Shop layout critiques wanted

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  • mm1992
    Forum Newbie
    • Nov 2019
    • 37
    • Columbus, OH
    • BT3100

    Shop layout critiques wanted

    As I'm not allowed up upload attachments yet, here is a direct link to the photo of my shop layout: https://i.imgur.com/mi3yVJQ.png

    Hello everyone, I used to be active here way back in the day (I bought my BT3100 when I was in the 7th grade) and took a bit of an unwanted hiatus as my woodworking had to stop through college and a few years of living in apartments before finally buying a house of my own. I just can't for the life of my remember or find my old username, so here I am with a new one.

    So, before we even got to the closing table, I had my now wife sold on demoing the most finished (and furthest from the stairs) corner of the basement. After fixing everything else in the house that needed fixing, I was finally able to rip down some walls. The shop area is now clear. and before I start running EMT on the walls for power I figured I should probably make sure I have a good idea of what I want to end up with so I don't waste time running power somewhere stupid. So attached is my layout, and let me talk my way though it.

    First thing I want to note is the circles on the layout. The two in line are lally posts supporting the beam for the house. The one by the utility sink is the sanitary drain/vent stack. There is no utility sink yet, so I can flip that to the opposite side. Otherwise its pretty straight forward. Left wall has 2 shelves to hold all manners of tools and stuff. Jointer sits out off that wall far enough that I can run stock through it. Just above the jointer is my bandsaw. I don't use it terribly much so I figure it'll do just fine on a mobile base. Not shown on this sketch is a planer, I was going to mount it on a piece of plywood and then clamp it to the tablesaw top when I used it. I figured just below the jointer is a good place to stash it. Tablesaw is placed centered in the room with enough space to hit max rip capacity. I don't think I'll ever have anything with more than 30" capacity. To handle sheet goods I'll use a straight edge and a circular saw on top of some foam insulation in the garage. Getting anything big into my basement is just not gonna happen. Right wall has the drill press in the corner, right now its a benchtop unit on a stand, but I think it'll work for what I need it'll do 90% and for the rest I can pull it out from the corner. Then there is the router table tucked between the stairs and the utility sink (the stairs allow for in/out-feed room, the just limit head height).

    I think for wood storage, I'll mount some shelving above the jointer, but I'll also keep some shelf space in the garage. Anything big would have to be cut down outside to come in anyway. Maybe it'd make sense to run the jointer and planer in the garage? After a years of a garage workshop I've been trying to avoid dealing with the temperature extremes, but I've never had to deal with stock length constraints.


    Finally, power. Right now my panel has 4 spare slots. This space has a dedicated lighting circuit with a utility outlet in the mech room. I've also got a 15A outlet next to the panel that provides the GFI for my exterior outlets. My thought was to run a single 20A circuit around the room, use the lighting circuit to share with an air purifier, and pull the shopvac off the exterior outlet GFI. That leaves me 3 spare spots. 2 would be used for a 220V outlet for the jointer, and possible tablesaw upgrade in the future. Is 1 20A circuit enough around the walls? Am I shooting myself in the foot not just adding a subpanel? The only other electric upgrade I could see is an electric car charger, but there is a stove circuit we don't use I can steal for that.

    Any other advice you have would be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks,
    Myles
  • twistsol
    Veteran Member
    • Dec 2002
    • 2892
    • Cottage Grove, MN, USA.
    • Ridgid R4512, 2x ShopSmith Mark V 520, 1951 Shopsmith 10ER

    #2
    First off, Welcome Back. I have to say as I was reading trhough your post, you addressed everything I though about. You've obviously spent a fair amount of thinking this through. The layout looks good.

    I would definitely go with a subpanel. it just makes wiring changes easier and it's more convenient to reset breakers if necessary.
    Also, since this is a basement shop have you thought about how you will keep sawdust out of the rest of the house and heating system if you have forced air?
    Chr's
    __________
    An ethical man knows the right thing to do.
    A moral man does it.

