The making of a woodshop with pictures

[Dave Lessley]

John,

All my 220v equipment will have it's own circuit except maybe three. The tablesaw, planer and jointer. I will have to wait and see how the layout out ends up but right now these three machines will be in the center of the room. My goal is to hang one circuit from the ceiling to minimize electrical drops and would run it down the same place as my dust collection.
As I have young children I'm pretty conscientious about equipment being live. I unplug all machines after use. As they get older and understand the danger and consequences this can be moderated. I want them to feel welcome in the shop but when they are in there I stop working and give them my full attention. When they decide they have had enough and go back to the house I go back to work. Sometimes that can take a while and a bird house or two later. With my oldest it's a way to see how measuring, math and problem solving work. For my youngest it's just being with dad and discovering things. Right now she loves to sweep.
My plan is to put recessed twist lock male plugs in the cabinets of these machines and will plug the end of an extension cord from the drop into the machine. This way only one machine at a time could be turned on and that is the machine I'm using. It's very quick to unplug when making blade changes etc. I also use locks on the power switches in case they decide to plug it in them selves. If I find this too restrictive I can always add additional circuits
Any ideas ? Again I am just sharing what I have come up with. None of this is in concrete. My hopes by sharing is that people will share what has worked for them so I can benefit from their experiences. No sense in re-inventing the wheel. I appreciate your input.

[Dave Lessley]

Another no show. He said earlier in the day that he would be out in the afternoon but saw no signs of him being there. I worked some more on the wiring. Need to hit the box store and pick up a couple of items. Will do that at lunch today.

OK to be fair here I just spoke with my builder and the guy does sound miserable. He does have strep throat. I know his wife had it a little more than a week ago. He say's he has been down for three days and it's killing him. I told him not to croak yet he wasn't done with my job yet. He assured me he would to expire until after he had completed his commitment.

[John Keeton]

I'm past the young children age, although I fully understand that situation from earlier years. On occasion I have the grandkids in the shop, but in a controlled environment as you mentioned.

I like the idea of an overhead plug. My tablesaw cord runs 18 feet across my floor to a plug. I'm used to it now, but initially it was a pain. Hope the workers get back on the job.

[Rob Russell]

If you still have the ultimate in flexibility on your wiring, why not put in a large subpanel right next to your main panel. Install a locking disconnect between the 2 and lock it off when you're not there. Run all of your machine circuits out of that second subpanel.

Have things like the lighting, heat, hot water, etc. out of the main panelboard.

That way you can be sure that your tools and machine circuit are energized only when you want them to be energized.

[Dave Lessley]

Rob,

That's a great idea! I'm not sure exactly how to execute it. My primary go to guy on residential and commercial electrical questions was our head of maintenance here at work. He retired last Friday. I know it would be a matter of a breaker in the main panel feeding the sub panel but how big of a breaker and what size wire? Hmmmm. There is still time to explore this. I have not run any wire outside of what I need to do to get the panel hot.

Thank you,

[Dave Lessley]

I'm past the young children age

John, I should be, but started late in life. I watched too many friends get married and divorced when I was younger to just go out and get married for the sake of getting married. It just took me a while to find her. I'm 54 and have 9 and 5 year old girls. Wouldn't go back for anything. Sometimes I question my sanity.

[John Keeton]

Stroke of genius, Rob! And this is why the creek is so valuable.

I had forgotten that in our previous home, that is exactly how I powered my shop. I had the electrician (I don't play with that stuff!) run off a 60 amp breaker to a smaller box to feed my shop circuits. The shop was smaller than what I have now. Sounds like a great idea for the machines, particularly with the locking disconnect. I would guess that you could do the same with a 100 amp breaker, but as I said, I don't play with that stuff. Rob may know the answer to that.

Dave, on the kids/marriage thing, I will be 60 this year and if I had 9 and 5 year olds, the guys in white coats would be feeding me supper! I love my 13 grandkids, but not sure I could do that 24/7. I admire you!

[Jim Becker]

What Rob suggests is how I "wish" I would have done my shop. A total machine cut-off is a darn good safety idea.

[Ted Jay]

Rob,

That's a great idea! I'm not sure exactly how to execute it. My primary go to guy on residential and commercial electrical questions was our head of maintenance here at work. He retired last Friday. I know it would be a matter of a breaker in the main panel feeding the sub panel but how big of a breaker and what size wire? Hmmmm. There is still time to explore this. I have not run any wire outside of what I need to do to get the panel hot.

Thank you,

Here Dave you need one of these....
Like and old Frankenstein movie, sparks flying.... scare the heck outa the kids though, but ya gotta yell "they're alive" when ya hit the switch...

I'm a sick man, i know.

[Dave Lessley]

Well as we discussed yesterday the builder is down sick. I finished up the outdoor light last night. It's a cheep halogen with motion and dawn to dusk capability. I put it on a switch so I can turn it off when the kids and I are looking at the stars. The switch is in a double box the other switch will control the light up at the top of the gable on the front of the shop. It will be a dusk to dawn only style. I'm changing from a high pressure sodium to a fluorescent bulb. I'm putting the switch behind the door so people don't inadvertantly turn them off just being helpful. My oldest daughter is very good at that. On the open side of the door will be my four switches for the room lights.

Good News my daughter just called and told me the worker guys showed up and UPS dropped off my pull down attic stairs.

[Prashun Patel]

Makes me excited just watching.

Makes me jealous

[Dave Lessley]

Not much happened this week as the builder was only on site for a couple of hours on Monday and a couple on Friday. He decked the bump out for the bathroom and put in a couple of nailers on the inside gable ends that needed to go in before I could run wiring across that area.

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[Dave Lessley]

The Roofer actually showed up on Day 28 Sunday but we were missing the screen for the ridge vent and the drip molding. So he prepped the panels and stacked them on each side and said he would be back on Monday.

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057_Week_ 23a.jpg

You know I have no idea what he was thinking when he put that window there. The only thing I can think of is to hang some sort of a sign on the front of the building that says "Dave's Woodworking" or something to cover it up. It was an extra from where the bathroom bumps out so he decided he would put it there. Go figure.

[Ted Jay]

The Roofer actually showed up on Day 28 Sunday but we were missing the screen for the ridge vent and the drip molding. So he prepped the panels and stacked them on each side and said he would be back on Monday.

056_Week_23a.jpg



057_Week_ 23a.jpg

You know I have no idea what he was thinking when he put that window there. The only thing I can think of is to hang some sort of a sign on the front of the building that says "Dave's Woodworking" or something to cover it up. It was an extra from where the bathroom bumps out so he decided he would put it there. Go figure.

He could have put it in the bathroom....

[Dave Lessley]

Ted, That was my thought when I asked about where it got placed. The vent stack for the toilet and the sink goes up the facing wall or south side. We decided to put a window that opens in the bathroom. It will be on the west wall which is on the left side of the bump out.