Ventilating a small shop in winter: Any Tricks?

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HighPlainsDrifter
Posts: 77
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:30 pm
Location: Brookings, SD USA

Ventilating a small shop in winter: Any Tricks?

Post by HighPlainsDrifter »

Varnish work stands before me as well as winter. My shop is small (roughly 15’ wide, 20’long and with 8’ ceilings). Varnish work in a “well ventilated” space is hard to do when the beast of winter lies in wait outside my door.

Yesterday I put the first coat of varnish on the inside hull and trim of my Ranger. My shop was comfortable at 68 F. Outside the temperature was about 20 F and the north wind (that good old Canadian air) howled and carried snow around. It was no day for opening shop windows for ventilation.

I varnished wearing a 3M respirator (with 60923 cartridges). The respirator did the trick because I never smelled a trace of varnish …… until I foolishly lifted the mask in the closed space of my shop! Wow, talk about powerful vapors……. it is a wonder that I never smelled the stuff and I am starting to think that it is a wonder that I didn’t blow the place up.

Today, I find my voice raspy (like a heavy smoker) and I am thinking that I don’t want to do that again. So, here is the problem. How do I ventilate my small shop in sub-freezing temperatures (without going broke paying my utility bill)…… any tricks out there ???
Rod Tait

Re: Ventilating a small shop in winter: Any Tricks?

Post by Rod Tait »

Is the shop free standing or attached to the house. I heat my free standing shop as well and wear my respirator any time there are chemical smells, but I just finish up, step outside and take the mask off. By morning there is still a hint of varnish smell, but that quickly dissipates with a crack in the door. If you are going to wet sand, you will likely have to open up the door to take the project outside for a wet sanding anyways.

I dont' think the vapours would be strong enough to spontaneously combust, unless you have an open flame heater.
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HighPlainsDrifter
Posts: 77
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:30 pm
Location: Brookings, SD USA

Re: Ventilating a small shop in winter: Any Tricks?

Post by HighPlainsDrifter »

Thanks Rod
My shop is attached to the house as an extension to the garage. I heat the space with "cove heaters" (radiant heat).

I am working on a low tech (and cheap) solution to move just a bit of air through the shop. I am planning on mounting a cheap (70 cfm) bathroom fan to a piece of plywood that will fit in one of my "slider windows". On the opposite wall, I will open the window a crack and have the air pass through a furnace filter. I think I can throttle the flow to help keep the air in the room somewhat changed and not freeze and not raise a dust storm.
Rod Tait

Re: Ventilating a small shop in winter: Any Tricks?

Post by Rod Tait »

What brand of varnish are you using? I have found that certain ones give off more VOC's than others even with all the new regs.
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HighPlainsDrifter
Posts: 77
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:30 pm
Location: Brookings, SD USA

Re: Ventilating a small shop in winter: Any Tricks?

Post by HighPlainsDrifter »

Rod, I never gave the VOC's a thought. I have used Pettit in the past. I liked the way it went down and stuck with what I was familiar with....... but in other years I did my varnish work with windows open. Too late now to change.

Pettit Z-Spar Flagship 2015 ( VOC of 410 g/l)

by comparison

Epifanes Clear Gloss (VOC of 382g/l)
Rod Tait

Re: Ventilating a small shop in winter: Any Tricks?

Post by Rod Tait »

I use Captains. I did a boat for a customer once and they provided the varnish. I'm pretty sure it was Flagship and I found it to have a very strong smell compared to Captains even though they contain the same VOC of 410, so I guess different formula.
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