Need ideas for lighting

[Matt Lau]

I just graduated from dental school, and I'm living with my folks to save money.
There's a 6*8' area that I can use as a shop space, but there are a couple caveats:
1. Terrible lighting
2. Not allowed to bore any holes or mount anything on the walls or ceilings.
3. Only one power outlet in the whole garage.

I will be going to buy a shopsmith.
Need ideas for lighting.

[David Hostetler]

While I do not like the Table Saw on the shop smith (the table tilts instead of the arbor), it IS a good machine, and a GREAT way to pack a LOT of shop in very little space...

Not being allowed to mount lights in the ceiling sure puts a damper on things. I would grab one of those magnetic work lights from Harbor Freight for task lighting. You could build a couple of stands. Hoops of sorts, to go up the wall, and across the ceiling to the other wall, to mount a couple of shop lights in.

I can't help you much with power. Lights don't draw much, but a Shop Vac and Shop Smith will really tax the snot out of a standard 110V 15 amp outlet / circuit.

[Matt Lau]

Thanks for the tip regarding the shopsmith.
Would it be possible to alternate between using the Shopsmith and the shopvac? I don't plan on spending most of my time around power tools if I can help it.

I was thinking of simply getting a bunch of clamp fixtures and attaching it to the nearby shelf. Would it be possible to power maybe 3-5 lights (compact flourescent bulbs) while running the 'Smith?

I'm also considering building some crude, portable fluorescent fixtures to stand vertically nearby.

My main concern is safety, and being able to see well enough to minimize my wood butchery. Attached is a picture of my space. Right now, it's just lighted by a single Ikea paper lantern lamp.

[john snowdon]

Sorry for my first post to be giving advice instead of asking questions. I've been an avid reader of this forum and JUST finished building the room for my basement shop based on the education you have all provided to me. Many thanks! Tool questions coming soon...

Matt, I started my woodworking hobby last year with a Shopsmith Mark V and a Rigid shop vac and 12" chop saw. I absolutely agree with David about taxing a 15a breaker! I cannot tell you how many times I have had to reset my 15a breaker simply starting up the Shopsmith by itself with the vac on another circuit. You may wish to bring in an electrician for a hour and ask him about possibly replacing the breaker with a 20a.

I loved the SS for its ability to provide many tools in a small space. The table saw on mine did scare the heck out me and I bought a Sawstop Cabinet Saw. That was the end of the SS ...now I want individual machines.

[Lee Schierer]

A couple of thoughts.

* Power your lights using an extension cord from another room. Lights won't suffer from power loss in a long extension cord.

* Since the drywall screws have not been spackled, you could back one or two out, put in longer screws and use the heads to suspend your lights. A couple of four foot fluorescents should light up your space nicely. Mount them near the ceiling so you aren't working in your own shadow.

* Check to see what else is on your outlet circuit and what size wire is feeding it. If ever bit of the wiring is #12 wire you can safely go to a 20 amp breaker. Any piece of #14 will limit you to 15 amps.

[Richard Wagner]

While I do not like the Table Saw on the shop smith (the table tilts instead of the arbor), it IS a good machine, and a GREAT way to pack a LOT of shop in very little space...

Not being allowed to mount lights in the ceiling sure puts a damper on things. I would grab one of those magnetic work lights from Harbor Freight for task lighting. You could build a couple of stands. Hoops of sorts, to go up the wall, and across the ceiling to the other wall, to mount a couple of shop lights in.

I can't help you much with power. Lights don't draw much, but a Shop Vac and Shop Smith will really tax the snot out of a standard 110V 15 amp outlet / circuit.

I must guard against prejudicial bias here but I do wholeheartedly disagree with Dave. He doesn't care for the tilting table and that is fine but I have one and hardly ever have any reason to not like the tilting table.

The only time I do is when I am cutting bevels on long (> 6') materials.

As far as power, the Mark V should run just fine on a dedicated 15amp circuit wired with at least 14ga wire. When working with hardwoods (oak, maple, etc), it is necessary to reduce feed rate and I would recommend a thin kerf blade. If you have a 20amp circuit on 12 ga wire, reducing the feed rate should not be necessary.

Limited to a small work space, the Shopsmith is an excellent tool and will give you the tools required to build most anything (short of a log cabin) that you might want to build.

[Gerry Werth]

First, too many responses here assume that your single outlet in the garage is a 15A circuit. Power outlets are supposed to be 20A, with 12awg wire. Check it out. 20A will easily handle the Shopsmith, vac and a couple of CFL or 4' flour. lite strips. But, you can always run an ext. cord for the lights. Your other thought of clamping lites to the shelfs if they have to stay is a good one. Buy a couple of those 150 W halogen work lites and clamp them up. 300W for a 6 x 8 area should be sufficient to keep you from cutting your fingers.

[Thom Sturgill]

Build a frame with the top bar being an angle iron or unistrut or even a strip of sheet metal attached to a 2x4. Then use some of the HF magnetic base lamps. Moveable task lighting. Clamp lights can be attached to the verticals if needed, or used in place of the magnetic lamps, but I like them better. I use something similar to light the area around my mini lathe which is under the garage door when it's raised. Attach a power strip to the frame to plug the lights into and run an extension cord. If necessary, tap into the garage light with an adapter (lighting only!) as it should be on a separate circuit from the power.

[Matt Lau]

Not bad ideas, I'll have to check the breakers and rethink the layout.
Any recommended bulbs/fixture wattages?

btw, I made sure to get the bandsaw attachment.
I won't be touching the tablesaw if I can help it.

[John Sanford]

Unless the space suffers from being cool/cold all the time, halogen lights are out. A pair of 150w halogens will heat that space up pretty good, and the 250w or 500w will turn it into an E-Z-Bake. Furthermore, they don't diffuse all that well. There are a variety of incandescent solutions or even better, a pair of simple flourescent torchieres that you can stand in the corners that will throw gobs of light onto the ceiling for bounce. Add in a Varilux arm lamp (find them at your local Michael's) and you should have plenty of general AND task lighting, no holes, no hassle.

[Harry Hagan]

There's a 6*8' area that I can use as a shop space,

6' x 8' = 48 square feet. You’re talking about available space to store your materials, tools and equipment, right?

[Chris Tsutsui]

I think it's about 6x8' shop size, which means smaller projects and not ones involving full size sheets.

For lighting, at Wal-mart they sell an inexpensive shop lamp fixture that has a clamp on the end. You can put in the brightest compact fluorescent type bulb, then clamp it to either that book shelf or bike rack. Get two if one is not enough.

Or just get the durable automotive type sealed fluorsecent fixture type which is like $15 or so and hang it somewhere since it has hooks.

My garage has the long bar type fluorsecents with daylight bulbs.

To mount a light, if you can't use double sided foam mounting tape, then maybe you could get away with those monkey hooks that puts a pinhole size hole into the drywall you can patch up when you move out. Then you could put in something high on a wall. A single or double floursecent 4' type should do the trick.