I don’t have access to rubber floor tiles, but did find a great cheap
solution from Harbour Freight. They interlock are 4 to a pack (i
used 5 packs to cover most of the studio), grey in colour, are quite
comfortable and effective given the $7.49 a pack price tag.
They do melt down though when droplets of hot metal fall onto them-
however, they are easy to pick up as they stay where the tiles melt
through.If you can deal with a few minor holes occassionally and are
operating on as low a budget as you can these recycled materials mats
are great! My bench chair rolls easily across the surface and I have
only had problems with one tile out of 25 not fitting quite right
until I turned it aroiund and put some of the provided edge strip on
to hold it down where the anvil stump resides. I guess the force of
forging made the product give when it shouldn’t have- but a trivial
detail to me for the cost and overall functionality, comfort and 40+
hours of use the tiles see in an average week.
When a Stone falls it is also easy to both find and retrieve due to
the texturing on the tiles. They don’t get scratched or damaged
wither as they did with the bare wooden floors and the occassional
nail head, or some other gradue, not to mention themultitudinous
hours I can count looking with flashlights, and other contraptions
for finding stones in dim areas of the studio on a wood floor!
They are also quite easy to clean - I have swept up dust from the
grinding area, the sawing areas, and bits from all around the bench,
rolling mill,etc with great return on the amount of energy invested
in sweeping ( I also use the [ essentially ] giant masking tape mats
that Rosenthal and a few other vendors sell for trapping the dust off
of shoes etc. that walks out of most shops- a good investment also if
you do alot of hand fabrication as opposed to casting) !
I used long food service rubber mats for years before I found these
these Harbour freight bargains. I spent a lot of money for nowhere
near the ease of use, cushioning, or other features that make these
my choice over any available or ordered-in flooring I could find. If
you need some sources of flooring other than the Harbor Freight I
have a listing of manufacturers and vendors that sell almost every
kind of industrial tile, roll, or yardage flooring- except recycled
rubber tiles- that exists, write me ( in a few days sas I am busy
with a production order) if you can’t find your own. However, if you
are on a low budget, order or buy from your local Harbor Freight
stoe- can’t beat the price and convenience- just buy one extra pack
for replacements before you need it / them !! or before they
discontinue the product altogether! rer