    Comment

    • LCHIEN
      Internet Fact Checker
      • Dec 2002
      • 20913
      • Katy, TX, USA.
      • BT3000 vintage 1999

      #3
      I don't like the DP backed into a corner. Some days you have to drill holes along a long board you should have the DP fence parallel to the wall with room on both sides for feeding long boards. across it.
      I don't like a single power branch for your shop. I have I think, 5. At a bare minimum you need one for your bigger power tools (planer, jointer, and table saw) and that assumes you run one of those at a time. You also want one line for a dust collectors/shop vac. You can't run them off the same line as they will draw too much collective power when loaded to the max making a deep cut. It may work when you test it but it can trip the breaker if you look at the maximum total load.
      And you may want yet another line to handle an air compressor which kicks on full load randomly.
      That's three 15-20 Amps circuits you need. Air conditioning, heating needs? that's Another line if that's a eventual concern.
      And you don't want your lights all on one branch. Safety issue.
      Where's the miter saw?
      Have you thought about lighting? Lots of four foot LED shop lights suspended from the ceiling and maybe some task lights..
      Have you thought about collecting dust, any? How you can maximize connectivity and moving a vac around to the different machines?

      BTW, welcome back
      Last edited by LCHIEN; 11-03-2019, 04:21 AM.
      Loring in Katy, TX USA
      If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
      BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

      Comment

      • mm1992
        Forum Newbie
        • Nov 2019
        • 37
        • Columbus, OH
        • BT3100

        #4
        Originally posted by twistsol
        First off, Welcome Back. I have to say as I was reading trhough your post, you addressed everything I though about. You've obviously spent a fair amount of thinking this through. The layout looks good.

        I would definitely go with a subpanel. it just makes wiring changes easier and it's more convenient to reset breakers if necessary.
        Also, since this is a basement shop have you thought about how you will keep sawdust out of the rest of the house and heating system if you have forced air?
        I should clarify - the current main panel is located in the shop. A subpanel would end up on the same wall just a few feet away. I have thought about putting in a subpanel for a manual transfer switch, so maybe I'll go that way if I do a subpanel so I'm minimizing future electric work.

        Furnace is located just outside the shop. Based on the layout of the room, I was going to install 2 bifold louvered doors to allow access to the furnace and hot water tank, and to allow air flow for combustion. I can't put a solid wall there because the current layout of the mechanical space doesn't leave any room to replace them (If I have to relight the pilot light on the hot water tank, I'm probably going to cut down a wall and move it. I have to remove the door to change the furnace filter). Maybe I should do solid doors and bring in air through the front of the enclosure outside the shop. All of the air returns in the basement are fully sealed, so hopefully it won't be pulling sawdust into the system, but I'm sure I'll find something that needs to be sealed up.

        Originally posted by LCHIEN
        I don't like the DP backed into a corner. Some days you have to drill holes along a long board you should have the DP fence parallel to the wall with room on both sides for feeding long boards. across it.
        That makes sense. Maybe I should swap it with the router table and just use a mobile base for the router table.

        I don't like a single power branch for your shop. I have I think, 5. At a bare minimum you need one for your bigger power tools (planer, jointer, and table saw) and that assumes you run one of those at a time. You also want one line for a dust collectors/shop vac. You can't run them off the same line as they will draw too much collective power when loaded to the max making a deep cut. It may work when you test it but it can trip the breaker if you look at the maximum total load.
        Yea, my assumption was I'd only run one tool at a time. I wanted to just use the existing GFI outlet on the outdoor circuit for the shopvac but since its a 15A circuit, if I get a proper dust collector I'll need a new dedicated 20A circuit for that. That's 2 circuits for 120, and 2 to run 240. That's right at capacity there. Maybe I should just make 2 runs around the perimeter and color code outlets.

        And you may want yet another line to handle an air compressor which kicks on full load randomly.
        Totally forgot about that, I thought "I'll just tuck it under the stairs in the corner" and forgot I'll have to plug it in. Worst case I could turn it off when I'm not using it, but that seems like something that's easily forgotten until it trips a breaker mid cut.

        That's three 15-20 Amps circuits you need. Air conditioning, heating needs? that's Another line if that's a eventual concern.
        And you don't want your lights all on one branch. Safety issue.
        Luckily the space is currently conditioned from the furnace, so I won't need to do anything there. If all of my lights have their own circuit is that still a safety issue? I just assumed that since they had an existing circuit just for them that I could call that good. But if I would need to separate the lights, that's another circuit. Which puts me firmly into subpanel territory.

