shop cleanliness

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As I was admiring the many welding carts and tables on here I noticed that a lot of shops are garages, that hold cars and miscellaneous household items, a question came to mind. How do you guys keep the grinding dust off those items? and keep it clean.
Reply:As I've told my wife, you can't keep it clean if it's stored in the garage/workshop.  Between grinding dust, sawdust, and cobwebs, everything gets dirty if it sits in the shop more than a day or two.I keep it down to a minimum using a shop vac and a leaf blower, but there's still a film of dirt on everything sitting in the shop.  Plastic totes, wrapping items in garbage bags, or packing it in file boxes keeps things clean.  But the containers themselves are filthy and need to be cleaned before they go into the house.I've thought about building a dust collector that is made from a fan and HVAC filters.  But that's more about clearing smoke and really small airborne crap I don't want to breath when the shop is closed up in the winter.  The medium and large size grit flies around and takes up permanent residence until I break out the shop vac and the dusting rags; which happens once or twice a year.Benson's Mobile Welding - Dayton, OH metro area - AWS Certified Welding Inspector
Reply:What I've found is that everything gets a layer of grinding dust on it but it doesn't seem to show when I take a picture. I try to do as much grinding as possible outside to keep the dust out of the barn to start with.My "collection":Homemade Stick WelderVictor O/A TorchAC 225Ideal Arc 250HF 90 Amp Flux CoreHF Mig 170Solar 2020 Plasma CutterPower i-Mig 140EHarris O/A torchHF Dual Mig 131140STAlpha Tig 200x
Reply:I just blow everything off with compressed air when I'm done with a project.Lincoln PowerMIG 350mpEverlast PowerTIG 210EXT Hypertherm PowerMax45You merely adopted the iron, I was born in it, molded by it.
Reply:I have a dirt bike, a 4 wheeler, two mountain bikes, two kayaks and a nice size table saw in my garage. I throw a tarp over them in the corner of the garage to keep the dust off of them. I probably should invest in a fireproof blanket. . . All of my other wood working tools stay in a cabinet while I'm not using them.
Reply:When you make grinding dust, smoke, chips, etc. they go everywhere.Weld shops are not cleanrooms, dust & dirt, etc. are part of the process.Blow things out and sweep down the shop at the end of the day.  Occasionally, give everything a good cleaning.Ask visitors to stay out.I offer three choices: Good, Fast, & Cheap. You may pick two.Hobart AC/DC StikMate LXHarbor Freight AD HoodHarbor Freight Industrial Chop SawDeVilbis 20 Gallon, 5 HP Compressor
Reply:^^ X2 ^^Anything in the shop is subject to getting dirty.Any reasonably flat surface will turn into a work surface or storage shelf within days.Be wary of The Numbers: Figures don't lie,. but liars can figure.Welders:2008 Lincoln 140 GMAW&FCAW2012 HF 165 'toy' GTAW&SMAW1970's Cobbled together O/A
Reply:Yeah, if you want to keep it clean, you cover it or put it inside something. Dust gets into everything, even if you aren't actively working on a given day. About the only shop I've seen that didn't have a thick layer of the stuff is the father- in- law's, which is more of a roof with a couple of cabinets.Currently working as a Paralegal, but still interested in hobby welding.Miller Bobcat 225ntOne- Character Fractions: ¼ ½ ¾ ⅛ ⅜ ⅝ ⅞
Reply:When I was working in a two car garage, i parked my truck outside, so I had room for my gear. My wife still parked in the garage. I would move her car outside, weld, cut, grind, then clean up, and move her car back inside. Shop vac works great. Now, everything in my dedicated shop is subject to getting dirty, just a fact of life for a full time, everyday, welding shop.
