First Draft of New Shop

[JR]

My new house has a 2-car garage plus a carport. The current plan is park in the carport and use the 25' x 21' garage exclusively as a woodshop.

Here is a pic taken before I stuffed my household goods and shop into the space:


And here is the first blush plan:


The idea is to cluster the big dust makers (table saw, jointer, planer, wide belt sander) around the DC in the center. The Bandsaw is kind of odd man out at the bottom of the layout, near the overhead doors.

Lathe and sharpening station are toward the rear, with drill press nearby because that seems to go with the grinder. There is a window on the right hand wall (south) so I've put a bench there. I envision lumber storage and miter saw on that same wall toward the overhead doors.

That's a hollow chisel mortise over by the backside of the fireplace. It's there 'cuz it had to be somewhere.

Router table is currently embedded in the right side of the tablesaw. With this plan that space would be smack in amongst the DC tubing, so something probably has to give there.

Any comments are gladly accepted. I have a long way to go before implementing any plan, especially as regards electrical wiring. For instance the two garage door openers are on extension cords. I was in there today creating two paths among the piles from front to back, so I'm feeling pretty happy with myself at the moment. I'm replacing baseboards, doors, and moulding on the interior of the house, so having the shop in disarray causes me to moan out loud periodically.

[atgcpaul]

Congrats on the new house. You used to be CA, right?

That looks like some pretty good space so you've definitely got options if you ever want to rearrange things. My only suggestion is to consider moving the mortiser closer to your workbench which I assume will also be your assembly table. If you don't use it often, it's probably OK where it is, but if it's used frequently, then I'd want it closer to the assembly area while I fine tune the fit.

Paul

[poolhound]

That will be a nice size shop JR. No matter where you end up positioning tools I would start by getting a 50A circuit run to the garage and then get a subpanel so you can easily add whatever power you need. I did that in my garage before I moved to a dedicated shop and it didnt cost that much. Unless you have the skills/knowledge to do the whole thing a good compromise is to get somebody to run the line from your main panel and install the subpanel. You can then wire in the runs to the garage sub and if you plan to do it at the same time the electrician can help you wire up the sub.

The wire and outlets are relatively cheap so run outlets all over the shop. Once you have done it you will be glad you did as it means you can move tools and reconfigure without concern for power. In my garage I wired 4 circuits and put in a bunch of double outlets (4 sockets) in multiple locations with 2 circuits in each box. by staggering them around the shop it meant that in any one location I could get access to at least 3 circuits in any 6ft radius. In a garage you can usually also get access above the ceiling so consider putting a couple in the roof near the middle of the room, then you can power up tools in the middle of the shop without worrying about trailing cables.

[JR]

Man, it's been a long time i've done shop planning. I got out my New Yankee workshop cabinet plans and watched the accompanying VHS! I also found the Wood Mag Idea Wokshops where I got a chuckle out of this pic.



In my mind I think I've already filled up the space. There needs to be an assembly table, router table, cabinet maker's bench as well as long bench with miter saw. Yikes.

[JR]

Jon,

Good advice on the sub-panel. I had used surface-mounted MC cable in my old shop. It had been installed without permits so I ripped it out befor moving. So I have a number of boxes, switches, outlets and such.

[LCHIEN]

I'll second some overhead outlets in the center to minimize tripping over extension cords. In the floor would be better but not easy with a concrete foundation already poured!
You might worry about plugs falling out of standard outlets by pulling loose from gravity, that's a real problem, but I use some short 12 gauge extension cords that are strain relieved to a rafter to bear the weight and a small loop with no strain at the outlet itself.
If you plan on a table saw, jointer, sander and planer in the center group, probably two circuits above would be useful, one for the DC, and one for all the other four tools, assuming they are one-at-a time tools.

[JR]

Loving,

i guess this this is the correct thing to use for overhead receptacles. I wasn't able to incorporate it before for reasons I forget.


I've read a couple of articles suggesting an insulated floor consising of PT 2X4 overlaid with plywood. That would facilitate the use of the bun outlets also shown in the photo.

Lastly, I've been mulling over the idea of a false column amidst the Central Cluster. It would provide a path for power as well as one for DC out to the other tools.

[JR]

Congrats on the new house. You used to be CA, right?

