Harbor Freight Anti-Fatigue Mats

[pelligrini]

Covering a non-level surface with these will not level the surface

Hehe, they do help a little bit though. A portion of the work area in front of my shop is PT plywood. It gets a little uneven at a joint, especially after a rain. The mats I place over it make it a bit more tolerable to walk on.

I don't like working on mobile machines or carts that are on top of the mats. You'll get more movement from them.

Leaving a heavy tool, especially one on casters, on the mats will leave indentions. The mats will usually recover over time, but I generally keep them out from under tools and carts.

[Cochese]

If I only cover half the floor, it's not a level surface.

[Woodshark]

They have a strong chemical smell when you first open the package. If you buy them, plan on keeping them outdoors for a few days before bringing them inside.

[pelligrini]

No kidding, it is really strong. I was going to post about that this morning. They didn't come with a MSDS, whatever it is, it isn't good. They do gas off after a couple days though.

[DustyandLefty]

floor so soft

I started out with the Harbor Freight ones. They've held up, and I use them to kneel on when working in the yard and to lay on when I'm working underneath a car.

They also have been used frequently over the years to make a layer of padding on the roof of my station wagon when I'm hauling home bargains tied on top to the luggage rack because they don't fit inside the car.

But Sams' Club had?/has? some reallly good ones that weren't very expensive. They are gray on one side and bright red/blue/green/yellow on the other. The Sams rubber tiles have the edge strips as well.

Caution -- the jig saw pattern on the Sams tiles is not the same as my old Harbor Freight ones -- the two different brands look alike, but do not fit together without some scissors work.

Dusty and Lefty

[cwsmith]

Just noticed this thread and thought I would add a comment; hope that it is helpful.

We just opend a TSC store (Tractor Supply Company) in our area (Painted Post, NY). Not sure if this is a national chain, but surely in other areas of the country they must have competitors.

In any case, I love these stores as they are always the place of great finds. I went over there a short time ago for my first visit and out in front of the store they had a stack of "stall mats".... 3/4" thick rubber-like product that is really quite durable (hey, it's for horses... so ought to work fine for us humans). Ten year warranty and great size (4 x 6 ft) for only $35 at our local store. (I noticed they are $40 on the website though.)

http://www.tractorsupply.com/royal-mat-rubber-horse-stall-mat-4-ft-x-6-ft--2219003

These look like they'd make perfect shop floor mats, though they aren't interlocking, but do have anti-slip backs. It they would support a horse, they should easily support a typical wheel-mounted tool, I would think. Given the size and price, they would be cheaper than the Harbor Freight, if I am appraising the size correctly (24 x 24 @ $8 vs 48 x 72 @ $40)

I hope this is helpful,

CWS

[pelligrini]

I just recently read something about using stall mats on Megan Fitzpatrick's blog over on Popular Woodworking yesterday. It was from the archives.
http://blogs.popularwoodworking.com/...d+To+Haul.aspx

*edit:
Some other blog entries on horse mats:
http://www.woodzealot.com/2009/05/23...ou-to-the-mat/
http://blog.woodworking-magazine.com...er+Trucks.aspx

[sweensdv]

...................
These look like they'd make perfect shop floor mats, though they aren't interlocking, but do have anti-slip backs. It they would support a horse, they should easily support a typical wheel-mounted tool, I would think. Given the size and price, they would be cheaper than the Harbor Freight, if I am appraising the size correctly (24 x 24 @ $8 vs 48 x 72 @ $40)
CWS

CWS, actually the HF set consists of four (4) pieces that are each 24 x 24 so two sets of the HF mats would give you 48 x 96 for $16. I do have one mat that is similar too but smaller than the Tractor Supply one you referenced and it also makes a great shop mat.

[cwsmith]

Dave,

Thanks, I didn't notice the dimension as much as I noticed the pad the model was standing on. It didn't look big enough to be 48 x 48, so I presumed the blocks were smaller.

Thanks for the proper dimension... you are right, the Harbor Freight offers the price advantage in this case.

CWS

[SCBob]

I have the HF mats throughout the wood shop and in front of the garage cabinets.
I have never had a problem rolling anything on/over them (2"-5" wheels).
The 25"X25" dimension is with the all 4 edges attached.
I am very happy with them.

[Wood Zealot]

Horse Stall Mats Will Make You Happy

I just found this forum and joined up thanks to Erik (Pelligrini) linking to my blog from another post.

I was going to jump in here and suggest the horse stall mats but it seems I've been beaten to the punch.

I've been using these mats for many years and they make a huge difference... to a certain extent I feel like they give me a little more energy.

If you are going to compare various mats, I recommend focusing on the thickness of the mat as this speaks most to the support/cushion you will get. I've stood on various 1/4 mats and I felt like I was standing directly on the floor. Horse stall mats at 3/4 thickness feels completely different. It's all about the thickness.

Horse stall mats are 4'x6', range around $50, weigh about 100lbs each (which greatly helps to keep them in place), and can easily be cut up with a box knife (I used a linoleum knife which worked better) if you want to break them down for different stations. Ohhh, one other nice benefit of these mats is if you decide to test gravity with your favorite tools which I've done too many times to count (and the existence of gravity was proven every single time). These mats just absorb the impact.

The mats I got even look pretty nice which is a bonus given they line the floor of my dining room. No, not because I have a propensity for dropping the china... it's a workroom.

-Charles