I know lots of you are going to be calling me a wuss, but here's the problem: When I'm buffing out guns and working in the shop, there is not a whole lot of movement, and whirling machinery is always going, which makes baggy clothing a bit of a concern. My buffer is powerful enough to do some serious damage, and my lathe could turn my upper torso into hamburger if I got wrapped up in it (17" swing).
The lack of clothing, coupled with the sedentary nature of this business, along with the fact that I am working with steel, using tools that keep the air moving constantly, makes gunsmithing a painful proposition.
I'm using a sunflower propane heater, and it works well, but it's draining my propane tanks, and sucking profit right off the top (what little there is). Every time I turn around I have to drop another $60 to fill my bottles, and that right there is getting old.
I'm trying to come up with a cheaper way to stay warm, but the problem is that I have no space! Im doing this whole operation in a single car garage, and the buffing/bluing operation is in a 10X16 divided shed out back.
I'm thinking about putting in a small pellet stove in the buffing room (if I can find one cheap)
but as you can see, there isn't a whole lot of room.
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The main shop is where I'm working most of the time, and there is even less room in there. You see the workbench on the left, and the milling machine on the right. One of the locals is standing there in the middle. She just showed up one day and wouldn't leave LOL!
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Point is, I'm packed in here like sardines and I need a cheap way to stay warm.
I may not get anything done this season because I can't afford it, but I think that during the summer I might get a good deal on any sort of heating apparatus that I would want.
I was just hoping that you fellers could offer some suggestions for a portable heat source that I can heat the place with for less than $10 per day.
Thanks!