I was just looking at anti-fatigue mats online, to put in front of my bench, over the cement. Is there a popular choice here, or a favorite? I won't disclose what I looked at (online), but there was an 8x price difference between the "solutions". I've also got some left over carpeting I could use that may be alot better than nothing.
Bill
------------------------------------------------------ Put your money in foam sole & heel shoes with Velcro straps to close.
To damn lazy to go find the brand I bought but they work quite nicely.
Lew
I used to stand in warehouse 8 hours a day on concrete. Guys driving stand up forklifts stood 8 hours a day on metal. Shin splints are painful. First get rubber sole shoes like Rocky Walkers. Then if you don't have rubber mats, put down simple corrugated cardboard. Cardboard is a cheap and comfortable fix which is what we all used in the warehouse, including the stand up forklift drivers.
----------------------------------------------- Try:
Men's Rockport World Tour Classic (12 W U.S. in Tumbled Black)
Lew
On Tue, 27 Aug 2013 23:22:37 -0400, Bill
Agree with Lew. Found mats, of any kind, to be a waste of time and money for my shops and eventually chunked the lot. Depending upon the size and layout of your space, you may find a good pair of work shoes with custom orthotic inserts will save money, hassle when cleaning up, and aggravation when moving your machines and projects on and over a shop full of mats.
Spend hours on the concrete shop floor daily, wearing a pair of good shoes and proper inserts, and leg and foot fatigue is the last thing on my mind, even with these 70 year old parts.
I've used several alternatives to custom-purchased --
a) an old PU bedliner mat fits handily in front of the chopsaw bench in the barn alleyway where it's set up -- it was in the used 4x4 bought and for my purposes of a truck they're more bother than worth there so re-delegated it...
b) several old cattle/horse barn mats from the milking parlor -- one of them is in front of the bench.
Keep an eye open, stuff shows up where you may not expect it.
Like Swing, other than a couple of places I found over time that the mats in the general shop area end up being more aggravation than worth as don't stand in one spot in the other places besides the benches long enough to make any difference on comfort and they're a nuisance in cleanup.
I have noticed that those times one is working on the floor it is nicer to sit or kneel on a piece of carpet than the concrete. You know how they say, "everyone wants a bench like they started with". My dad built his a little too tall for himself, so he made a carpeted stand about 3" high to put in front (so he could reach everything). And what was his was mine... : )
It has been interest to note the range of opinions. I think that the opinions highly-correlate with what people are doing. For instance, I'll be doing some relief carving. I'll compare standing on my carpet to the concrete and see if it makes any difference to me.
Bill
My opinion and it's just that mine.
The mats that interlock are better for a gym floor or kids play area. I find my muscles tired at the end of the day after being on them. I bought a couple of mats at woodcraft, and they have been much better. More dense so your muscles are spending less time re compensating for the softness, which in turn means that they are re-balancing you all day.
While carpet is a pain to clean, a very tight mat carpet is better than the interlocking mats.
Definitely cover the concrete floor, your tools will thank you when you drop a chisel. I put hard linoleum tiles on the floor and my chisels will take a bite out of it rather than nicking an edge. Hopefully it hits a mat.
---------------------------------------- Rookie.
Lew
Funny you guys should mention that. SWMBO talked me into spending some real money on a good pair of running shows just for walking around in.
Not only do I notice less soreness on my back, but I cleaned the shop soon after buying them and never felt the need to put my mats back down on the floor.
"Mike Marlow" wrote in news:kvl6hk$k5l$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:
*snip*
I occasionally perform random "sanity" tests to make sure the laws of gravity are still functional, but I never drop my tools.
Puckdropper
I replaced some old carpeting in the house and cut it up to place in the garage-workshop.
These things win, no contest. Comfort, fit, durability. Wear em all day every day on concrete.
+1 for the steel toe, too.
Totally agree with this, and have always been willing to invest in good work boots or shoes. I have one mat that was given to me and I don't notice any difference from standing on the concrete.
Mike M
I complained about standing all day and my mailman back then told me about ripple sole shoes. Worked like a charm. I got them from Mason Shoes.
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