Reply:i weld in the shop! and grind outside! just be careful you don't start the neighbors lawn on fire!I was thinking of getting or making a welding screen, which would stop the grinding particles and just repel them to the ground...VictorPraxairAir LiquideMillerLincoln Electric
Reply:There is no way to keep things clean. I was getting tired of cleaning up constantly and also breathing in all the dust etc, it seems like a constant battle as others have said of compressed air, sweeping, and shop vacs. My shop/garage is heated and cooled, I do have a decent exhaust fan setup but it strains my heating and cooling. I have been looking into some sort of air filtration system, but big ones are costly. A few weeks ago I finished up my air filter setup made from a very large squirrel fan and three 20 x 30 1 inch 3M HVAC filters. It Turns out it really does work well on keeping the floating crap from covering everything. The first 3 days of work I plugged these filters, the first one gets the really big stuff, the second one is for the fine stuff and third is for very fine and smoke. Since I have had this going all I have had to do is sweep, of course there is a cost of the filters which I can blow out and get about week of use out of them. I am thinking of maybe making another. I have about 1500 sq ft, and two may balance better and extend filter life. You can make these pretty cheap if you can find a large squirrel cage fan from like a 5 ton air handler, I run mine on high all the time but also have a low setting. Call around to an HVAC company in your area and see if they will sell you one from an old unit they replaced. Lots of info out on the internet, you will be surprised how well they work and not just for woodworkers.ESAB Rebels 215 and 235, ESAB HELIARC 281i, ESAB ET 301i, Hypertherm 85 and 45XP, Thermal Arc 185, TD 60i, HTP PRO PULSE 300
Reply:I try to do as much as I can out in the driveway to keep the mess outside.Other than that, air compressor and shopvac.
Reply:I do a lot of woodwork in the garage too, so with all the sawdust laying around I usually only TIG weld inside. Stick and flux-core are usually out in the driveway.
Reply:There is no way to keep it totally clean, it is a messy business hands down. I minimize the mess by opening the shop door and grinding right outside the door when possible. That helps immensely. Sometimes I will put a large fan inside the shop blowing outward to help blow particulates outside and away from the shop while I am grinding. Plus the moving air feels great if its hot weather. If I do grind inside I sweep about once a week or maybe once every couple weeks. If I go longer than that it really builds up. The plasma table is well vented but still between it and all the grinding there will always be some dust.
Reply:An old BBQ would make a good dust trap and cutting bench if you dont load too much weight on it. Ive heard of garbage cans with a layer of sand and a grill top also works. I use my plasma cutting bench more for grinding than for plasma cutting. I can set a chop saw on it and use a piece of sheetrock as a back splash. It also gets more welding spatter than my welding bench does. My concern was more for my pets paws than for cleanliness tho.
Reply:As others have said, try to cut and grind out side and weld in side. I do try to clean up after working in the shop each time.
Reply:Originally Posted by Thats HotAs others have said, try to cut and grind out side and weld in side. I do try to clean up after working in the shop each time.
Reply:One thing I know for sure- The next shop will have its own separate space for welding and grinding. I've been working out of a 20 X 22 garage since 1999. It's impossible to do anything in there without making a mess. I generally keep it pretty clean, but if I'm in the middle of two or three projects it gets crowded real fast.Building an enclosed space for my machinery and a completely separate one for welding and grinding will be the first order of business when we find a new place. Expert Garage Hack....https://www.facebook.com/steven.webber.948
Reply:I saw a shop once that was actually pretty clean (relatively speaking). They had all their welding booths completely enclosed, with one wall just being a welding screen. I think I'm going to go this next route once I get a bigger place. I've got a second floor loft in my shop where my office is, and even everything up there has a coating of metal powder on it. I get my daily dose of iron every time I make coffee! But just because the grinding, cutting, welding, etc is contained does not mean the mess is contained. The one seperate room in my shop is the bathroom, and even that is trashed from the dust people track in on their boots. The only nice thing about the metal dust going everywhere is it finds the screws in the drywall so I know where the studs are!John 3:16(2) Miller Pheonix 456(2) Millermertic 252Dynasty 210DXHobart 210MVPDoringer D350 SA Cold SawScotchman 350LT Cold SawWebb 10x50 MillWebb 15x40 LatheGeka Bendicrop Ironworker
Reply:Originally Posted by Thats HotAs others have said, try to cut and grind out side and weld in side. I do try to clean up after working in the shop each time.
Reply:Heres my dust trap / cutting binch / welding bench. Attached Images
Reply:Originally Posted by 7A749I've been working out of a 20 X 22 garage since 1999.
Reply:That's pretty cool. I don't really have room to do something like that the way my shop is set up. I got a lot of stuff in there, I've never really used it for parking vehicles lolExpert Garage Hack....https://www.facebook.com/steven.webber.948
Reply:My garage is 30x30 and could fit two cars, but the thought of parking in there has never crossed my mind. Too much stuff, too many tools, and I like having a nice open work space. I usually have several projects going on at once. And the more my car gets rained on, the less I have to wash it!