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I am building a new shop and am looking for input for those little things that make the shop that much more enjoyable to work in. (dust colllection, tools, layout, etc.) All ideas are welcome large or small.
jere
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Tunes, windows with a view, radiant heat in the floor, old rigid tool calendars.
*wood floors, 3 phase power, old Makita tool calenders.
*Wood floor, lots of windows, 10 ft ceiling ht. air lines everywhere, tons of outlets, waist high. 42 in wide entry door.
*Lots and lots of elbow room.Lots of light for old eyes.Large work tables - with wheelsAt least one more tool than you'll ever need.And more work than you can get to in your lifetime.
*I like hang down electricals too. I got em all over the shop.. They hang slightly over my head so I can plug tools to them. I also hang my air hoses from the ceiling all over the place... Neat huh?
*High ceiling, lots and lots of light, tunes, old Snap-on Calendars
*Ditto most of above. Dust collection is really nice. I did not plan for enough wood storage in my shop and ran out of room. Rolling carts are handy so you can reconfigure the space.New ideas: door big enough to get your project out once it's built; fluorescent fixtures with high color rendering index (CRI) lamps to help with finishing; windows that open; electrical subpanel; GFCI protection on all outlets; telephone; doorbell; pencil sharpener.
*Wayne's reply made me think of a tidbit of shop design. Wire your telephone so it'll flash a light(s) that are easily in view. One magazine a few years back showed how to wire some trailer lights, so if your cranking away on the tablesaw, you wouldn't have to miss hearing the phone, you'd just see it flash. (Of course, I'd rather have the fun with power tools than talk to someone on the phone.)
*Are you going to just leave us hanging here, or are you going to copy that article ? b : )
*It's called a phone flasher, radio shack has them. I have mine wired to 3 lights so I can see one from every place in the shop. Wouldn't want to miss a telemarketer you know.
*Well geez, that's the easy way out.I already knew they were available. I don't wanna just plug something in. I don't really need a flashing light. Probably wouldn't do it even if I had one. It's simply curiosity. I would like to know how it's done. Without buying something that will plug into the phone and trigger a flasher unit, etc. You know, how do you do this home made ?
*I might still have the magazine. I'll look...one of these days. It was probably in Popular Mechanics, Family Handyman, or (remember this one?) Home Mechanix. Remember seeing it five-ten years ago, I don't think it was out of that time frame, but it couldda been 15 years ago, you know?
*ROFLMFAOWhy... I.. Aughtta.....b : )
*My apprenticeship instructor had an inch and a quarter conduit between his house and shop just for phone,intercom,cable T.V., etc.He had a device(I don't remember what kind now) that would scramble the TV reception in the house when he was in the shop.His mother-in-law could never figure out why the TV worked fine when Bill was in the house and wanted to watch his shows,but when he went out in the shop ghosts would wander across the screen and the reception sucked.When his son started school he put it on a timer so the boy could watch TV when he came home from school,but the mother-in-law couldn't watch her soap operas during the day.
*Hey, Luka,FWIW, your phone line carries two electrical currents. First, it's got a -48v DC current that powers the phone. (When you lift the handset, you close the DC loop and current flows; this alerts the central office switch to send you a dial tone.)Second, it carries a 90v AC current as part of the "alert function". When someone rings your line, the central office switch sends that 90v current down your line to drive the ringer on your phone.(These things I know - but I don't know how the wires are color-coded.)So, if I had a multimeter, I'd test the wires (there're two pairs) to see which ones are running the DC, and splice my lights into the other two. (Of course, there're other ways to test the circuit...one guy in my group used to install phones; he had the wire in his mouth to keep it from sliding down into the floor when someone dialed the homeowner. 90v across the tongue...)
*I believe that while there are 4 wires present, you are only using two. Mine are green-white and white-green.
*Indeed, the home phones that I am familiar with only use two of the (usually) four wires. Back in the early days, we used to use the other two wires for our Appletalk computer network. Luka, I think you could use a transformer to utilize the 90v ac to trigger a relay to drive your light. Either that or design a circuit to step the 90v down to the proper voltage dc to trigger a power transistor. I usually use one of the Radio Shack strobe lights off of the Radio Shack flasher as a bit of an attention getting device.
*I'm thinking of adding a portable dust collection system, nothing fancy. Mainly for my table saw and joiner ports. Using a big old Craftman shop vac now. Saw a bunch of 'Rand' dust collection vacs on ebay for $112.00. Anybody have an economical D.C. system?Bought a new sound system for the house a few years ago and sent the old system to the shop. 200 watts and four old Technics speakers. Best addition in years.Rich
*If its already been mentioned and I missed it, well I second it, how about installing an old recliner, with a throw if you will for the dog, right next to the refrigerator w/the tap, have a fan or a/c. If the above is a no go, at least have some old Snap-On calendars and a thermos of your favorite beverage.
*Someplace to releive yourself without going to the house
*A phone with an answering machine. You dont want to be interrupted doing a whole lot of things. I have a phone in mine with out an awsering machine and its costly.Ive messed up a few things ,thinking I had to answer the phone and it ended up being someone wanting to sell me vinyl siding. ugh!!!! Turn the one in the house off,and the one in the shop on when you are out there. I call around for prices on insurance,interest,real estate,material and noone stays in the office. Why do I feel like I should have to answer the phone??? Ends up being phone tag anyway. besides that something is running when they call,maybe music , compressor,and a saw. lol. So you run like heck to turn all this off and someone wants you to take their credit card.nuff said.
*Shoeman... I TRIED like hell to put a urinal in mine, but the wife insisted if I did, she'd put a bidet in the kitchen...I just pee out the door now...
*Gary,I know a guy who piped a 2" PVC pipe flush with the drywall for just this reason. Looked like a hole in the wall. Pipe ran down stud bay and out the side of the foundation. I think I'd pipe a trap into it for heat loss and smell reasons (and do it after the final inspection on the place of course).DW will never know...Or offer her a bidet made from the garden hose. It's only fair!Adjust PVC pipe size "Acordingly" ;o)
*Stray...That is GENIUS!!!!Where's my hole saw...
*Gary, out the door is fine if the neighbors don't mind. Otherwise I have seen people set up "urinals" similar to what Stray mentioned. Funnel hooked up to plastic tubing to buried 5 gallon bucket full of gravel. I don't care what it looks like, but a guy needs the proverbial "pot to piss in"
*Wire the phone light to the doorbell as well. Actually don't even connect the buzzer. It's much better to be alerted to a visitor by a blinking light than a loud knock or a buzzer. Who wants the crap startled out of them while they are concentrating on their work, or using that hole in the wall?Besides the light's easier to ignore...
*I am about to be framing up walls and laying floors for a new shop. Two questions:Would it be useful to include a couple of channels across the shop floor to run extension cords and dust collection lines so that they could be covered up below floor level but easily accessed amd removed? If so, what would be the minimum dimension?How would you recommend heating a shop? This will be in a barn main floor. I'm not sure I want to put a furnace in the ground floor level below the shop so I was considering a wall-mounted propane unit.What do you think?
*I think there have been some recent discussions on this in which many urged using floor radiant heating. Remember that some finishes can be flammable as well as saw dust (a heavy concentration of fine sawdust can actually explode, although you have to get the air pretty thick with it. There have been a couple of cases of grain elevators going boom from the wheat dust, but don't actually recall reading about any shops exploding from ignited sawdust) Anyway, try the search feature with a few judiciusly selected search terms and you should have a couple of long, recent and relevant threads...
*Casey, that's a great idea, but it won't happen here. I can envision building an enclosure around a propane heater with a thermostaticly activated fan. Air into the space enclosed with the heater would pass through an air filter to remove wood dust.
*Perhaps bothering to include channels in the floor for dust collection is overkill, this shopspace is going to be about 30'x17'. At 17' width, maybe running power and dust collection in from a side wall just as good? I haven't had a dust collection system to trip over, so I don't know how much of an issue this is going to be.
*It's an issue, Bill. I'm constantly kicking, squashing or tripping over mine that lay on the (frikkin' concrete) floor. If you have the chance to drop it into the floor, do it. I use 4" dryer exhaust tubing for the last link to my tools because it shrivels up so small on the ends not in use. I'd say a 5" channell would work fine.