        Where's the miter saw?
        I don't have one. When I got the bt3100 I didn't have a budget for much else and got very comfortable using it for all of my cross cutting. I guess if I ever wanted one I could build a stand the jointer can roll under. So far thinking this through has really sold me on extra circuits and mobile bases anywhere I can.

        Have you thought about lighting? Lots of four foot LED shop lights suspended from the ceiling and maybe some task lights..
        Have you thought about collecting dust, any? How you can maximize connectivity and moving a vac around to the different machines?

        BTW, welcome back
        I had originally planned on a bunch of 4' T8 fixtures but I guess since they make them in LED now, that's what I'll be using. Hopefully I can squeeze 5 or 6 of them in there, but I've got to figure that one out coordinating with everything already on the joists. As for dust collection, that I haven't though through aside from wheeling the shopvac around. I doubt I'll ever get everything hard plumbed for that, but maybe I can at least be able to hard plumb the stuff that wouldn't be moving.

        Comment

        • capncarl
          Veteran Member
          • Jan 2007
          • 3564
          • Leesburg Georgia USA
          • SawStop CTS

          #5
          Something that I have learned about designing and arranging a shop is that nothing is always where you need it. I would like to have my tools perminately set up when I need them, but that ain’t happening. In a perfect world we would have a shop as large as a gymnasium and everything would be hard wired in and everything would have its own dedicated dust collection piping and would look like Norm’s shop.
          I have given up even trying to design a suitable tool arrangement for everything, my shop arrangement at this time has every piece of equipment on casters except the milling machine. The large tools are positioned against the wall near workbenches (better know as pile-its because everything seems to just get piled on top of workbenches)...those tools are the milling machine and sliding compound miter saw, the miter saw is in a hooded dust control cabinet. The band saw lives in a neutral corner where it normally functions well and has gobs of dust collection available, but can be rolled out as needed for longer or larger cuts. Of course the table saw sets in the center of the shop in everythings way. All other tools are mounted to roll around cabinets with dust control connections and are parked in front of the wall mounted wood rack. When they are needed I roll out whatever I need for the project and connect to power and dust collection, If another tool tool is needed it’s easy to roll it out and hook it up, and when a tool is not needed any more I just roll it to its parking space. Sometimes I have to weave around tools but I figure it’s the best I can do with the 750 sf. of floor space I have.

          As as far as shop lighting goes... you never have enough. Start off with LED lights, Install all the overhead lighting you can afford, leave enough room between every row of lights because you will probably need to fill in that with more lights whenever you can. I have swing arm lights on most every roll around tool..... and still need more light.

          Electrical conduit......every stick of conduit you mount to the wall will eventually be in the way of dust collect piping or something else and will have to be moved. Just pick a comfortable height for recepticals and put them several feet apart on as many different breakers as you have room for in your panel and let the dust collection piping worry about itself later.


          Comment

          • mpc
            Senior Member
            • Feb 2005
            • 979
            • Cypress, CA, USA.
            • BT3000 orig 13amp model

            #6
            Capncarl's summary mirrors my experiences and shop. Every large tool is on a mobile base; "benchtop" tools are attached to roll-around storage cabinets made of baltic birch ply. They used to have doors but I've converted them to drawers... cabinets may hold more but make finding/reaching stuff is a hassle especially when the cabinet is 20+ inches deep. It's nice to have a benchtop tool and all of its bits, blades, belts, wrenches/tools, whatever, in one area. Most of mine sit parked along a wall facing the main work area; the other side of the work area is another row of roll-around tool cabinets. Usually I can just pull a tool forward a foot or two to make use of it. Even the BT3 sits parked against a wall. To use it, I pull it straight out for crosscuts or shorter rips; if I need longer cuts it gets rotated 90 degrees. Tools that came with typical splayed-legged stands? Those stands got replaced by roll-around cabinets as well. Such stands gobble a lot of floor space and don't provide much, if any, additional storage space. My roll-around stands come in two basic sizes: one size is a square top, the other is half-as deep but just as wide. This way they line up evenly and look good. I'm not the only person on this web site to do it this way either; WLee made a thread describing tools on similar-footprint roll-around units so they too park nicely and evenly along a wall.

