Need some help with heat in my shop

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Guys I just hate to throw stuff away to a landfill. So as a machine shop owner, I try to make use in some way of everthing my hands touch. One half of my shop is for welding , cutting, grinding and such and it is not heated by anything except a propane heater like you would use in the field. This part of the shop is 20' by 40' long with a 12' ceiling. What I'm looking for from you guys is a design to use in making a heater with forced air that I can mount outside of the 40' wall where I have a lean 3,,,,lol,,,,,where I keep my toys ya see. I call it a lean 3 because the weld part of my shop started out as a lean 2,,,,,lol,,,till I enclosed it and then had to find a place to keep my toys for an ole'fart like me dry,,,,,(49 Nov. 16, 06),,,,2 four wheelers, a rail buggy, jet ski, pontoon boat, TM125, TM250, TM400 Suzuki motorcross bikes, I know, the bikes are almost as old as me, but I still love 2-strokes. Anyway, I'm not near as artistic as most of you seem to be, so rather than try to reinvent the wheel, I thought I'd just ask you guys if you have a design or can point me in the right direction to get a print of what I need to build. I want to be able to burn all this garbage I get in the mail rather than it go to a land fill. Thanks for any help you may have,,,, ,,,,Oh yes, let me offer to any of you my machine shop work as I love to help build a new idea. We are a CNC mill and turning shop with all the manual stuff to support CNC,,,,,,
Reply:well, you can always do this, but i dont recommend it  Attached Images
Reply:i like the saw hoss holding up the heater box... ...zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:saw horse? man thats supposed to be a ladder!  just kidding
Reply:ok whatever...good concept however..maybe if we hang the heater box from bungee cords??   ...zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:Are you looking for inexpensive heat or alternative heating methods? If the first, I would build a 55 gallon drum wood stove. Northern Tool has the kits in their catalog. Wood is cheap, coal is cheaper. Oh...Put a fan on top or near it.John -  fabricator extraordinaire, car nut!-  bleeding Miller blue! http://www.weldfabzone.com
Reply:Originally Posted by MicroZoneAre you looking for inexpensive heat or alternative heating methods? If the first, I would build a 55 gallon drum wood stove. Northern Tool has the kits in their catalog. Wood is cheap, coal is cheaper. Oh...Put a fan on top or near it.
Reply:Hmmmmmmm, maybe I'm too dumb or simple for this group as I don't get the sketch,,,,,must be because I'm southern,,,,,lol,,,,,
Reply:Originally Posted by sc6chuck9Hmmmmmmm, maybe I'm too dumb or simple for this group as I don't get the sketch,,,,,must be because I'm southern,,,,,lol,,,,,
Reply:put the heater out in your lean and heart water and pipe it in to a radiatorChuckASME Pressure Vessel welder
Reply:Hey sc6chuck9,  I think that sketch is a welder, hooked to a coil spring, hanging in front of a fan, making heat. Reference  to the “Unusual uses for a welder” post, under “off Topics”.
Reply:AWWWWWW, now I see,,,,so it's not because I'm southern that I didn't get it,,,it's because I'm old and slow,,,,,,,lmao,,,,good one guys,,,, and Chopper5, I concidered that and when I asked my young son about what he thought about that idea, he reminded me that we don't always put things where they belong, ie: extension cords, welding cable, grinders and the like, on the floor and if I add a radiator to the mix it is sure to leak and then what will happen,,,,,,lol,,,,,told him he was too damn smart for his on britches.What I really had in mind was a tank from a hot water heater for the fire box and then a covering of some type around it to capture the heated air with and blow it through piping into that side of my shop,,,,,I was just hoping someone here had a better idea as I am very good at following plans or prints, and I have a lot of great ideas, just not real good at designing my own ideas ya see,,,,,,,and don't forget,,,,I'm old and a man, just ask my kid,,,,,,wife says that's the best excuse she has ever heard,,,,,,lol
Reply:Here is what I am planning to do.Get three brake drums (from 18 wheelers), a water heater and some 1/2" square bars. Use them to make a wood burning stove like the one in the following image. Attached Images
Reply:hey hey, I love it, somewhere for me to start,,,,thanks so much Bob for taking the time to share that with me ! What I like most about your design is that it is heavy and will probably outlast me,, ,,,,I have access to big truck hubs also as I do some work for local haulers mostly dump trucks. I will take time to see if I can figure out how to use your design, with an addition to capture the heat and send it into that side of my shop......I guess I could use the concept that Northern Tool sells and that is to add another drum above the heat source and run the exhaust pipe through it, then blow the heat captured in that drum to the needed area,,,,hmmmmm,,,,,let me drink on that, I mean think on it,,,,,,,lol
Reply:boats, bikes, mowers etc all store gasoline.Be careful with the open flame. Fumes float around even when you can't smell them.But then your welding next door anyway.  Any convenient way to move the flame outside and back the stove up to the backside of an outside wall?
