I’ve written before on ways to protect carpet under a jewelers
workbench and someone suggested using a hearth pad for wood burning
stoves which I thought was a great idea. This weekend I attended a
couple local home and garden shows and talked with some of the stove
representatives. They showed me options of hearth pads with ceramic
tile which were a bit pricey ($200-$500). One vendor told me of a
plain steel pad for around $200 but couldn’t guarantee shipping as
they are easily damaged in shipping unless shipped crated with a
stove.
I was frustrated with the office type chair pad I was using because
with my weight the casters of my chair sunk in and made it difficult
to move around. So today I purchased a 4’x8’, 1/4 inch thick, piece
of birch plywood for $20 USD at Home Depot. I covered the edges with
duct tape (Home Depot sells duct tape in colors so I used yellow as a
cautionary step). I then secured the plywood to my carpeted floor
with 1 1/2" wood screws every 12" along the edges. Driving screws
into carpet does no real damage as it’s how I learned to fix squeaky
floors in new homes back in my carpenter days. Screwing the edge of
the plywood down draws the wood down flush with the carpet so there
is no edge to trip over.
I’ve very pleased with the solid surface I have now and can zoom
between my bench and flat lapidary set up. Although not a fire proof
solution, it would take a rather large piece of hot metal to burn
through.
Just another $.02 USD from the thrifty handyman.
Rick Copeland – Silversmith rick.copeland@Covad.net
Index of /~rcopeland Colorado Springs, Colorado
Note From Ganoksin Staff:
Looking for a workbench for your jewelry projects? We recommend:
Thanks for reminding me. I was recently at a local department store
(Meijer’s, a large midwestern chain). In their section devoted to
barbeque items, they had a large portable hearth pad. It was meant to
be used under a woodburning stove or barbeque grill that’s placed on
a wooden patio deck, to protect the deck from the heat. The pad was
brown, rough surfaced, and about 4’x4’ in size. It appeared to be
made of textured coated fiberglass, but I’m not sure. The cost was
about $40. I’m not sure how useful this would be in most shops, but
I thought I’d put it out here in case someone thinks they might be
able to use one. (not affiliated w/Meijers, yadda yadda…)
–Kathy Johnson Feathered Gems Pet Motif Jewelry
Just curious…Why would you have a carpeted shop area? With a hard
floor surface you can find things, including small stones and tiny
pieces of metals that you’ve dropped. You can sweep and or wash the
floor clean as well as go through the sweepings more easily. Having
worked on carpeted, wood and linoleum type surfaces I found carpeting
the dirtiest and most aggravating by far…finding a 5 pt diamond or
trying to get up those shards of metal snagged in the textured
surface is way more time consuming than it needs to be. Think I’ll go
clean up my studio! Marianne hunter
Just curious..Why would you have a carpeted shop area?
My shop is part of a spare bedroom and part of my garage. I was
planning this summer to move the entire operation to the garage but
my wife pointed out I would be isolating myself from the family and
would end up neglecting my jewelry. The spare bedroom where I work
out of is also my office where the internet computers are connected.
So my kids are in and out all the time with homework and surfing the
net. Some of the best conversations I’ve had with my teenage
daughter were while we were facing back to back. She focused on the
PC; me on my jewelry bench. It’s one of those life balancing
issues…
Hopefully, someday I can catch up on the rest of the home projects
to where I can rip out the carpet in this spare bedroom and put down
a hardwood or laminated floor but until then I’m pretty darn happy
with the birch veneer laminate I put down on my $20 budget.
Rick Copeland – Silversmith
rick.copeland@Covad.net
home.covad.net/~rcopeland
Colorado Springs, Colorado
I have always carpeted my shop floor under my benches. I recycle the
carpet every 5or6 years for the precious metals it contains and
replace it with new carpet. Also since I use a chair on rollers (I
usually replace it every 5 years or so also and send the old seat the
refiner) I find that the carpet gives me better leverage without
rolling away from the bench when I am pushing on things. Wood or soft
tile tends to let metal particles be ground into the surface and
there is little to no resistance to the wheels of the chair rolling.
Carpet works best for me. I buy the commercial ones already
bound in 8-10ft square pieces at Home Depot etc. Frank Goss
Note From Ganoksin Staff:
Looking for a workbench for your jewelry projects? We recommend: