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Workshop comfort


John  Tee
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Hi,

Having got too many models ready to fly and not being allowed to go, I have ventured in to ply display models. I have made a few cheapie models and now splashed out on some good quality ones. I spent an hour and a half the other day standing in the workshop as it was easier than sitting (I have a swivel bar stool but the bench height is not the best). At the end of the session I could hardly move having stood in virtually one place for all that time. I have arthiritis in one knee and the other was replaced 5 years ago. I have noticed before that if I don't move the new knee stiffens up, no problem when I get moving again.

The workshop floor is loft grade boarding over the standard floor and insulation panels, with half inch thick rubber tiles on top. Where I stand at the bench also has 2 layers of foam backed carpet as a mat to stand on. I would have thought that would be comfortable enough.

How do the rest of you get on?

John

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I'm forever wandering off to the other end of my workshop (double garage) for some tool or other so don't have a problem through being static. Perhaps you just need to discipline yourself to taking a few steps away from the bench every 15 minutes or so? Tricky when you're involved in your work but might be worth doing?

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Hi John - I would suggest you invest in a "Saddle Stool" - they might look a bit strange but I can strongly recommend them - before I retired I could spend most of my working day standing ( companion animal Vet standing at a table in the consulting room or in theatre ) on my feet for most of an 8 hour shift. The practice investing in these stools was transformative - not only do the joints in your legs get a rest, but the stool improves your posture so you're much less likely to finish with back ache too. Working in my 'Office' when building I use a typists chair without the adjustable back - my building board is a retired ironing board topped with MDF - so with a bench adjustable to the perfect height and seat ditto, building in literally, painless.

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Martin. Normally when working on a plane I get quite a bit of movement due to wanting tools etc that are not to hand or bending down to pick up the constant flow of screws and small bits I keep dropping, so not static at all.

Doc. I'll have to look that up as I've never heard of a saddle stool.

Thanks for your thoughts.

John

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I agree with Martin.

I try to juggle different jobs so that I am not stationary for too long. I have a standard height table and a worktop on top of units in my workshop. If I stand at the worktop, or sit at the table then fine, but if I stand over the table for even a short length of time I know about it the next day. I have only just retired as well !

Unfortunately time waits for no man, as they say and when you get to the point that you can complain to management it doesn't matter any more. angel

kevin b Still taking the tablets dept.

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Call sign, I will look that up also. The rubber tiles I have were designed to go on concrete workshop floors for comfort. Perhaps I should get rid of the carpet.

Kevin, I do normally move around a bit more but didn't need to for what I was doing at the time. I'm already full of pillssmileysmiley

John

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JT, Good questing and I don't think I have an answer as such having experienced the same effects of the cold. I have a lathe in the garage/workshop where I have been building however last night I need to make some spacers with the result of standing still at the lathe for a couple of hours. There was no need to move around until the end and then a good impression of the Tinman was evident until joints were warmed up.

My garage sufferers large temperature gradients with it being pleasant at bench height, but very cold at floor level and moving around keeps the blood flowing to the legs and standing still the opposite effect.

If anyone has a solution other than a fan heater (too directional) or storage heater (as the workshop heats up quickly, does not need to be on all of the time) I would like to hear from you. The only thing I can think of is the workshop type electric radiant heaters, but again directional and a bit of a fire risk if something is left too close.

Thanks to all who have contributed, food for thought and I'll be trying out some of your advice.

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I built my bench to my standing elbow height, just over a metre high, so that I am standing upright and not leaning over as I would with a kitchen worktop height one.

I also have a rubber anti-fatigue mat (google will find several options) that seems to work well so that overall I can work at the bench for several hours at a time without back, leg or feet problems.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Sounds like you may have the cold and damp settling into your bones. I have an uninsulated double garage with a steel door...no heating. After an hour, in the winter, I can feel the cold setting in and have to stop. Come inside for a couple of hours and have hot drinks...

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I am lucky in that I took 1/3 of my garage to make a 12 X 8 fully insulated workshop, that is accessed directly from the kitchen.

I have daylight tubes in there, (feelgood factor) and a tube heater that's on 24/7 (costs pennies) in the colder months plus a fan heater just in case.

A radio CD player is essential equipment.

D.D.

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All of the above - IMO 4" of insulation goes a lot further than 3kw of expensive fan heater in keeping comfortable and keeping fatigue at bay. If I've been a full 3-4 hours mostly standing at the workbench #i do get a bit of leg discomfort, but if it's cold that fatigue sets in after a very short time, even with a thick fleece and wooly hat.

I found that trying to heat a large outbuilding with even a powerful fan heater was doomed to failure, so I got one of those highly recommended diesel heaters. It's still in it's box -in the meantime my workshop fit out was completed and that has full CH driven by an air source heat pump which has been fantastic.

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1650 stone barn here - 18" thick sandstone boulder walls, concrete floors with a DPM and concrete paint in the uninsulated bit - so dry and very pleasant to work in during the summer, but blinkin' freezing at the moment. The new workshop and model storage room have very thick insulation all round, hard vinyl tile floor downstairs, industrial carpet upstairs and, largely due to that thick insulation, for a modest amount of heat, is a perfect working temperature inside ~20 degrees C different from the unheated part of the buildings. That trickle of heat is on all the time, mainly to keep the storage area at a nice stable temperature rather than a nasty stable temperature.

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