Learned a hard lesson, know I need to learn about welding curtains.

[Sparky Sizzlebritches]

Learned a hard lesson, now I need to learn about welding curtains.


Hi,
I have been setting up a small hobby welding setup at my house. I have a new Multimatic 200 AC/DC and have been outfitting the garage with a small table, welding cart etc.
I already had some frame structures and wanted to set up some curtains. My goal was primarily to constrain grinding spray, and I made the mistake of admiring the latest high tech carbonized felt welding blankets and assuming they would make nice curtains. The carbonized felt is soft and feels comfortable when you touch it, but now I that I have used it to screen my grinding spray I have ruined them by coating them with a layer of steel filings that are embedded in the material. I have turned the soft comfortable product into an abrasive membrane. You live you learn... oh well.

I learned an expensive lesson; a blanket such as this is not intended to serve as a grinding screen.I am ready to try my best to clean these up, set them aside, and replace them with a product that will best serve my intent to screen off the rest of my garage and contain the grinding spray to facilitate easy cleanup.

So, here I am writing to ask about recommendations for a screen product that the metal shavings will not stick too. I was looking at the Steiner catalog and they offer vinyl, laminated polyester, and cotton duck curtains.

I am hoping someone can share some insights about the best material to use. I want to protect the other items stored in may garage from sparks, contain the grinding slough in a confined area, and be able to clean everything up efficiently when I am done.

Any tips?

Thank you!

[Meltedmetal]

I have a couple that are 16 ga.. steel they seem to work okay for me.

---Meltedmetal

[Sparky Sizzlebritches]

Big sheets of steel seem like a great solution, but I would like something I can fold up and tuck away when I am doing other projects.

I am guessing that the vinyl would be the easiest to wipe clean, but I will have to order some to get a look first hand, so I thought I should do what I should have done first and asked before I bought something.

Thanks.

[Meltedmetal]

My concern with vinyl would be that the sparks will melt into it. It will of course depend on how close you are to the screen when you are grinding. I've set things on fire with grinding sparks.There are vinyl welding screens but I don't know how well they stand up to sparks or how flexible they will be after extensive use.

---Meltedmetal.

[Bushytails]

Grinder sparks ruin everything. Keep your current set for grinding, get another set for when you need soft and comfortable.

[Sberry]

While this is a welding site something that makes me really good at this is the use of a grinder. I have to catch new guys in my shop, especially if they come from factory, big shops where they blast everything everywhere. I am an expert at managing the dross and its the first thing that comes to my mind,,, where is it going to go, what direction, where is it going to land. I can grind thru a couple wheels and in most cases end up with some dust in a pile next to me on the floor.

[Sparky Sizzlebritches]

Grinder sparks ruin everything. Keep your current set for grinding, get another set for when you need soft and comfortable.

That was my first thought, but what has inspired me to try another material is the fact that while the carbonized felt blankets do hold a lot of the grinding splatter despite efforts to clean them, they do not hold the spatter firmly enough to not causes a nuisance. After I attempt to clean the dust that will readily fall, vacuum, shake or magnetically come off, the blankets continue to drop the residue so when I wheel the frames out of the way for short term storage they just transport a mess along with them.

I was hoping to get some insight regarding the specific welding curtain vinyl material with the hope that I might learn that it can effectively be brushed clean at the end of a work session.

Sheet metal does seem ideal, but it will pose a storage problem for me. Concrete board etc. seems like a great low cost option but the storage is problem is worse than sheet metal.

[Bushytails]

It well melt into the vinyl and make a dark sandpaper-like mess. As I said, grinder sparks ruin everything. I once ruined a jeep windshield when I didn't see the sparks were deflecting upwards off the trans tunnel and they melted themselves into the glass...

[ryanjones2150]

The only way to effectively keep your shop clean from grinding dust is to not grind in your shop.