Reply:cut the head off a 55 gallon drum and lay it on it's side. build a fire box inside the drum and vent through the top (previously the side, pick a side, any one will work). cut a hole into the end of the drum and pipe into your shop using regular ole duct work. now the expensive part. go to walmart and get a box fan on sale cause it's winter and set in front of large opening where the top was. laugh all ya want people. it works, and it's cheap, a drum-piece of exhaust pipe-duct work and a 20 dollar fan- plus the steel for the fire box and i know we all have a scrap pile with some 1/2" in it. i built one for me and a friend. he rigged his fan up on a pulley so he can pull it up and turn off the air when it's too warm. i run mine off a good ole extension cord, works for me. it heats my 20x20 pretty darn well. i like the rock idea to store heat also, i may to see about getting some rip-rap for my box.Last edited by backuproller; 12-02-2006 at 01:18 AM."Retreat hell, were just fighting in the other direction"Miller Trailblazer 302, Extreme 12 VS, Dimension 400, Spectrum 375, HF 251D-1, Milermatic 251 w/ spoolgun  Hypertherm 1000Lincoln sp 1702000 F-450 to haul it
Reply:Originally Posted by Knotboredboats, bikes, mowers etc all store gasoline.Be careful with the open flame. Fumes float around even when you can't smell them.But then your welding next door anyway.  Any convenient way to move the flame outside and back the stove up to the backside of an outside wall?
Reply:I hope heaven don't have an entry exam-I would hate to be left out when asked if I died from an explosion of fumes or vapors.  LOLby the way-I own a welder but I ain't a welder (yet)
Reply:I bought a 40,000 btu gas high eff. furnace used for 60 bucks for my 16x16 shop with a loft. I beleive they will pull air for the gas chamber fron the outside and the blowing air is closed system.
Reply:Heres a link to exactly what you need. I have one and absolutey love it, you can heat your shop and house plus all the hot water you can stand. Will cut your lite bill down to nothing during the winter...http://www.hardyheater.com/ss
Reply:Do you change your oil in your cars or trucks? Used oil heater works great.Northern sells one a buddy of mine has to heat his shop:http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...t_6970_586_586
Reply:Originally Posted by MicroZoneWood is cheap, coal is cheaper.
Reply:I have a 60,000 btu Shwank radiat tube heater....It is a commercial grade one that is also suitable to put in your house.  It has a 1" clearance from any combustable materials.  I use it in my shop that has only 8 ft ceilings and it works just fine. An added feature is that you can cut/grind/weld without worrying about sparks or small particles flying into the motor.
Reply:You need to give us some details first.What type of climate do you live in? How cold does it get during the winter season?How well insulated is your shop?What type of budget do you have for this heating project?Being a licensed operating engineer, I can suggest several options for you be it wood fired hot water, gas, fuel oil or waste oil or geo thermal.JasonLincoln Idealarc 250 stick/tigThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 52Miller Bobcat 250Torchmate CNC tableThermal Arc Hefty 2Ironworkers Local 720
Reply:Come down to Miami and bottle up all the heat you want! My A/C just broke, trust me, there is enough heat to go aroundErr.. three (3) year old thread. I suspect the OP has solved his heating problem by now??
Reply:possibly frozen to deathMiller millermatic 251Miller aircrafter 330st, wp201961 Lincoln SA200Ellis 1600 bandsawLogan 820 latheSouth Bend 13"Bridgeport M Head
Reply:i have decided after reading all these ideas that my idea is way better..naked women. im gonna fill my shop with naked women, all of them just throwing heat...
Reply:Originally Posted by weldbeadi have decided after reading all these ideas that my idea is way better..naked women. im gonna fill my shop with naked women, all of them just throwing heat...
Reply:no. i will either be busy or too tired.
Reply:weldbead,You apparently left out an all-important qualifier for your heating source.Pretty and hot.Because heaters work better when they are hot.  (some folks just shouldn't be seen naked.  shudder.  think 5'2" and 300 # in spandex.    I'd post a scary pic, it almost being Halloween and all, but then you'd want to gouge your eyes out.   )  The best laid schemes ... Gang oft agley ...
Reply:Weldbead I'm afraid the cost to keep your shop heated will be VERY high. Those require LOTS of money and up keep or the cool noticeably fast.  After that things will probably be quite chilly. .No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:moonrise...dsw... you aint getting  the picture.. in my fantasy they are all pretty and hot, and no upkeeprequired, in fact they take turns and go to the store and bring home dinner...and if a fatty or two should get  past the door, remember they are just like riding a pogo stick to work... lots of fun but you dont want it known that you did it...-my apologies to OP...