Subject: Shop Floors

From: John Elliott <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 1996 08:03:48 -0400

Well I am just about finished with my shop ( 100 year old log barn) 
and am wondering about the floor.  I don't have money for concrete 
etc.  I was thinking about the "Fines" they wash from gravel.  Any 
ideas on a cheap floor??

John Elliott
Sycom 804-292-7100 X 328
[email-masked]

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From: "Steven O. Smith" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 96 9:05:13 MDT

I get along pretty well with dirt. Easier to walk on than concrete,
and if you need to put in a new vise or something, just dig.

--
Steven O. Smith
[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 1996 12:41:05 -0700

John,
  The guys at a living history museum just North of Omaha Nebraska 
sprinkle calcium carbonate (chalk dust) on their dirt floor to keep the 
dust down.  It seems to absorbe moisture out of the air, and acts a 
little like a binder to keep the dirt from becoming powder underfoot, and 
billowing into the air.  Applied a little at a time...kind of as needed, 
the buildup over several years has turned the floor into a poorman's 
concrete, but it's still more resiliant than concrete, and remains 
non-flamable and dust free (reasonably)
  Bob

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From: jack yates <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 1996 15:27:51 -0700

> non-flamable and dust free (reasonably)

....Uhuh...when I was a kid, I lived on a dirt road, the town used to 
spread that stuff on the rioad in the summer to keep the dust down, you 
could see the road turn wet within a few hours; Mom would yell at us for 
tracking in mud when it hadn't rained in weeks....it settled the dust and 
in a few days solidified the road....

				Jack

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From: Page Thomas <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 1996 16:25:35 -0500 (CDT)

Coal cinders packed or rolled into the dirt floor and sprinkled with coal 
dust, dampened down every evening for three or four weeks  makes an 
excellent floor. The coal dust from a days work keeps adding to the 
hardness of the floor.  Once hard, dampen once a week to settle the dust in. 
Suggestion from _The American Blacksmith_

Page

Page A. Thomas, Director
Center for Methodist Studies                  [email-masked]
at Bridwell Library                           (214) 768-2363
Southern Methodist University                 Fax: (214)768-4295
PO Box 750476
Dallas TX 75275-0476