Last time I went out to my workshop my glue was frozen solid. That's too cold.

I brought it inside so hopefully it's fine. Good thing I didn't buy a big jug of it.

Finishing is basically out of the question unless I bring stuff in the house, so that means no spray lacquer or anything stinky.

Overall I think it just makes things less enjoyable, which is the point of hobby woodworking. I think we need to just pick up America and move it to where Brazil is.

 

Overall I think it just makes things less enjoyable, which is the point of hobby woodworking. I think we need to just pick up America and move it to where Brazil is.

I have no doubt that my wife would be thrilled if we could move the US to Brazil, as she is from down there!! I haven't noticed any issues working in the cold, except for finishing and the occasional issues with glue freezing, etc. One thing I have done in my shop is use a small radiant heater which keeps the garage very manageable even when the temps are in the high teens/twenties. I agree that it is not as fun. If you have a way to insulate the shed and use a heater then it would be a bit more enjoyable.

 

The temperature doesn't affect the wood so much as adhesives you assemble projects with. With most wood glues you have to heat the wood and the glue up to at least 50 degrees or it will freeze. You can see it on something you glue. The yellow glue will turn to a white powder and the joint will fail. I'm in the Dallas area and there are days I have to turn the heat on early in the morning and wait until after lunch to assemble anything. Also it's not good at all to allow wood glue to freeze at all. Once frozen it tends to separate and get stringy. You spend more time trying to get the clumps out of the glue than working. Then the joint with this damaged glue isn't what it should be. It's best just to throw it away and get some more. When it's really cold I store my glue in the house to prevent it from freezing.

As far as the wood itself humidity affects wood more than temperature. When the humidity goes up the wood absorbs it and swells up. Then when the weather dries out the wood does too and shrinks. You can see this sometimes when you make a door with a solid wood panel when the humidity is up. You build it, finish it and it looks great. Then weeks or months later there is a light colored streak next to the door stile where the panel has shrunk. A lot of folks if they know the color they are going to stain with will stain the panels before assembly so all they have to do is touch up the clear when this happens.

 

Winter prep at the rustic wood furniture shop down my street:
All adhesives go into a box and that lives in the house, unless needed.
All finishes = ditto.
Honkin' big wood stove at the far end. Bring in a few wheelbarrows of firewood. Start the stove.
Don't plan to get anything done before noon (all the tools are half-frozen).

If there's any chance at all, try to get some heat in the place. 50F is a whole lot nicer than 15F when you can hardly hold a pencil from shivering.

I can nearly close off my basement wood carving shop. Just a heavy curtain in the entrance but the shop temp usually drops in winter to maybe 50F. Opening the curtain this AM, I'll give it a couple of hours to warm up a bit.

 

Thanks for the input everyone. Is it common practice to heat up the shop prior to working? What if glue freezes and thaws cyclically in its container throughout winter, is that a problem? Will using a heater cause too much loss of humidity, or would it be comparable to the indoors, where a furniture piece would be stored?

Edit: just saw Robson Valley's post, that explains the liquids part of it. Sounds like I need to get a go-box together with the adhesives and keep it in a temperature controlled area.

 

Thanks for the input everyone. Is it common practice to heat up the shop prior to working? What if glue freezes and thaws cyclically in its container throughout winter, is that a problem? Will using a heater cause too much loss of humidity, or would it be comparable to the indoors, where a furniture piece would be stored?

If wood glue actually freezes hard I would throw it away. Just one freeze and it separates and gets stringy. You'll go to use your glue and before it pours very long there will be a clump of glue in the tip. I used to work for a guy that bought glue in 5 gallon buckets. Eventually over the winter it would freeze and he would make us use it. It wouldn't just be a matter of fighting with the clumps we had a more frequent occasion of glue failure from using this glue. It just isn't worth it.

 

This from Titebond on glue freezing:

http://www.titebond.com/news_article/13-09-18/How_to_Store_Your_Wood_Glue_for_Longer_Life.aspx

 

My shop never freezes but anything plastic will be shrunken and more brittle in any cold. I wear thin but lined gloves for carving. Vibration shock from the mallet is one thing but the tools are so cold, just sucks the heat out of my skinny fingers.

I hone with CrOx/AlOx on a boxcard strop. Always fresh when I want one. The lump of green honing compound has wax in it. I have to carry the thing around in my shirt pocket get it soft enough to streak! I made 3 or 4 last time. Did it all upstairs at 70F.

Lots of adhesives have "Protect From Freezing" somewhere on the label. I won't argue.

 

I don't know about the rest of you but I've never had glue go bad from heat and I'm in Texas. I don't keep it that long either. A gallon of glue usually lasts me a year. I can see how how hot weather would shorten the life of glue though but putting the glue in the refrigerator. If you refilled your glue bottle you would have to warm it up in order to use it.