            Many books talk about making the table saw the "central fixture" in the shop. Depending on the type of projects you do, that may not be necessary. If you don't use large work pieces then you don't need maximum space around the table saw. A sawboard and circular saw outside, or in the garage, gets long boards or sheet goods down to reasonable sizes. In my shop, the jointer and planer demand the most footprint during use. My general work area is rather rectangular; most of my tools and roll-around cabinets are parked along the long sides of the rectangle. Rolling out one tool at a time maximizes infeed and outfeed space. If I need lots and lots of room for something, I can either work just outside the shop or move two cars out of the other end of the shop for a few hours.

            Think about your "future dream tool acquisitions" as you make your shop layout - a little re-arrangement flexibility is a good thing. Especially taller items: if you install wall cabinets, they can limit the height of future tools unless they are easily moved. My cabinets are long boxes - great for storing some things, miserable if I need to move them. Typical kitchen upper cabinets are rather limiting in a shop: too tall so they get in the way of benchtop tools on cabinets, and too narrow/skinny for typical woodworking items: drills, circular saws, etc. Shops almost always accumulate more tools and stuff... make your plans adaptable!

            Lumber storage: a real nuisance. Pieces of sheet goods are the most annoying as almost any storage method either takes a lot of space or makes it hard to fish through the pieces to find and then extract the one you want. Elsewhere in this site, I've posted pictures of my storage area. Wire shelves from the big-box stores for boards, dowels, and other sticks above a large wedge-shaped bucket for sheet goods. That holds full-sized sheet goods on-edge; it's got beefy casters and it is hinged to the wall when I need to load/unload something big. Behind it, in what amounts to the stud bays of that wall, are smaller pockets for smaller cutoffs. Not only does this stuff gobble up 9 feet of wall... it also requires significant free space to slide stuff in/out of the sheet goods rack. (which means moving one of the cars basically!) It works well enough. For a basement shop, you've already stated you are limited in just how big things can be to even get into the shop so you probably won't need full-size sheet storage. But pieces of sheet goods still gobble up space just as teenagers gobble up junk food. This thread has pics of my setup: Lumber storage

            Outlets: if you string new outlets, I strongly recommend running 20 amp circuits rather than the usual 15 amps. That entails 20 amp breakers obviously, a bit thicker wire, and the 20 amp outlets that have a sideways "T" shaped opening for one prong. They'll take regular power cords or the 20 amp cords. Many bigger tools need more than 15 amps. And many tools with a 15 amp power cord sometimes draw a bit more than 15 amps when heavily loaded or bogged down... my drum sander can exceed 20 amps for a few seconds if I ask it to take too big a bite for example; air compressors (bigger than the "pancake" ones sold for nail guns) often need significant amperage when re-starting. A few separate circuits: one for "big" tools that are used one-at-a-time, one for the air compressor, one for dust collection, and one general purpose line for small tools and cordless tool chargers would be my minimum recommendation. As for lighting, two separate circuits - with at least one of them not tied into your main tool outlets (though it can be in the general purpose circuit) - is a safety thing. You don't want a tool popping a circuit breaker and leaving you in the dark while a blade is coasting down... where are your hands and the workpiece relative to that still-spinning but invisible blade?

            Any kids around? If so, a sub-panel with a "master off switch" might be a good idea. I never leave any tool plugged in when I leave my shop - even though I don't have kids. The shop itself has its own door locks too. Overkill? Maybe, but it is a trivially easy safety thing to unplug stuff at the end of the day. The one exception is my overhead air filter box - which has a timer controlled fan with fine filters to clean shop air. Turns out it was the one thing that needed to be unplugged: the electronic circuit board developed a fault that resulted in it sending power to the fan motor in an improper manner... that nearly burned up the motor and did create a lot of heat. What could have happened had that motor gotten just a bit hotter before I noticed? A shop with a sunroof? The board fortunately was under warranty. If you've ever seen a house after a nearby lightning strike - where the walls have a burn pattern that traces every inch of wiring - you'd consider unplugging stuff when not in use as a protection mechanism. Rare, but bad things do happen. You wear seat belts in your car even though odds are they won't be needed on this trip...

            mpc

            Comment

            • mpc
              Senior Member
              • Feb 2005
              • 979
              • Cypress, CA, USA.
              • BT3000 orig 13amp model

