I know this subject has been brought up before but I thought I would
ask again.
I have gone through several of these stupid plastic things and they
seem to get eaten up within a couple of months. It is really
irritating. Maybe it is the rug it is on (a Berber) or maybe it is
the quality of the mat. Either way, I am sick of it.
Would any sort of thin plywood even come close to looking good? If
so, what should I use to finish it? It is going to take a bad beating
with the wheeled chair.
Thanks.
On Tue, 16 Oct 2007 18:04:14 -0700, [email protected] wrote:
>I know this subject has been brought up before but I thought I would
>ask again.
>
>I have gone through several of these stupid plastic things and they
>seem to get eaten up within a couple of months. It is really
>irritating. Maybe it is the rug it is on (a Berber) or maybe it is
>the quality of the mat. Either way, I am sick of it.
>
>Would any sort of thin plywood even come close to looking good? If
>so, what should I use to finish it? It is going to take a bad beating
>with the wheeled chair.
>
>Thanks.
I wondered about this as well. I have gone through several
anti-static plastic chair mats over the years--all eventually cracked.
A pre finished-engineered flooring with some kind of tapered edging is
what I'm thinking. I havn't seen any proven plans, however.
On Oct 16, 10:43 pm, [email protected] (Larry W) wrote:
> Finally one of the supervisors had some 1/8" steel plate cut & laid
> over the plywood. It's a few years old now and actually looks _better_
> than it did when new, as it's gotten shiny over the years compared to the
> original black steel finish. If the aesthetics are acceptable I recommend
> it.
>
I really, really like this idea but I don't think a 1/8" steel plate
is going to fly in the family room...but it certainly is enticing and
way cool. Sort of like the Tim Taylor version of a chairmat.
I have been wondering about engineered flooring as Phisherman
suggested but I don't know what sort of base to put it on. I keep
coming back to a doggone 3/4" piece of plywood to mount the engineered
stuff on because anything thinner might buckle as the chair rolls over
it.
I really think it has to do with the carpeting. I have the exact same
chairmat at work but it is on a relatively thin, flat carpet laid over
concrete. There is no give at all and I think that has helped the
chairmat not crack. Who knows; I could be totally wrong, but I sit in
that chair 8-9 hours a day, 5 days a week and it has lasted for two
years now. Not even one little crack in it. The one at home is about
a year old and it is not only cracked but chunks have come out of it
already--and the chair is not occupied nearly as much as the one at
work. I just don't understand. The latest though I had was maybe
using a piece of plywood, maybe 1/2", and putting the anti-static mat
on it. There will still be some play for sure but maybe the more
solid surface under the chairmat will make it live longer...
JT, I understand what you are saying and I totally agree. I will
Google this group and the entire Internet but I think questions bear
to be repeated because what if somebody came up with a good solution
to a problem--any problem--and if the question is never asked (again),
then the newer ideas will never be shared. There is a good reason to
look back to find answers but there is also a lot of value in asking
those same questions again at times.
On Oct 17, 12:43 pm, Ray <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> I use a thin sheet of Baltic birch plywood with vinyl sheet goods on
> top. I have one I did 10 years ago that is still fine. Thickness of
> wood depends on weight being applied.
My son is a big boy and weighs in at about 210 and he plops into the
chair (he doesn't sit--he PLOPS). I truly believe that is probably
the biggest reason but certainly not the total reason. I also think
like somebody else said that these mats are nothing like they used to
be years ago.
So one of my questions is: How thick should the plywood be? I really
like the idea of vinyl squares or something on top because they are
pretty thin. I don't really want anything too thick under the chair
because it is a fairly high traffic area and I can see people tripping
over the mat if it is too high.
I would rather have wood but I like the vinyl suggestion...
[email protected] wrote:
> I know this subject has been brought up before but I thought I would
> ask again.
>
> I have gone through several of these stupid plastic things and they
> seem to get eaten up within a couple of months. It is really
> irritating. Maybe it is the rug it is on (a Berber) or maybe it is
> the quality of the mat. Either way, I am sick of it.
>
> Would any sort of thin plywood even come close to looking good? If
> so, what should I use to finish it? It is going to take a bad beating
> with the wheeled chair.
Change the chair wheels?
Tue, Oct 16, 2007, 6:04pm (EDT-3) [email protected] doth say:
I know this subject has been brought up before but I thought I would ask
again. <snip>
The magic 8-ball says check the archivs.
http://groups.google.com/advanced_group_search?as_ugroup=rec.woodworking&lr=&num=30
JOAT
"I'm an Igor, thur. We don't athk quethtionth."
"Really? Why not?"
"I don't know, thur. I didn't athk."
On Thu, 18 Oct 2007 12:35:11 -0000, [email protected] wrote:
>On Oct 17, 12:43 pm, Ray <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> I use a thin sheet of Baltic birch plywood with vinyl sheet goods on
>> top. I have one I did 10 years ago that is still fine. Thickness of
>> wood depends on weight being applied.
