Epoxy floor and fire...

[Augus7us]

I'm a bit bummed. I was about to pull the trigger on nice epoxy for my floor
for the new shop and it dawned on me what I'll actually be doing in my shop (duh). So focused on making my shop look great, I lost sight of the end game. Thanks GJ

I make knives so two things are often present in my shop; dust and sparks.
I grind and forge as well as welding on occasion. As much as it is going to deflate the whole project, I'm not sure I want to pay this kind of money if my forge area is going to look like garbage from flying sparks and dropped bars of hot metal.

All I can think of is not to epoxy that area, but my forging area is quite large and it might look silly a 1/4 of my shop without epoxy.

• What do you guys think? Is there hope?
  
• Can I put something else down in the forge area?
  
• Or lay epoxy and cover it with something?
  
• Will epoxy actually stand up; I was going to go with the high end stuff from one of the helpful guys here.

-Clint

 

[Lelandwelds]

Sparks aren't that big a deal. Slag from oxyfuel cutting torch? Spilled metal from casting? Concrete will not hold up so you better keep that one fourth as rock dust.

Have you considered a camo floor?

 

[Falcon67]

I do everything over my epoxy floor, including welding and grinding. I personally don't care if it gets scorched in places - it helps with clean up and looks nice but it's a working floor. If it gets kinda tore up some day, I'll kick everything out in the yard, sand and re-coat.

Maybe consider a more "industrial" type floor coating for some areas that can be renewed.

 

[Lelandwelds]

"my forging area is quite large "

That may be your real problem. Have you thought of borrowing some 5S ideas? Having both forge and anvil at your elbow may save some wasted steps. Are you using a post anvil? Some sort of sand covered shelf around and between and just below both anvil and forge could catch the occasional dropped piece. (I would skip the sand. )

Maybe a piece of sheet steel on top of a rubber stall mat on the floor.

https://www.ruralking.com/rubber-stall-mat-3-x-4-x-1-2

https://www.greatmats.com/horse-stall-mats/stall-mats-4x6x.75-black-humane.php

 

[A**holes Garage]

I lay down a Tillman welding blanket on my epoxy floor when welding and some cutting, but heavy slag or flaming metal will burn through the blanket and melt the epoxy floor.

 

[Lelandwelds]

I lay down a Tillman welding blanket on my epoxy floor when welding and some cutting, but heavy slag or flaming metal will burn through the blanket and melt the epoxy floor.

Lay a piece of any steel thicker than 22 gauge on top of blanket where the slag falls and it will not burn through. I use flattened 50 lb rod cans with the tops and bottoms removed. (I use a mild steel sharpened triangle with a pipe nipped welded on the back side. A push by hand slices into top or bottom end.) (A grinder can cut through the can crimp quickly too.)

The can gives double layer and an air space. An old section of corrugated roof tin works well.

 

[Augus7us]

Sparks aren't that big a deal. Slag from oxyfuel cutting torch? Spilled metal from casting? Concrete will not hold up so you better keep that one fourth as rock dust.

Have you considered a camo floor?

That looks like epoxy with full broadcast flakes. I don't do any casting, I might try it one day with copper but I'd do that outside.

I do everything over my epoxy floor, including welding and grinding. I personally don't care if it gets scorched in places - it helps with clean up and looks nice but it's a working floor. If it gets kinda tore up some day, I'll kick everything out in the yard, sand and re-coat.

Maybe consider a more "industrial" type floor coating for some areas that can be renewed.

So how bad is it? I thought about this and just saying f it because I really like the look and the idea of easy clean up. I like a clean shop.

Do you have any photos of your welding area so I can temper my expectations?

"my forging area is quite large "

That may be your real problem. Have you thought of borrowing some 5S ideas? Having both forge and anvil at your elbow may save some wasted steps. Are you using a post anvil? Some sort of sand covered shelf around and between both anvil and forge could catch the occasional dropped piece. (I would skip the sand. )

Maybe a piece of sheet steel on top of a rubber stall mat.

https://www.ruralking.com/rubber-stall-mat-3-x-4-x-1-2

https://www.greatmats.com/horse-stall-mats/stall-mats-4x6x.75-black-humane.php

I'm not sure what 5s did, do you have a link by chance? I have several forges and a power hammer and what not. Plus I plan on picking up a few more items now that I have a larger shop.

