Rubber mat.

[David ColwillParticipant @davidcolwill19261]

Over the last couple of years I seem to have started to feel the cold a little more. This is particularly bad when my feet get cold.

I bough a rubber mat off ebay for £21.99. It is 5 foot by 3 foot and about 3/8" thick. The sides are bevelled and and it has holes that allow oils swarf and finished components to fall in to.

It has made a huge difference to working on the lathe and I have now ordered another for in front of the bench.

There are a number of people selling these and I have no connection with any of them.

Regards.

David.

[David ColwillParticipant @davidcolwill19261]

Hardly a workshop tool but….

[Mike HurleyParticipant @mikehurley60381]

Yes, we all start to feel the cold as we get older… I tend to find that any kind of mat / carpet can sometimes be a bit of a nuisance by moving slightly or creasing up and me tripping on the bits that subsequently stick up.

I made up a couple of lengths of wooden 'duck boards' – simply long strips about 30mm wide nailed onto occasional cross pieces, with about a 25 mm gap between each. They keep your feet off the cold concrete, let metal turnings drop through easily and are easily lifted to find that vital last screw you just dropped (or simply to clean).

Just my personal preference, but obviously whatever suits the individual. is fine. Mike

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

You had a 5ft x 3ft clear floor space in your workshop !!!!! Do they sell 18" x 2ft pieces?

[Jouke van der VeenParticipant @joukevanderveen72935]

I suppose you can cut it?

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

I use old carpet, beside the lathe I have a floor mat, probably ex Sketchly office services which served as the door mat to a company, tapered rubber edges (Non trip) and some sort of man made fibre carpet. My Dad's workshop had 1/2" ply boards over concrete. The boards were originally used as sacrificial boards under alloy sheets which were routed out for aircraft panels.

[Alistair Robertson 1Participant @alistairrobertson1]

I bought a couple 600 x 900 mats from BigDUG **LINK**

They wanted to charge £15 delivery but I objected as the charge did not show until checkout so I got free delivery!

They are very good mats and perfect for a workshop.

[David ColwillParticipant @davidcolwill19261]

Posted by Bazyle on 01/11/2020 11:28:53:

You had a 5ft x 3ft clear floor space in your workshop !!!!! Do they sell 18" x 2ft pieces?

Damn it! I must have been burgled.

Alistair.

I looked at the smaller mats but they were nearly as much as the larger ones (on ebay at least).

Jouke van der Veen.

I will probably get another and cut it in half as this seems to be cheaper than buying smaller ones.

David.

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

Try your local hardware store. If like the ones here in Australia they sell a number of rubber mats of various cut sizes and on a roll and sold by the metre. Insulation from the cold is not as big a problem here but is good to stand on and prevent aching feet from standing on a hard floor.  I also have a 6' x 4' x 1/2" piece on the floor of my car trailer to cushion the load.

Paul.

Edited By Paul Lousick on 01/11/2020 12:16:08

[HOWARDTParticipant @howardt]

I use foam rubber mats from Halfords, and other places. Pack of six, I think 600mm square, link together with edge pieces, £10 the set. Used them both in the shed on wood floor and garage on concrete, been down four years and still good, insulate well.

[Nick Clarke 3Participant @nickclarke3]

Posted by HOWARDT on 01/11/2020 12:28:37:

I use foam rubber mats from Halfords, and other places. Pack of six, I think 600mm square, link together with edge pieces, £10 the set. Used them both in the shed on wood floor and garage on concrete, been down four years and still good, insulate well.

plus 1

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

I also have a 6' x 4' x 1/2" piece on the floor of my car trailer to cushion the load.

We have had this sort of thing for over 25 years, at least. No idea where the roll came from, back then. My ex installed a strip in the bathroom and I later used the rest in front of my workbench and lathe.🙂

[CirclipParticipant @circlip]

2" x 3/4" laths spaced to suit on 3" x 1" battens, make whatever size you want.

Regards Ian.

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

When I converted my garage I had the floor covered with mastic asphalt to get it level and waterproof, then 25mm polystyrene covered with flooring grade chip board, all topped off with the old vinyl flooring from the kitchen. Only downside is you have to cut holes and fit packers under machine feet, but I don't move the machines around very often.

[Brian HParticipant @brianh50089]

I used some of the rubber tiles sold for garages and gyms etc, that interlock together. Not expensive.

Brian

[ZanParticipant @zan]

I have several of these. one is about worn out after 10 years
yes they do cut, and are brilliant for

1 collecting swarf so it doesn’t get embedded into shoes

2keeping feet warmer

3 stopping small parts dropped getting lost, they lodge in the holes

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

Solid concrete garage floor so a pair of old knackered hillwalking boots, so a comfy fit, and double socks

A fleece beanie helps too

And I'm a bad boy but I use leather working gloves too, those yellow things, they make a huge difference when the temp starts heading towards zero, otherwise the cold metal sucks the heat right out of your hands

Means I can work in comfort all winter, my hands are clean and I really can't remember the last time I had to dig out a bit of swarf

Edited By Ady1 on 01/11/2020 15:46:53

[Steve WithnellParticipant @stevewithnell34426]

I just use a couple of layers of carpet offcut…

[Chris Evans 6Participant @chrisevans6]

Posted by Nick Clarke 3 on 01/11/2020 12:32:45:

Posted by HOWARDT on 01/11/2020 12:28:37:

I use foam rubber mats from Halfords, and other places. Pack of six, I think 600mm square, link together with edge pieces, £10 the set. Used them both in the shed on wood floor and garage on concrete, been down four years and still good, insulate well.

plus 1

Plus 2 I have covered my entire double garage floor with them.

[larry phelan 1Participant @larryphelan1]

Been using homemade duckboards for years,, cheap simple, and they really work ! What more could you want ?

[Martin KyteParticipant @martinkyte99762]

I have flooring grade tongue and groove chipboard on top of underlay on a concrete base. Works very well.

regards Martin

[EmgeeParticipant @emgee]

My workshop floor is 6" of concrete and I use re-cycled 1/2" thick rubber conveyor belting which does for the mill and workbench, I use thick rubber mats at the lathes.

Emgee

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Posted by Nick Clarke 3 on 01/11/2020 12:32:45:

Posted by HOWARDT on 01/11/2020 12:28:37:

I use foam rubber mats from Halfords, and other places. Pack of six, I think 600mm square, link together with edge pieces, £10 the set. Used them both in the shed on wood floor and garage on concrete, been down four years and still good, insulate well.

plus 1

+2 , still going well after 4 years; have spread & puckered up in a couple of places so will trim.. eventually.

George.

[Trevor Crossman 1Participant @trevorcrossman1]

Posted by mechman48 on 02/11/2020 16:47:00:

Posted by Nick Clarke 3 on 01/11/2020 12:32:45:

Posted by HOWARDT on 01/11/2020 12:28:37

+2 , still going well after 4 years; have spread & puckered up in a couple of places so will trim.. eventually.

George.

Make that +3, these foam linked squares have proved to be a great covering over my concrete floor for the past few years and have saved several carefully machined parts from damage when they've slipped through oily fingers! The only downside that I've noticed is that if I drop a small item, my less than perfect hearing doesn't detect where it fell and the said item will tend to bounce away into some hidden corner.

Trevor

[Henry BrownParticipant @henrybrown95529]

I used to have those linked square mats but they don't like weld splatter! I was given some heavy ribbed rubber matting from a horse box, its about 15mm thick and tough as old boots, the ribbing helps with insulation of course.

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