*I guess I'll be a contrarian here, but I never understood the allure of a wooden shop floor. Or rather, I never got the "it's easier on your legs than concrete" bit. To me, if it hurts to stand on concrete, it's a sign that the cushioning in my shoes are shot, and time to make a trip down to G.I. Joes for a new pair.Is there any concern about placing several multi-hundred point loads on a wooden floor? Especially if some of them end up on the same joist, or even if just one ends up in the middle of the joist span?I like the durability and ease of cleaning up my concrete floor. Although I wished I'd put a vapor barrier underneath, despite the fact the flatwork sub doesn't like to do it. When it rains really hard here in NW Oregon and the ground really gets saturated, moisture comes up through the concrete. Once the hot weather comes back, I'll seal it with epoxy paint.I ran 1" PVC conduit to 2 locations in the floor where I knew I would locate some tools, before the pour. Also ran 4" ABS DWV pipe for dust collection to the same spots. This heads underground outside the shop to a small shed for the dust collector. Also, be sure to plan on insulating the shop. May seem like something that can be put off 'til "Phase II", but when the cold weather hits you'll wish you'd done it right away.
*Since we are just kicking around ideas. I wish many times for a wood stove over my gas stove to dry the finishes I work on. A car painter friend of mine put in two wood stoves in his shop and says his production went way up. Hence less drying times. Secondly I bought a house to fix that has an antique car display building with it. It is very nice and this is my shop. They had money to burn and put in insulation is what I thought at the time. But it has been very easy on me to work in and I would not build a shop to keep with out it.
*33 responses and still no one has mentioned a french maid.i Somebody has to bend over and pick up all those scraps...
*I agree with the wood heater, but plan for a back up as well, run the wires or gas line before you close up walls.I know it makes sence ( save cents) for us to burn our wood scraps but we live in an area where they have no burn days due to inversions holding the smoke in the valley, so we have an electric back up.Also our insurance is higher because of the wood stovebut there is nothing like a good wood fire to dry you out after a cold wet day.We have a showroom in the front of our shop and put a air intake on the electric furnace near the wood stove so we could pump some heat into the showroom , worked well untill a back draft made the showroom really stink like somokethe funnel in the wall is ok, as long as you never plan on having a women work in the shop with youand if new shop and you might do some retail bussiness there it would be nice to have a funtional bathroom.In our last shop we had a old stainless steel sink and counter that cmae from a restraunt remodel, that was real nice to for washing tools etc.One of the guys recomended putting in an old shower pan for putting muddy boots etc into and hang wet rain gear above and drain outside to the foundation line.
*I put a shower, sink and toilet in my shop, as well as a deep sink ouside the bathroom wall. The shop is not completed yet, so I am going to borrow a few of the above ideas. I wish I had heard of the in slab dust collection duct before I poured the slab.I thought of the floor recepticals, but decided agianst them. Everything in my shop is either already on mobile bases or will get casters on it. Heavey stuff like a unisaw can pretty much kill any plug in the floor, even those expensive brass covered ones.One thing to add is shallow shelves that you can put those cans and jars of parts and fasteners on. I am doing mine like some of thos roll out pantry shelves. Right now all those screw, nails,etc. are in old base cabinets. Everything I want is on the bottom, in the back (Murphy's Law) everytime.
*I have a storage room off the main shop with a rack of 'supermarket' style shelving (actually mine is older than supermarket) racked together for 16' to hold longer stock - this shelving is spaced away from the wall so that 4X8 sheet goods can be slid on edge and stored behind the shelving - a brace of garage sale utility cabinetry along 2 walls for hardware and paint and such (this storage is shared with the mechanical shop w/ a garage door between the shops) and a rack through the center where boards of various sorts can be stood on end (on 4 different sides of the rack) - the door from the storage into the shop is a straight shot off the end of the shelving and sheet goods storage so that type of awkward material doesn't have to be rotated before storage or use - I'm in the wood floor camp, altho it's not as good for people that move their machines - tunes an absolute necessary, - and I don't know how I would ever give up the wood stove - like the windows for light and veiw - the 8' ceiling is too low, but this is a pre-existing structure - got lots of ideas of improvements, maybe i'll buy a lottery ticket today ;)
*Outlets: How close would you space them? If the walls are framed 16" oc, would you place a single outlet box on each one (seems like a lot of work), a double box every 32"? How about a mix of 110 outlets and 220? I have not converted any equipment to use 220, but would like the option to do so, but would, 25% of the outlets being 220 be too many or too few? Distance off the floor? It was suggested that having the bottom of the box at 49-50" allows you to lean 4x sheet stock against the wall and not block an outlet, also would them be above bench tops and below cabinets.
*Definately include a bathroom, if it's still an option. Dad insisted on putting a full bath in the backyard shop we built for him and hasn't used the master bath in the house since. He toddles out there every morning in his bathrobe. Nice scene for the neighbors who can see it.I suggest radiant floor heat, too. WAY better than any sort of forced air.
