Suggest an anti-fatigue mat?

[Herb G]

Does anyone use a specific anti-fatigue mat in their shop for turning?
My feet kill me from standing on cold concrete when turning & I really don't want to wear my heavy Red Wing boots.
The arthritis in my joints is getting worse, and besides that, it's cold in my shop. Really cold.

Thanks for any help.

 

[dogcatcher]

No help on a mat, but I use a bar stool to sort of sit and stand in front of the lathe. I have to use a walker to walk, standing is only done with the assistance of hand holds or a walker. With the bar stool I am more leaning against it than sitting on it, I can do marathon sessions, simply by taking a few moments every so often to sit on the stool.

 

[MRDucks2]

I use two different types of kitchen anti-fatigue matts from Sams that my wife abandoned when they stuck to her floors. One type is closed cell dense foam, the other has some type of gel in it. Both work well and have large surface areas.


Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app

 

[ajollydds]

I also have two of the closed cell foam ones from Costco. Same story, kitchen rejects found their way to the garage. Glad they didn't get trashed.

 

[RKB]

I use this one, it is very heavy duty and works great and easy to keep clean.

https://www.uline.com/BL_1754/Marble-Mats?keywords=Fatigue+Mats

Hope you find one that works for you.

Rod

 

[JimB]

I use the ones from Harbor Freight that come 4 in a pack and interlock with each other. I've never used any others so I don't have anything to compare them to but they work great for me.

 

[TonyL]

I have my entire shop floor covered with anti-fatigue matting. I have about 3 brands. I found the thick, interlocking, puzzle-piece type to work best for me. in front of some tools, I have placed another small mat over the interlocking mat (I had purchased those first).

I also like the cushioned mat to provide a non marring surface when a pen part or tools falls. I believe I believe I bought all the matts at Costco. Rockler had some on sale a while ago. Theirs were fine too.

 

[wouldentu2?]

I bought my interlocking from Rockler for about 17 dollars and can cover as big of an area as you need. They are not too thick so I don't trip on it. Make sure it is large enough so your feet don't hang over the edge.

 

[gtriever]

I use the ones from Harbor Freight that come 4 in a pack and interlock with each other. I've never used any others so I don't have anything to compare them to but they work great for me.

Another vote here for the HF mats. They can slide if you're not careful, but for the price they work well. Best ones I've used without shelling out the big bucks for commercial mats.

 

[CHARLES STOPCZYNSKI]

Shoes in addition to anti fatigue matting

Herb and Everyone,

I have suffered with lifelong foot problems. I have been wearing these shoes for about 10-years.

http://www.zcoil.com Read the reviews. BETTER YET, READ THE TESTIMONIALS. INCREDIBLE.

Their other name is "Pain relief footwear."

There is a locator for store near you. They may be a bit expensive, but oh so well worth it. Now you can have the benefits of these incredible shoes wherever wherever you go.

They offer a 30-day money back guarantee, at least with z-coil direct.

The inventor is well into his 80's and stills runs in them. Over 20 years, and 1 million pairs sold. I live in mine. Wear them everywhere.

Charlie

 

[Charlie_W]

I have the rubber work mats from Woodcraft at my lathes but would prefer the thicker cushy ones like you get from Costco. Wifey has these in her quilting area and they are very nice. These are much nicer than the hook together play mats...had those too. Still, anything is better than nothing on concrete.
Back in the last century, some cabinet shops I worked in had 1"x2" wood slat walk mats at the work stations. Always had to pick them up to clean but they helped a lot.

 

[Charlie_W]

Herb and Everyone,

I have suffered with lifelong foot problems. I have been wearing these shoes for about 10-years.

http://www.zcoil.com Read the reviews. BETTER YET, READ THE TESTIMONIALS. INCREDIBLE.

Their other name is "Pain relief footwear."

There is a locator for store near you. They may be a bit expensive, but oh so well worth it. Now you can have the benefits of these incredible shoes wherever wherever you go.

They offer a 30-day money back guarantee, at least with z-coil direct.

The inventor is well into his 80's and stills runs in them. Over 20 years, and 1 million pairs sold. I live in mine. Wear them everywhere.

Charlie

About 5 years ago, I drove a friend to the Z Coil store. She had a bad issue with her hip with a lot of pain. She worked in a hospital then and loved the Z Coil shoes. As I recall, you could rotate the spring or heel cap to adjust the feel.

 

[Curly]

Find an agricultural suplier and get a stall mat or barn mats. They are about 3/4" thick and made from recycled tires. If too big cut it to suit and use the left over somewhere else.

 

[MikeinSC]

I also use the thick, 4pc interlocking mats from harbor freight. I doubled them up and used 3M spray adhesive to glue them together and to the concrete.

 

[ed4copies]

Does anyone use a specific anti-fatigue mat in their shop for turning?
My feet kill me from standing on cold concrete when turning & I really don't want to wear my heavy Red Wing boots.
The arthritis in my joints is getting worse, and besides that, it's cold in my shop. Really cold.

Thanks for any help.

You have inadvertently shown the probable reason for your acrylic acetate problems. Turning them in a cold room makes cracking far more likely.

 

[Woodchipper]

Harbor Freight- watch for the 20% off coupons. Have had mine for several years.

 

[Herb G]

You have inadvertently shown the probable reason for your acrylic acetate problems. Turning them in a cold room makes cracking far more likely.

I did not know that. Thanks for the info.

 

[Jim_K]

Does anyone use a specific anti-fatigue mat in their shop for turning?

Hi Herb,

I bought a couple of the horse stall mats from tractor supply and stand on them for both the bench top and floor lathe. I actually have the floor lathe sitting on the mat as you can see in the picture. They are a lot better than cold, hard concrete but not as soft as some of the dedicated "anti-fatigue" mats.

Jim K.

 

[jeff]

We have these in the 15/16" thickness in front of about 40 machines in the shop where I work. The machinists like them a lot.

As Pete and Jim say above, these stall mats from Tractor Supply work well. I have several in my garage shop.

 

[Beautys_Beast]

I use a stool. Stand when turning, sit when sanding and polishing.

 

[Edgar]

I have an interlocking HF mat between my two lathes and several of the Walmart kitchen mats in front of other tools. They've doubled my standing time.