Containing the Metal Shop Mess... Ideas?
 

OK as i'm laying out the new shop I'm looking for ideas on what other shops have done to contain the mess and debris from the metal fabrication area. I'm working with a 6000 sq ft metal building shop with 16' eave height and I'd guess 22-24' ish peak clear span. Fully insulated, with A/C and heat. I've thought of doing a completely closed room but that poses the challenges of ventilation. I've seen some places use curtains to surround the metal shop but with the high ceilings and judging by how the dust traveled in my small shop I'm thinking there have to be better ideas.

Throw out your ideas and better yet your pics of what you've done or seen!!

50 views but no suggestions?!?!?

All 50 of us are just as curious as you. Having just spent over an hour trying to clean up all the mess from the last couple days of fab...

I look at the pics from the pro shops and swear they are not really working on those cars. There is never any grit on the floor, cut off scraps, chewed up whizz wheels, nothing. Shops are always bright and sparkling... no dust anywhere.


Jeff-

Giant magnets...... Done!! LoL!

I once worked in a shop that contained a fab department, an engine shop, and a large outer area that had many lifts, and lots of race cars. The building was 100,000 square feet, and had a partition wall that separated the engine shop from the rest. No real walls, per say, that went from floor to ceiling, but only a long partition wall maybe 9' tall. The ceiling in this building, I'm guessing was 30 feet high, so pretty much an open building. There was always machines cutting, mills running, grinders going, and welders cooking...all the time. We also did disassembly of engines and related items in this same area, so along with cuttings, shavings, scraps, and typical fab pieces, there was also oil spills, and all sorts of other fluid spills. This was a business that was very well respected in its day, and brought in many big names such as Junior Johnson, Robert Yates, Harry Gant, etc. Yes, this was the 90's, but never the less, it was a big shop with lots going on, and at the end of the day, we had to clean this place.
What we did, much like top shops still do today, was an organized cleaning routine, that took up a lot of time at closing time, but we didn't leave until it was clean. There were 5 of us, and we even mopped the floor. Yep, mopped the entire floor. Everything got wiped down, swept, and organized daily. The cleaning routine was relentless, but honestly it was pretty cool every morning to walk in and turn the lights on and say to yourself man, this place is nice and clean. Now let's go to work, mess it all up, and repeat.

You just have to be mindful of which direction you are flinging stuff, use a vacuum cleaner instead of an air nozzle and sweep between jobs. Most of the mess I get is from foot traffic tracking particles around the shop. Also watch the airflow between the shop doors.

I use a fire curtain to minimize the airborne travel.

Thanks for the pic Vince. Your setup is similar to what I've seen in the past. How well does it work for you? Drafts around the doors is a great point easily overlooked until it becomes an issue. My new building looks very similar to the structure you are working in. One thought was doing something similar with 3 sides of tall curtains and it looks like your tall curtain hangs about 3' ish down so that should give decent ventilation.

My biggest thought is to minimize the "float" that is inherent with shops and contain as much of the grinding dust as possible. In the little shop I kept all the shiny cars covered while in the shop but that can be problematic also.

I just installed a 1 1/2 hp - cyclonic vac system...http://www.grizzly.com/products/1-1-...-Series/G0703P

using this piping to run to each machine that makes "dust" or grinds.... using waste gates to maximize vacuum to each tool being used. (I have a couple Burr King grinders)


http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2014/Main/211



I built a table a couple years back that I'm now going to make a sheet metal collection area at the base - ala a downdraft table - and plumb a 6" straight to it in an effort to give me a place to grind or buff etc small parts.


Then I got a "big mouth" that I am going to put on flexible tubing -- and move that around to try to contain dust and contaminants as much as possible. And I'm thinking I should order another one and put it behind the buffer to catch all that debris.


http://www.grizzly.com/products/Big-...h-Stand/T10117

Interesting idea Greg that honestly I hadn't even thought of.... A Vac system combined with the curtains would probably do well. What is left gives my 10 year old practice with the broom!

Anyone else with shop pics for a metal area?

In our shop, we built a floor to ceiling partition wall (24' ceilings) to separate the fab shop from the machine shop. It works well. Both ends of the fab shop have large over head doors in an east/west orientation. When the weather is nice the doors are open and the cross breeze makes the shop much cleaner...lol

Other than that, there is no substitute for a strict cleaning regimen.