Hi, all- I am considering relocating my acetylene torch and soldering
area from my garage into my house, where I have my other workstations.
The room in which my bench is located is carpeted, and my spouse has
voiced concerns about fire safety.
What are your recommendations regarding safety and fire protection? Do
I need to rip out the carpeting and lay tile, or is there some type of
mat which I can place under my work area?
Lee Einer
http://www.members.home.net/appealsman
What are your recommendations regarding safety and fire protection? Do I need to rip out the carpeting and lay tile, or is there some type of mat which I can place under my work area?
One of the best removable and replaceable suggestions I’ve seen for
this purpose is the concrete backing board that is sold for tile
underlayment. It’s cheap, and surprisingly tough, and definitely
fire resistant. I wouldn’t play a torch directly on it, but it has
no problem with hot metal splatters and the like.
Ron Charlotte – Gainesville, FL
@Ron_Charlotte1 OR afn03234@afn.org
Lee, I don’t know how safe it is but I have carpeting in my studio.
I have an anti-fatique mat in front of my soldering station and have
dropped many hot things on it as well as onto the carpet. Basically
what happens is that you get a melted spot. It stinks and I throw a
little water on it to be safe but that’s about all that has
happened.
Deb
One of the problems with carpeting in your studio is that if you
inadvertently drop a piece on it—like I did when keum booing, and
the piece skidded off the hot plate onto the carpet—is that the
carpet melts onto the piece. It is absolute impossible. to get
the fused carpet off of the piece. I tried every chemical in my
studio from acetone to you name it to no avail. Torching it made it
worse as the gooey mess merely spread. I finally used a mizzy wheel
to grind it off—removed the gold in the process. So, if you
tend to be butter-fingered, get some hard, fireproof material to put
over the area in your workshop.Alma