Shopsmith Forums

I was cleaning a back room this week and thought for a while that I was going to become entangled in cobwebs to the point of freeing myself with a machete
While I am not a big fan of spiders I usually leave them alone "outside".
For as long as I can remember one of the curses of any of my woodshops has been cobwebs full of sawdust "everywhere".
I do use a bit of compressed air on them but then there is all of that picking up of all of the stuff you accidentally blew down along with the cobwebs. Even then sometimes some tough cobwebs remain even after papers and stuff have been blown all over the place. I use a "Webster" (nothing to do with the internet) at the ceiling line and sometimes on the ceiling itself. "Bombing" the shop has little effect on them even though it kills everything else.
Has anybody found a cure for that curse?

Well, this isn't offered as a 'cure' to spiders and webs, but here in central florida we have zillions of spiders. In all of the woodshops I worked in, the webs would get so thick it looked like cables. But not in the warehouse. One company I worked for had a fairly large warehouse filled with modular cabinets ordered from one of the large cabinet distributors in Texas and the melamine cabinet sides are full of formaldehyde and they emit lots of fumes. The warehouse was always clean of spiders. Palmetto bugs didn't seem to mind though.
You are right that poisons don't seem to bother spiders much.

robinson46176 wrote:...Has anybody found a cure for that curse?

Yes I know of a cure, but believe you won't like it. - - Move!!! One place without many 8 or 6 legged creatures is the Western Mojave Desert, CA.

Spiders are there because there is food. To get rid of them you have to keep the insects out. Caulk and weather stripping are your friend. Plug those holes and cracks. The best thing I ever did to my garage to get rid of spiders was replacing the garage door with a door that sealed whne it was closed. Iit didn't stop them all but it got rit of 90% or more of them.

There are a lot of spiders in the Mobile area. I think what rlKeeney said is right. I have Cooks treat the outside of my house every month and the guy also sprays the outside of my shop. It is rear for me to see any spiders. When I do I suck them in to the shop vac.

Where I live in Florida we have a zillion of spiders because we have 2 zillion bugs. If the spiders didn't eat the bugs we would be knee high in them by now.

My shop is run like a ship, everything has a place and at the end of the day everything must be in it's place. I then double up the DC3300 hoses and vaccum down the shop. I usually can keep the spider webs in check that way.

However my biggest problem is spider crap which will stain lumber, discolor certain metals and is a big pain to deal with. As the zillion spiders eat the 2 zillion bugs they produce lots of crap. Then I reach for a nice board and find little specks all over it. I have to plane off 1/32 or more to get below the stain.

So if you only have to contend with webs consider yourself lucky a little dusting at times will solve that problem.

I use a propane torch to clear the windows of spiders and webs. I don't do much woodworking so I don't have the sawdust issue though. The torch is waved around the spider webs and they just smoke away.
George

I have not given the bug problem in my shop a thought before reading this thread. Our 2 barns are loaded with cobwebs, spider webs, palmetto bugs and lizards, but I have not noticed a problem in the shop. The only thing I do see in there are lizards, I will have to check it out this afternoon.

grs1938 wrote:I use a propane torch to clear the windows of spiders and webs. I don't do much woodworking so I don't have the sawdust issue though. The torch is waved around the spider webs and they just smoke away.
George

FIRE
I love it OH OH give me the old flame thrower I got some spiders to deal with!!!!!!!!!! And I thought it was entertaining to just suck them into my DC never thought of burning them! Argh Argh

Yeah Ed, I have the spider poop thing too. Funny thing is I seldom see a spider, just the webs. I also have a problem with an occasional bird getting fastened in the shop. Some how the birds never just poop on the floor. It is always on a machine or tool and they always have diarrhea.
Of course my worst shop cleaning problems come from "pack-elves" and my own bad habits.