That looks like some pretty good space so you've definitely got options if you ever want to rearrange things. My only suggestion is to consider moving the mortiser closer to your workbench which I assume will also be your assembly table. If you don't use it often, it's probably OK where it is, but if it's used frequently, then I'd want it closer to the assembly area while I fine tune the fit.

Paul

Yes, I am now officially a SoCal expat! And I love rain. No really, I do. Honest.

i have a mortiser because my early projects were M&T. I made hand cut mortises exactly once before rushing to HF. I'd be more able to do them now, but was not patient enough in those days. Just one of many Zen-type teachings of WW for me.

I reviewed your recent thread on DC location. At the time you posted I remember thinking the DC belonged in the center, as I've shown here. You seemed unconcerned about long runs of pipe affecting the suckage, so I didn't chime in. I am definitely concerned that my HF 2hp DC will be deficient in that regard, hence the Central Cluster concept. How's your setup working?

[LCHIEN]

Loving,

i guess this this is the correct thing to use for overhead receptacles. I wasn't able to incorporate it before for reasons I forget.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]22685[/ATTACH]

I've read a couple of articles suggesting an insulated floor consising of PT 2X4 overlaid with plywood. That would facilitate the use of the bun outlets also shown in the photo.

Lastly, I've been mulling over the idea of a false column amidst the Central Cluster. It would provide a path for power as well as one for DC out to the other tools.

I think that's overkill. In addition to the strain relieved cord you will need a twist lock connector, if it's hanging, to prevent accidental disconnection from its weight. Gets into some expensive parts.

Here's what I've got a couple of places 20A GFCI outlet, plastic duplex box mounted to rafter, 12 ga extension cord and zip tie. (picture is looking up at the rafters). The extension cord mating end is on the ground so it will not open up/disconnect from gravity. If I yanked really hard, I would probably break the zip tie and pull the plug out of the outlet. I guess that's a safety feature...
:


Note I numbered all my outlets in the garage (I have 5 or 6 circuits dedicated to the garage) corresponding to the breaker slot so I can tell what breaker they are on quickly.

[atgcpaul]

To address the overhead power, I mounted a retractable cord reel over my TS/workbench. My TS has a cord running on the floor over to the wall but my shop is skinnier than yours and I don't need to go over to that side of the saw much so it's not in my way.

Yes, I am now officially a SoCal expat! And I love rain. No really, I do. Honest.

We lived in San Diego for 6 years starting in Dec 2000. Moved there from the East Coast where I have lived most of my life. It dang near rained on me every day for the first 2-3 weeks--and not just sprinkles but buckets of it. We owned one car (my first) and my wife used it all day since I biked to work. I bought all this rain gear and hardly needed it again after that!

I reviewed your recent thread on DC location. At the time you posted I remember thinking the DC belonged in the center, as I've shown here. You seemed unconcerned about long runs of pipe affecting the suckage, so I didn't chime in. I am definitely concerned that my HF 2hp DC will be deficient in that regard, hence the Central Cluster concept. How's your setup working?

My TS and workbench/assembly table are pretty much at the center of my shop and I just couldn't see having a DC in the middle with them. My HF DC is in the front corner now near my jointer/planer and now my TS is connected by a long overhead run. Now that I've used it some, the suckage is definitely reduced at my saw and it's more noticeable when I'm cutting something like MDF because the smell of the dust is more noticeable. I am now thinking about eliminating that overhead run and just branching off the new horizontal trunk with flex pipe to my TS. This will mean the pipe will be laying on the floor most of the time, though. On the plus side the DC is in a better location as the whole back of my shop looks absolutely spacious without it being there.

[wardprobst]

http://www.finewoodworking.com/workshop/article/a-shop-built-around-an-island.aspx

Here's one idea for central dust collection with tool surround.

[poolhound]

I had one of these short 3 gang extensions hanging from my overhead socket. No strain relief or locking and never had any issues.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/2-ft-12-3-STW-3-Outlet-Extension-Cord-Red-and-Black-AW62612/100661429

[JR]

Well, I finally have something resembling a shop.

I've implemented the concept of an island of power tools, including the DC after much noodling around. I got a new power panel installed, from which I have so far run six circuits. Lighting is accomplished via eight 8' and two 4' fluorescent fixtures, which is just about the right setup.

.

[JR]

Trying to tame iCloud Photos, here are a couple more pics.

[os1kne]

Very nice!