What do you do to make standing at a bench all day easier?

[milotrain]

If I put in six or more hours in front of the bench I'm a fair bit sore afterwards and I'd like to figure out how to put in longer hours without it taking so much out of me. Any recommendations? My girlfriend who used to bartend says I need a bar mat.

 

[Jochen]

What about this ?


Jochen

 

[milotrain]

I've been thinking about a stool but I sit all day at work and I'd like to break it up a bit. It's still a consideration though so I might just go that route. I've got to re-layout the shop anyway, might as well do it such that I have access to everything from a stool.

 

[dmac]

Rubber mats are great for the shed. I have a length of rubber conveyor belt to stand on, it makes a huge difference.
Another option is the kids playground mat. It's about 1/2 inch thick and quite spongy.

Dave.

 

[Tin Falcon]

My girlfriend who used to bartend says I need a bar mat.

Anti Fatigue Mat. It is available in a varity of thicknesses and sizes U-Line has a pretty good election .
A 3ft x 6 ft mat is $45 lots of pre cut sizes and rolls available. Google Anti fatigue mat for more vendor choices.
Tin

 

[steamer]

+1 for tha anti-fatique mats


Dave

 

[Admiral_dk]

Here in Denmark we have an agency that controls the work eviroment in all companies to check that the workspace isn't dangerous or will cause bad health over time - They recommend woodfloor in machineworkshops !!!!

I have a few friends who tried working on the same machines in the same workshop with different floors over time and they all say that concrete is the worst and that a quality woodfloor lay on insulating mats are superior to everything else. They claim that standing for more that a few hours on concrete gives them problems, but the wood on mats they can work for more than 10 hours straight without any problems.

I bought the same stuff for my own workshop, but haven't laid it yet, because I discovered that I got problems with the concrete below - it needs to be repaired first.

 

[Maryak]

Way back when we had duck boards over the concrete floor in front of every machine.

My workshop has a steel floor and I have 3/4" thick childrens playground material in front of the machines and bench.

Either is much better than a hard floor such as mentioned above.

Best Regards
Bob

 

[Herbiev]

I'd recomend a bar stool instead of a bar mat ;D

 

[milotrain]

Great guys! I'll grab a mat and a stool today. I need to put a bunch of hours down on the mill and the sooner I'm done the sooner I get to go camping this weekend. Thanks, as always for the great guidance.

Milo

 

[Mosey]

I, too have back problems that prohibit me from working standing up. If I do it, I pay the price with pain. So, I use high drafting type stools at each of the mills, and a secretarial chair sitting at my desk. My shop is in the basement on a concrete floor that is very hard on me, so I have put in a rubber tile floor right over the concrete, and that helps greatly. It also allows me to sweep up the chips readily, so much so, that I have gotten into the practise of sweeping every time I work. These are 1/2 meter square tiles from Lowes, that link together with each other along the edges. I had tried some thick cushiony sponge-rubber tiles from Sears, but they are too soft to roll your chair around on, and they indented from the chair casters, so back they went. I also have a set of 1/2" thick rubber mats that I use in certain fixed locations at my woodworking bench. not perfect, though.

 

[dalem9]

I to have a hard time standing. I have 6-6-8 wood block that I use under one foot. I keep changing feet and it helps. Dale

 

[ShopShoe]

Besides the floor thing, I have found that sometimes a change in the bench or machine height by only an inch or two can make a huge difference. I second the suggestion to have one foot up on a block and switch feet.

--ShopShoe

 

[mgbrv8]

I wonder what the forman would say to this

Seriously though a good pair of shoes and a minimum 1" foam rubber mat would make all the difference I got a nice mat at a beauty supply shop for people that cut hair.

Dave

 

[Captain Jerry]

The only time I stand up in the shop is to go in the other room to use the table saw, which I use to cut aluminum, or to use a torch.

At the lathe or the mill, is sit in a chair that my wife got for me from Office Max. It is like the typical secretarial chair except that the seat and back are not upholstered. It is one piece of formed-shaped-pressed plywood. The original floor covering was a cheap vinyl sheet flooring over plywood but it was such poor quality that the casters soon tore it up. Before it got torn up the caster wheels had pressed so much swarf into the surface that it was impossible to sweep. It was replaced with the cheapest imitation wood flooring from Lowes on sale for less than $1/sq.ft. This is the type that is like short planks that fit together with tongue and groove and is laid over thin sheet closed cell foam and it makes a great shop floor (not under machines). The surface is hard enough that the swarf does not embed or cut and it sweeps clean. I sit at the lathe, a HF 9x20 on the standard HF stand, with my right knee under and can swivel around and sit facing the mill which is on a bench. I'm not physically challenged in any way, but I am 73 yrs old and I can spend 8 hrs in the shop without fatigue.

You might think with that much shop time, I would get more done but I spend a lot of time looking for the tool I just used.

Jerry

 

[doc1955]

I have read in the machinist hand book the reason for why concrete causes problems it is not it hardness but rather the heat it conducts out of you body. It states that standing on concrete for extended amounts of time will disrupt you circulation. I do have a mat in front of my lathe but I have found that some types of shop shoes are way more comfortable than others. I would just look for a shop shoe keeping in mind the fact you are trying to insulate your feet from the shop floor. I know it has worked floor me, good shoes standing on the concrete not a problem ( and I have rheumatoid arthritis in my back bad)
This is just in my experience I'm sure it is a bit different for everyone.

 

[Steve_Withnell]

Many years ago I was working on an exhibition + conference, a novice at this. The "old" hands were ordering two carpets for their booths, to give a double thickness. After hours standing around in our booth, we used to go visit the "two carpet guys"!

So now I have carpet over the concrete floor in front of my lathe and mill, just off cuts of carpets we had laid in the main house and it makes a big difference for free. The other benefit I reckon is that the swarf and chips get stuck into the carpet rather then pressed into the soles of my shoes, meaning less get's walked into the house.

Steve

 

[rustyknife]

Many years ago I was working on an exhibition + conference, a novice at this. The "old" hands were ordering two carpets for their booths, to give a double thickness. After hours standing around in our booth, we used to go visit the "two carpet guys"!

So now I have carpet over the concrete floor in front of my lathe and mill, just off cuts of carpets we had laid in the main house and it makes a big difference for free. The other benefit I reckon is that the swarf and chips get stuck into the carpet rather then pressed into the soles of my shoes, meaning less get's walked into the house.

Steve

Now there's an idea! Haha, I work in my garage and have a door that leads between it and the kitchen....I have a pretty good trail of swarf going. I have these steel toe sketcher shoes that have the right tread to catch everything and take it with me.

I can either get married to have a nice woman clean the house for me, or get a piece of free carpet that won't cost me anything.......Carpet sounds way cheaper ;D

 

[rleete]

Anti-fatigue mats from the local box store did it for me. I sit on my butt all day at work, so a chair was out, but I found the bare concrete would make my feet sore for days.

The mats have large holes that collect most of the swarf, so aid in cleanup as well.

Best part? They're about $15 a pop, and I cut them to use 2/3 of each square, so I get 3 mats out of every 2 I buy.

 

[shred]

I'm a big fan of the rubber mats with the 1" hole pattern in them. They feel good underfoot and catch a lot of small dropped parts and chips. Easy to clean under too.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_155419-20787-155419_0__?catalogId=10051&productId=3063725&Ntt=155419