for the last couple weeks today and tomorrow are in the 80's then back to hot. I have learned from the farm workers around here, keep the sun off it seems cooler.. I see them in hooded sweatshirts in 90° weather often.. I will wear a long sleeve light shirt (no under shirt) and a bandana (like an old cowboy) around my neck... I do pretty good. Big brimmed hat, bandana arms covered. Lots of water I have been able to work in it. No heavy labor, just yard work and weed pulling.
 
I used to be able to work in my shop regardless of summer temperatures. The cold of winter was my limiting factor. I cooled the shop by using two high velocity fans which pulled air through the shop and exhausted it out some double windows on the south wall. I also had an attic vent fan on a switch that pulled heat out from under the roof which had a d dramatic effect on the overall temperature of my shop. Of course I sweated profusely and had to be careful not to drip on cast iron surfaces or any of the wood I was working on.
There was a major drawback to this as no matter how hard I tried there would be droplet of perspiration that ended up on the table saw or some other tool surface. Over night I would have rust spots. So the first thing I had to do was rub out these rust spots, clean the tables and apply paste wax.

As I have gotten older I enjoy the heat up to a certain point. I just get too hot. I suppose my cooling system does not work as well as it did. I carry plenty of water with me to the shop and stop for breaks frequently but by noon or one o'clock I am wiped out.

I manage to get a little done but certainly my production output is not what it used to be. You just have to accept that fact and do what you can when you can.

I look forward to my shower when I go in.
 
I installed a room type A/C in my shop when I built it in 2007. I keep the thermostat set at 80-82F so it will control the temperature a little. My shop is very well insulated which helps a lot. I keep a stock of Gatorade in the small refrigerator for days when I need a bit more help. Beer is also stocked in the fridge for the end of the day. (y)
 
Bill Arnold said:
I installed a room type A/C in my shop when I built it in 2007. I keep the thermostat set at 80-82F so it will control the temperature a little. My shop is very well insulated which helps a lot. I keep a stock of Gatorade in the small refrigerator for days when I need a bit more help. Beer is also stocked in the fridge for the end of the day. (y)
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My grandfather had a dorm sized refrigerator in his shop. It contained a couple of six-packs of the cheapest beer he could find. I remember that frequently that cheap beer was Blatz. He also kept a box of those large fig bar cookies on top of the refrigerator.

Don't ask me cause I don't know but he would drink a Blatz and eat a fig bar cookie. I cannot imagine a more unpalatable combination.
 
I have a six pack cooler, small, its the cooler I take when I travel just to keep a few cans of seltzer or water cold. now I fill it halfway with ice and take a few cans or bottles into the shop every day.
the AC got it down to almost bearable today. I worked again from 2:30 till 4 or so.
tomorrow I only need 30 minutes out there to spray paint something, plus, Im babysitting so no shop time.
 
Mike Stafford said:
...
Don't ask me cause I don't know but he would drink a Blatz and eat a fig bar cookie. I cannot imagine a more unpalatable combination.
Click to expand...
Must be one of them there "acquired" tastes! :huh:

allen levine said:
...
the AC got it down to almost bearable today. I worked again from 2:30 till 4 or so.
...
Click to expand...
Have you ever given any thought to going to your shop at 8am rather than 2:30pm? :dunno:
 
I go in the shop to cool down... the outside is what's killing us. Rain forecast for the next few days though. Temps in the low 90s.

I use one of those "Chilly Dana" things outside and a hat I can soak with water and put back on. Seems to work pretty good.

Alan
 
Some of the temps you guys are talking about makes me jealous. The past three weeks or more we have hit 110 up to 119. That's without the heat index. This area is somewhat on the humid side so it's even worse. First thing in the morning of course I have to have my coffee and juice. After that, until early evening it is water. Sometimes I add lemon juice. As the old say goes, when it's hot its hot! I have no AC in the shop, but I do have quite the variety of fans going. But, by 11:30am or noon, that's it. Back into the house.
 
I don't have A/C in my shop and when it was built I didn't think about cross breezes, so my two windows are on the same side of the building... I do have a 20" box fan on a cobble together pedestal that I can direct at me when at the lathe... but fortunately my shop also sits under a number of big trees and is mostly in the shade .... normally stays around 80 degrees.
I rarely get out there before noon and usually only stay about 4 hours at most... since my bout with the internal bleed in my leg, don't get in more than about 3 hours now.
 
today was near torture
becasue of high temps and even higher dew points, the tropical rain forest type of weathere here the past week makes taking my morning walks a no no.

so today I decided to go out to the shop and give it a go for a couple hours.

in the middle ofsecond hour, I needed one piece of pressure treated so I headed to home depot.

ofcourse they had next to nothing, not what I wanted so I had to purchase a 12 footer 5/4
it didnt fit in my wifes suv, finally I got the angle right with the end sticking out of the window.

by that time, I was done. but I went on.....planed it down for the two pieces I needed.

got all the pieces cut to size for a kids chair, then noticed stiffness in my legs....pain.....I came inside, drank a few gallons of water and called it a day.

I hate this weather.
 
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