Floor mats?

Sam · May 17, 2014

When I worked for New Orleans Arms Co. we had 1/2" thick rubber floor mats at all the workbenches. It helped with fatigue and could save gun parts from damage should they hit the floor.

I'm in the process of re-doing my studio and am curious to know what others are using for floor mats. I work sitting down so I would need mats that a chair can roll on and off of. I should add that my concrete floor will have an epoxy finish on it, so that'll be slightly better than raw concrete, but I still think rubber mats are important.

What do you guys think?

Beathard · May 17, 2014

I'd like some too

DakotaDocMartin · May 17, 2014

I've seen some very nice roll on concrete floor coatings that are marketed on the custom car shows such as My Classic Car. They not only look better than epoxy, perform and last better, but will seal and conceal cracks, etc. You may wish to look into it here: U Coat It

Sam · May 17, 2014

DakotaDocMartin said:
I've seen some very nice roll on concrete floor coatings that are marketed on the custom car shows such as My Classic Car. They not only look better than epoxy, perform and last better, but will seal and conceal cracks, etc. You may wish to look into it here: U Coat It

Those look great, Doc. I'm going to have mine acid stained and scored for more of an old-world look.

Sandy · May 17, 2014

Horse stall mats work great. I have one at my lathe and mill. :thumbsup:

Marrinan · May 17, 2014

I use horse stall pads as well in the shop. They make a similar pad for shower rooms with a tapered edge which might be better for a rolling chair. The ones I remember seeing were about 4 by 6 feet.

fegarex · May 17, 2014

I got these from Harbor Freight some time ago. They assemble in 1 foot squares. I never liked them under the engraving bench as the chair never moved well.

Marrinan · May 17, 2014

Ray, What's that white out the windows? I haven't seen that in years and years! Ah to write my name in the snow one more time before the shovels take away my opportunit--,

Paul Russell · May 17, 2014

Rex,

Not wanting to/ or meaning to hi-jack the thread here guy's, (sorry.)

That's a great looking set up you have there ! Well planned/ laid out.

Cheers, Paul.

Crazy Horse · May 17, 2014

I bought some rubber mats from Home Depot for use at my work bench. I also put one in front of my gun safe. It has saved me from tragedy a few times and the cost is minimal.

DakotaDocMartin · May 17, 2014

Marrinan said:
Ah to write my name in the snow one more time before the shovels take away my opportunit--,

As we say up here in the Frozen Northlands...

Tim Wells · May 17, 2014

Nice shop Rex! What kind of lathe is that down on the end?

fegarex · May 17, 2014

Yes, that is snow which we seem to have from October to May anymore!!! I will make a disclaimer this photo was snapped JUST after I refurbished things and it is far from that clean now.. Tim, the lathe is an old Atlas 10 x 42 my dad bought with his WWII bonus. There is a little Atlas horizontal mill just across from it as well. Really handy for gun stuff. Wish I had a big vertical sometimes however.

Sam · May 18, 2014

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys.

Rex: That's a really nice workshop you have there!

broncob · May 18, 2014

Some auto-parts stores have floor mats for shop:

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/C...Interlocking-Rubber/_/R-BK_8175002_0361134957

Brant · May 18, 2014

Sam,

I worked in a shop years ago that did work for phosphate mine companies and we got rubber conveyor belt cast-offs from repair work. These were nice under foot, but still stiff enough for chairs to roll on.

Check around locally and you may be able to find something.

Brant

Texasgerd · May 19, 2014

Sam:
I'll second Rex's inputs after working the same issue in multiple machine shops. Rolling or non-rolling is the key decision point.
Soft style - great antifatigue, hard to roll on. I prefer the hard car/garage interlocking mats if I've got rolling stock (in this case a chair) on them. They aren't as good for fatigue, but are much better than concrete.
A middle ground might be a hand cut insert of softer material into the harder material, or have two separate stations, one for standing and one for sitting.

Enjoy the stained concrete. An eye-popper is to score a pattern into the floor w/ a 1/8” or Â¼” diamond wheel, then lay brass ribbon into the cut. Fill the cut with slow cure epoxy to lock the ribbon in. The epoxy also helps keeping dirt out of the cut when you clean the floor.

A larger version of your monogram done like this would be first rate.

Dan

mitch · May 19, 2014

years ago i scored a large quantity of bluish-grey low cut pile commercial carpet from a big office renovation project- for the low, low price of hauling it away. it's much more comfortable than concrete.

Brian Marshall · May 19, 2014

Last time I redid my shop, maybe 12 years ago? - I went with linoleum tile over the existing concrete flooring.

You spend an inordinate amount of time on your knees in this business - looking for parts, springs, stones or that tiny piece you just spent 5 hours fabricating.

So, unless that concrete has a VERY smooth finish, you will wear more holes in the knees of yer Levis (or designer jeans) than you will sliding over much smoother linoleum...

Plus, if you have ever dropped a tray full of high priced customers jobs (let alone your own) - and you will, if you live long enough - you'll know why bare concrete can be very expensive in the long run...

Brian

PS - Always keep at least TWO working flashlights in your shop, a coupla those long reach parts grabbers (both claw & magnetic) and a coathanger wire with double stick tape on one end to get around those corners and between the benches and the walls.

Sam · May 19, 2014

Good advice Brian. The epoxy topcoat they use over the staining is pretty smooth so I think I'm good there. I did consider linoleum tiles though. Bare concrete...been there done that!

Floor mats?

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