>
>My son is a big boy and weighs in at about 210 and he plops into the
>chair (he doesn't sit--he PLOPS). I truly believe that is probably
>the biggest reason but certainly not the total reason. I also think
>like somebody else said that these mats are nothing like they used to
>be years ago.
>
>So one of my questions is: How thick should the plywood be? I really
>like the idea of vinyl squares or something on top because they are
>pretty thin. I don't really want anything too thick under the chair
>because it is a fairly high traffic area and I can see people tripping
>over the mat if it is too high.
>
>I would rather have wood but I like the vinyl suggestion...
1/4" is probably good enough, but 1/2" will probably stand up to
almost anything. It partly depends on how much support the carpet
gives. Thick carpet and padding requires a thicker pad. Sheet vinyl
is probably better than squares. I routed the edges of the wood and
wrapped the sheet over the edges and glued it on the bottom.
[email protected] writes:
>I know this subject has been brought up before but I thought I would
>ask again.
>
>I have gone through several of these stupid plastic things and they
>seem to get eaten up within a couple of months. It is really
>irritating. Maybe it is the rug it is on (a Berber) or maybe it is
>the quality of the mat. Either way, I am sick of it.
>
>Would any sort of thin plywood even come close to looking good? If
>so, what should I use to finish it? It is going to take a bad beating
>with the wheeled chair.
>
My father built his using .75"x2.75" strip flooring with a bevelled hardwood
frame. Sits proud of the floor, but won't disintegrate like the plastic
mats do (I've the same problem you do, they last about a year now,
where the older ones used to last a decade).
You could probably frame in some engineered flooring from the borg too.
scott
One of our work locations has a pre-fab office inside the shop
that was assembled about 20 years ago. It has a plywood floor that
over the years has been tiled, vinyled, carpeted, you name it,
but all of the floor treatments were torn up pretty quickly.
Finally one of the supervisors had some 1/8" steel plate cut & laid
over the plywood. It's a few years old now and actually looks _better_
than it did when new, as it's gotten shiny over the years compared to the
original black steel finish. If the aesthetics are acceptable I recommend
it.
--
There are no stupid questions, but there are lots of stupid answers.
Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland - lwasserm(a)sdf. lonestar. org
[email protected] wrote:
> On Oct 16, 10:43 pm, [email protected] (Larry W)
> wrote:
>> Finally one of the supervisors had some 1/8" steel plate cut & laid
>> over the plywood. It's a few years old now and actually looks
>> _better_ than it did when new, as it's gotten shiny over the years
>> compared to the original black steel finish. If the aesthetics are
>> acceptable I recommend it.
>>
>
> I really, really like this idea but I don't think a 1/8" steel plate
> is going to fly in the family room...but it certainly is enticing
> and
> way cool. Sort of like the Tim Taylor version of a chairmat.
FWIW, there are steel floor tiles available. The Boat School has (or
had 30 years ago) one at each turning point in the halls--vinyl won't
stand up to 4,000 screaming Plebes making square turns at full chop
all day every day. They are slippery when wet.
> I have been wondering about engineered flooring as Phisherman
> suggested but I don't know what sort of base to put it on. I keep
> coming back to a doggone 3/4" piece of plywood to mount the
> engineered
> stuff on because anything thinner might buckle as the chair rolls
> over
> it.
>
> I really think it has to do with the carpeting. I have the exact
> same
> chairmat at work but it is on a relatively thin, flat carpet laid
> over
> concrete. There is no give at all and I think that has helped the
> chairmat not crack. Who knows; I could be totally wrong, but I sit
> in
> that chair 8-9 hours a day, 5 days a week and it has lasted for two
> years now. Not even one little crack in it. The one at home is
> about
> a year old and it is not only cracked but chunks have come out of it
> already--and the chair is not occupied nearly as much as the one at
> work. I just don't understand. The latest though I had was maybe
> using a piece of plywood, maybe 1/2", and putting the anti-static
> mat
> on it. There will still be some play for sure but maybe the more
> solid surface under the chairmat will make it live longer...
>
> JT, I understand what you are saying and I totally agree. I will
> Google this group and the entire Internet but I think questions bear
> to be repeated because what if somebody came up with a good solution
> to a problem--any problem--and if the question is never asked
> (again),
> then the newer ideas will never be shared. There is a good reason
> to
> look back to find answers but there is also a lot of value in asking
> those same questions again at times.
Have you thought about just getting a sheet of 3/4 inch Baltic birch
or Appleply and using it instead of the plastic mat?
--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)
On Tue, 16 Oct 2007 18:04:14 -0700, [email protected] wrote:
>I know this subject has been brought up before but I thought I would
>ask again.
>
>I have gone through several of these stupid plastic things and they
>seem to get eaten up within a couple of months. It is really
>irritating. Maybe it is the rug it is on (a Berber) or maybe it is
>the quality of the mat. Either way, I am sick of it.
>
>Would any sort of thin plywood even come close to looking good? If
>so, what should I use to finish it? It is going to take a bad beating
>with the wheeled chair.
>
>Thanks.
I use a thin sheet of Baltic birch plywood with vinyl sheet goods on
top. I have one I did 10 years ago that is still fine. Thickness of
wood depends on weight being applied.