Welding in a Wooden Barn

   / Welding in a Wooden Barn #1  

MillWeld

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Feb 17, 2011
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410
Location
Durham NC
Tractor
Ford 641
I have been doing it for 30+ years with no incident. The welding surface is 1/4" steel with bent up edges to keep sparks from hitting wood and there is a canvas apron covering the walls for the same purpose. Ventilation is provided by an overhead fan that draws air in thru a vent. Now I want to improve ventilation by reversing the fan, housing it in a wooden plenum chamber, attaching it to the vent and adding 3 flexible metal ducts that descend to the work surface. I want to make the chamber from wood because it easier to work than sheet metal and I have plenty of it. The chamber will be 5 feet above the work surface. Is it ill-advised to make this of wood? (I don't know why the pic is rotated - it is not on my computer.)
 

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   / Welding in a Wooden Barn #2  
It's ill-advised. A spark, a glowing particle or anything else hot combined with fast moving air and your wood structure becomes a blast furnace. With goggles or a welding helmet on, you won't realize it until its kinda too late to stop it. Find some furnace plenums or an old sand blaster top, or a garden cart to fashion the air funnel, IN METAL.
 
   / Welding in a Wooden Barn #3  
Lady luck has shone her face upon you. I fear it won't last forever.
I had a couple guys adding braces on a 50 x 400' metal building that had a wood front. All the door/window openings were framed in and then covered with wood siding. It gave the owner the ability to rent space in ant 1250 sq ft increments. This building was empty. Every brace was welded in and doused with water. They would quit about 5 and I would do a walk through around 7 just before I left for the day. There were nine buildings. I don't remember how many we had completed, we did not take them in order. 3:30 am one morning Building 3 went up in flames. Our water must have missed a spark.

I know it has worked for you, I would count your blessings and do soothing different.
 
   / Welding in a Wooden Barn #4  
It's ill advised to continue what you're doing. Judging by the picture your shop and/or yourself are on borrowed time anyway. You've got what looks like a pile of kindling to start a bonfire!
 
   / Welding in a Wooden Barn #5  
There is a fire retardant coating that can applied to wood and it does work. At my job they dip or spray or something to plywood, thick planks and sawhorses etc. I have done carbon arc back gouging down a vertical 3/4 plate to with in 12" of treated 3/4 plywood and planks that stuff did not burn, globs of molten metal on it, all that happen is black spots and some divots/hollowed out spots, that stuff/wood does not burn.
 
   / Welding in a Wooden Barn #6  
Years ago when I built my new barn, I didn't have money for power out there.
A couple years afterwards, I ran power out there with help of a local guy.
He said why are you running such small wire out there?
I said, well sir, I don't have the money to run big wire out there and all I want to run is lights, a hay conveyer once in a while and a skil saw or drill now and then.

He said, hey man you could have lots of juice out there and weld and fix your truck, make stuff and all that.
I said, it's a wooden barn for livestock and hay and animal husbandry. The last thing in the world I want is the temptation to be fabricating and stuff in a wooden building. I have seen fine examples of wooden buildings going up in flames as a kid.

You are a lucky man, but luck has its' way of running out when you least expect it to.
 
   / Welding in a Wooden Barn #7  
I worked a little with welders in a factory and after every job they had to stick around for an hour just for a fire watch, no matter where. There were plenty of combustibles used in an assembly plant even in a concrete and steel building. Those little sparks are sneaky.
 
   / Welding in a Wooden Barn
  • Thread Starter
#8  
If I build a plenum chamber I will make it of HardiPlank with wood members on the outside.
I realize the risk of sparks near dry wood - that is why I am careful. It is not a welding production area but an occasional welding task area so it will stay as it is. Thanks for the replies.
 
   / Welding in a Wooden Barn #9  
The occasional welding task when you just need to fix that little part is when you're most likely to have a problem.
 
   / Welding in a Wooden Barn #10  
My buddy does a lot of tig welding and never a problem... has a plate steel cubicle he built just for his tig setup.

On the other hand I have had problems... once it was just from using my disc grinder... the sparks were enough to start a fire...

Another time I was helping a friend burn through a section of steel and the sparks were enough to cause a problem...
 
 
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