Replies

1. 
   DavidxDoud | Nov 05, 2003 05:17am | #1

   I'd be lost without the stove in the shop - -  you don't have to worry about dust in the air,  however,  the temtation to shovel sawdust into the stove is strong,  and this is the circumstance that can go 'poof',  potentially blowing embers all over - - just be sure to do a solid safe installation - -

2. 
   IMERC | Nov 05, 2003 05:50am | #2

   Airborne saw dust is explosive. Low flash point.

    

   Who ever invented work didn't know how to fish....

3. 
   Stuart | Nov 05, 2003 06:05am | #3

   Most any dust, if it's fine enough and in the proper proportions, can be explosive (I did some engineering work a couple years ago, rebuilding an animal feed processing plant that blew up as a result of too much grain dust and an open flame.  It was a bad deal.) 

   Having said that, I suppose it depends on how much sawdust you produce and how well you contain it.

1. 
   AXE | Nov 05, 2003 06:13am | #4

   Many, many people have woodstoves in their woodshops and I've never heard anybody that even knew of one that blew up.  You might want to post over at the Knots forum too.

   Somebody there rolls their sawdust in newspaper and makes a nice tight "log".  Said it works great.

   MERC.

1. 
   jhausch | Nov 05, 2003 06:15am | #5

   Also heard about a guy tamping the sawdust from the DC into 1 quart paper milk cartons - homemade logsSteelkilt Lives!

4. 
   Piffin | Nov 05, 2003 06:52am | #6

   I've known of a couple grain elevators that blew up in dist explosions. It's like propane, very safe unless you get just the right ( or wrong in this case) mix of fuel and oxygen.

   Never heard of a wood shop blowing up from it but I have seen some pretty spectacular POOFs from feeding a wood stove. Originally, I was going to install one in my shop but never worked up the nerve, my bigger fear is a single spark nesting into some shavings and waiting until I leave to burst into flame.

   .

   Excellence is its own reward!

5. 
   hasbeen | Nov 05, 2003 08:27am | #7

   If the combustion air is from the shop the dust in the air is constantly being sucked into the stove.

   The onlly shop I've seen blow up was from a leaky propane stove.

   Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.

1. 
   Piffin | Nov 06, 2003 04:52am | #9

   Not so old freind.

   If it is an airtight stove, there are often unburnt conbustion gasses hovering in the fire chamber waiting for oxygen to reach them. Any one who uses an airtight soon learns to crack the door slightly for a second or two before pulling it fully open. A suddenly openned door will such those gasses back into the room where, upon mixing with enough oxygen they show off with a sudden POOF! and that is in a clean room with no dust hanging around.

   That example demonstrates that even with a non- airtight, the swinging of the door can cause a brief reverse draft.

   .

   Excellence is its own reward!

1. 
   hasbeen | Nov 06, 2003 06:21am | #13

   So true!  "Constantly" was much too strong a word.  Usually would be more like it.

   I heated with wood as the only heat source for 15 winters.  And, YES,  you are quite right that the stove can "poof" when you open the door.

   So how do you heat your shop?Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.

1. 
   Piffin | Nov 06, 2003 07:00pm | #14

   For the most part, I don't. Most of my work happens on the jobsite, one of my subs has a better shop for millwork and cabs so I have sent that work his way. When I do work in it during the winter occasionally, I hook up a 220 electric with blower and lay a filter over the intake ports.

   I don't want to be miosunderstood as taking a stand against any and all wood stoves in wood shops the way I fight against SR screws in wall cabinets, but I felt compelled for saftey's sake to point out to everyone that there can be some danger. I have worked in shops that used wood heat from scraps and shavings/sawdust so I know it can be done well enough as long as you are carefull.

   But I am not the only one who ever works in my shop, and not everyone is as innately careful about things. I have seen a couple scary POOFs and don't care to see any more, myself..

   Excellence is its own reward!

1. 
   hasbeen | Nov 07, 2003 03:49am | #15

   I have seen a couple scary POOFs

   Ain't that the truth!Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.

6. 
   jjwalters | Nov 05, 2003 02:23pm | #8

   Have a wood stove...........am carefull and love it.

   A shop filled with enough dust to flash would be a very unsafe place to be hanging out in.

    Exchange your sand paper for a scraper......... use a fan to blow the stuff out an open door. I do this even in the dead of winter...........rather get a little chilly than f up my lungs by bteathing the stuff. 

   There are fast carpenters who care..... there are slow carpenters who care more.....there are half fast carpenters who could care less......
7. 
   WorkshopJon | Nov 06, 2003 05:25am | #10

   I've been using a 280,000BTU wood/coal burning forced air furnace in my 600sq ft (R30/40 insulated) workshop fot 10 years. Never have had a problem other than it getting too hot in there. It does have a thermostat and electric damper though.

   Jon

1. 
   jimblodgett | Nov 06, 2003 05:43am | #11

   I've had a small woodstove in my shop all the 22 years I've had the shop and I agree you have to be careful, but man oh man, nothing like the nice dry heat from a woodstove.  I burn paperbags full of chips and sawdust from the pile at the end of my exhaust chute as well as sweepings and scraps from the day before.

   A couple things I'd add to what's already been said though - in my next shop I'm going to have some type of thermastatically controlled heat, just to keep the shop at say 50 degrees all winter, then heat it up from there as I need to.  That way I won't get the dramatic temperature fluctuations overnight, the weekend, or when I'm working out of the shop for a few days, weeks, or months.  Got to be better for any stored materials to remain somewhat stable temperature and humidity wise.

   The other problem I have is that my shop seems to continually shrink, and it's tough for me to keep all flamables 24" away from my little woodstove anymore.  I have added on and moved stuff out, avoided setting up some machinery I own that I'd like to use...hell, I've even SOLD some tools if you can imagine that, and I am still outgrowing my space.

1. 
   Piffin | Nov 06, 2003 06:20am | #12

   Psst...

   Combustables are supposed to be 36" away. Maybe you'll have that next shop sooner than you are planning, courtesy of your insurance company.

   ;).

   Excellence is its own reward!