*I dont think I could ever give up my woodstove altho in my new shop I may consider putting it in its own masonary niche.I know I would insure my shop before my house so those guys might have something to say about it.But one day in the shop usually provides me with enough off rips to have kindling for months at the house.Id definetly put in a chase for dust and power.But Id also include a chase for air lines too.Vertical sheet good racks are good and dont take up much space.One thing I would consider is some type of scissor cart that would hold a bunch of plywood up at a saw level so I didnt have to wrestle each heavy sheet up there.The main storage problem is the short lumber stuff you just cant bare to burn because " hey Im a woodworker I could make something neat with all that".Its taking over the shop while Im sawing more wood on my mill!
*Bill, I've been in a newly constructed shop for about a year. I put duplex outlets about every 4 or 5 feet or so, and it's pleanty. You really can't get most stationary tools closer than 4 feet apart, and each outlet can service two tools. Every 16 inches would be way too much work, and there are code limits to the maximum number of outlets allowed on each circuit.It's more important to have enough circuits. The dust collector needed it's own circuit. The motor just barely came under the limit for a 20 amp circuit, so a 30 would have been better. If I had picked the next size collector it would not have worked. The wall outlets are split on several 20 amp circuits. Lights are on a separate circuit, so if I blow the breaker on any tool circuit it won't leave me in the dark.You're right about the height. There's no good reason to have them near the floor like in a home.As for 220, I didn't run any. Think a little about tool placement. You won't use any 220 tools at your bench, for example. You could run 220 to several outlets and split to two 110 outlets in the box. That way you can run 110 tools for now, then switch the outlets to 220 without having to pull new wires later. You're electrician will know how to do this.If your floor is concrete on grade, all your outlets will need GFCI protection.Put an outlet by any exterior doors in case you run a tool outdoors. Outside lights are nice, too.All of this is easier if you put a subpanel in the shop.
*Part of my shop has outlets in the ceiling (7' ceiling) on 6' centers that is very handy out in the middle of the shop. The other part has 16' ceiling with outlets on 12' centers . handy for work on tall prodjects or large machines.
*Thanks, Wayne, nice suggestions. I also need to figure out wiring in the ceiling (12') for lighting. I am not conviced I need outlets up there, but need to figure out the lighing scheme in the in the next couple days. I would also like to install a couple ceiling fans to move air. A friend is convinced that 8' flourescents are the way to go, that the 4' shop lights are typically too cheap and buzz. I will check with the local electric supply and see if there are any special wiring requirements, can I simply put a junction box in the center of the ceiling at each light fixture location? The room is 27' long, how far apart should I space the lights? So many decisions.
*why not make your lighting surface mount, and just run conduit from light to light? Then you can decide the lighting later, and change it if needed.Also, by surface mounting your lighting you can avoid any penetrations of your ceiling which should give you a better performing insulation / air seal up there where it counts most.
*Bill, I did not try shop lights because I wanted a little better product. My shop is 20 feet x 30 feet. It has 6 fixtures, each having two 4' tubes. The lighting is very good, more than enough for general lighting. An additional fixture over the bench for fine work would be nice. Instead of shop lights I used fluorescent fixtures with electronic ballasts and T8 size lamps. The color I chose is 3500K, and high Color Rendering Index. The T8 is a newer, thinner tube that is becoming the standard for commercial lighting. 3500K is a "warmer" color light than the standard cool white fluorescents and is closer to incandescent lighting in a home. Combining this warmer lighting with high CRI tubes (mine were called SPX35 by the manufacturer) I thought would help with finishing, color matching, etc. The electronic ballasts have no flicker, which bothers some people, and in rare cases can cause a strobe effect which could cause a moving blade to look stationary if it was moving at just the right speed.I think I went beyond what most people would do from a light quality standpoint, but the number of fixtures/tubes is just about right for a shop.Some people recommend (and some jurisdictions require) lights to be mounted tight to the ceiling instead of hung from chains so sawdust cannot collect on top and create a fire hazard. However, some fixtures are not rated for surface mounting (they require air space above for cooling) so you have to buy a fixture rated for surface mounting if you are going to mount them tight.
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I am building a new shop and am looking for input for those little things that make the shop that much more enjoyable to work in. (dust colllection, tools, layout, etc.) All ideas are welcome large or small.
jere