I lay down a Tillman welding blanket on my epoxy floor when welding and some cutting, but heavy slag or flaming metal will burn through the blanket and melt the epoxy floor.

I could deal with this for welding but I don't think this or any kind of covering is going to work due to how often I forge and how much ground I cover.

I thinking it may be best to just leave this area bare if I move forward with the epoxy.

And sorry I had two windows open for GJ and thought this was he flooring one, mods feel free to move this to flooring.

-Clint

 

[Kaizen]

Had the same concerns for my 30x36 garage. Wanted protection for new concrete and a little pretty but worried about the burn marks. Ended up doing epoxy primer,base coat and top coat for about 1500. Used epoxy-coat. Used a dark color to minimize seeing the burn marks.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Augus7us]

Had the same concerns for my 30x36 garage. Wanted protection for new concrete and a little pretty but worried about the burn marks. Ended up doing epoxy primer,base coat and top coat for about 1500. Used epoxy-coat. Used a dark color to minimize seeing the burn marks.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow is that what it looks like with burn marks?

Did you find welding or whatever made craters easily or was it fairly resistant to that type of stuff?

 

[wssix99]

The burn marks will happen. If you do a flake floor and pick out some black or dark flakes as part of the mix, you won't see them.

 

[NUTTSGT]

And sorry I had two windows open for GJ and thought this was he flooring one, mods feel free to move this to flooring.

-Clint

It's moved and it's not a problem.


What about epoxying the entire floor then after it's dry and cured cover it with something like pavers. They make some that are 2'x2' and fairly thin. You could build a frame to keep them in place.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

It's moved and it's not a problem.


What about epoxying the entire floor then after it's dry and cured cover it with something like pavers. They make some that are 2'x2' and fairly thin. You could build a frame to keep them in place.

This or square off your forge area, maybe in the corner.
Epoxy everything else. Cut a shallow groove in the floor to delineate.

I just started making knives. Fun stuff!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BiA0PGSAK2f/?taken-by=legacyindustrial

 

[Augus7us]

I'm thinking I'm going to square off an area for the forge equipment and acid etch and leave it without epoxy. Should still look good and I wont have ot worry about damaging it.

This or square off your forge area, maybe in the corner.
Epoxy everything else. Cut a shallow groove in the floor to delineate.

I just started making knives. Fun stuff!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BiA0PGSAK2f/?taken-by=legacyindustrial

Scotty, looks nice! Be careful, Knifemaking can become a serious and costly addiction real fast! If you ever have any questions feel free to shoot me a pm, I'd be happy to help after all the epoxy questions you've answered for me.

-Clint

 

[Kaizen]

Wow is that what it looks like with burn marks?

Did you find welding or whatever made craters easily or was it fairly resistant to that type of stuff?

God no that was brand new. I’ve welded a did grinding and unless I look for it I can’t see it. Maybe when I put good lights in it will be more apparent. The topcoat is sacrificial and I could always sand and put it down again on certain areas. I went this route as out of my 1050 sq ft I will probably have this damage on less then a quarter of it. So protecting the rest of my new concrete was the goal. No regrets.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[LXCam]

If you leave this area bare, I suggest you don't acid etch it and just seal it with a densifier/sealer like diamond hard or an equivalent. The etch will eat all the latent cream off he surface and it'll leave it "pitted" (for lack of a better term) and it'll be a PITA to keep it cleaned up. The only benefit to etch is it will also be pretty damn slip resistant which might be a good thing. I know my grinding area can get pretty slick if I don't do a regular sweep.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

I'm thinking I'm going to square off an area for the forge equipment and acid etch and leave it without epoxy. Should still look good and I wont have ot worry about damaging it.



Scotty, looks nice! Be careful, Knifemaking can become a serious and costly addiction real fast! If you ever have any questions feel free to shoot me a pm, I'd be happy to help after all the epoxy questions you've answered for me.

-Clint

That is mighty nice of ya! I am afraid I have been bitten by the bug!