              #7
              I just took another look at your picture... the support posts... normally such things get in the way. How can you take advantage of them? Zip-tie some beefy extension cords to one or both of them or strap Romex to one/both for a "mid shop outlet." Avoiding extension cords on the floor is a good safety thing. (tripping hazards) Dust collection hose/pipe can be strapped to these as well. With those ideas in mind, consider flipping your shop so the jointer, planer, etc. are on the side by the poles. A dust collector or strong shop vac in the lower-right corner with hoses on the ceiling could use those columns to support the main "drops" to tool/ground level. One thing I would recommend: any dust collector or overhead air filter unit: don't have it too close to your primary workbench and do not aim the exhaust in that direction! You'll end up with fine dust on your work making glue-ups and finishing difficult. And having a fan blowing on the back of your head isn't pleasant... and a fan hitting your workbench just means any sanding dust you make is blown into the air instantly. Been there, done that. I had to turn my overhead air filter 180 degrees because of this. I thought aiming it's inlet at the primary dust collector was a smart idea - so it'd suck up the "fines" that made it through the bags - but that aimed the exhaust fan at my bench which caused any/all dust on the bench to become airborne. Very bad - totally defeated the idea of having an overhead air filter system!

              Cordless tools? Dedicate a shelf for chargers and put an outlet nearby; a 4-way outlet if you have multiple chargers or brands. Those power strips sold for PCs and TV/entertainment centers work well for chargers too; that way you have one master OFF switch for all of the chargers. You don't want chargers on your main work bench/area - they just get in the way or get knocked to the floor.

              One thing I noticed missing from your diagram: a second work table or support. Often you'll need a place to dry-fit the project as it's being built (so you can take measurements of stuff for example) while keeping the main workbench clear to build the next piece of the project. Or as a place to stack stuff in clamps while the glue dries. Some folks have fancy "assembly tables" for this task - nice if you have the space and funds. For others, this may be a pair of sawhorses and a solid-core door or other flat surface... or even a couple Workmate style stands. I like having a flat table near the table saw and other cutting tools for staging workpieces as I make multiple cuts; that's safer than trying to pile them onto the table saw and easier than making trips back-n-forth to the workbench. A roll-around cart, with a flat top and a shelf below, holds lots of ready-to-be-cut pieces and the final cut pieces. Then push it to the workbench where it'll hold those cut pieces until you need each one. Just maintain the discipline to avoid it becoming a catch-all for junk.

              mpc

              Comment

              • LCHIEN
                Internet Fact Checker
                • Dec 2002
                • 20913
                • Katy, TX, USA.
                • BT3000 vintage 1999

                #8
                You don't need a complete 2 circuits only for lights. they are a relatively low load. just make sure some of them are on another circuit thats can handle an extra 50-100 watts.

                In my shop, I've never had the lighting circuit trip off. However the thought of it doing so while using a power tool is frightening.
                I have two A19 sockets (with 60Weq LEDs) controlled by a wall switch at the entrance to the garage put in by the original builder on some original circuit that I always turn on when in the shop as my backup lighting.
                Then I have a 20 A circuit that supplies sockets all over the shop walls for radio, hand drill, small hand power tools, chargers, small electrical appliances, task lighting, and the network of 4' shop lights (currently a mix of T8, T12 and LED) all over my ceiling.

                The shop lights (7) are going to be replaced by LED as they fail. But I'm just replacing on an as needed basis. There's no huge benefit to replacing them all right now.
                Last edited by LCHIEN; 11-04-2019, 01:03 PM.
                Loring in Katy, TX USA
                If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
                BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

                Comment

                • leehljp
                  Just me
                  • Dec 2002
                  • 8429
                  • Tunica, MS
                  • BT3000/3100

                  #9
                  In agreement with Loring, I have learned it is not practical to place oft used machinery in a corner unless they are on rollers and space is tight. When I was overseas, I had limited circuitry (3, 2-100 & 1-200V) and had to consciously realize that I could only run two items at the same time. I only had a small air compressor, so I did't worry about that part, but I did have a dust collector system and ran that on a separate line from the machine that I was using. I had a welder and of course did not have other machines on when using that.
                  Hank Lee

                  Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!

                  Comment

                  • cwsmith
                    Veteran Member
                    • Dec 2005
                    • 2737
                    • NY Southern Tier, USA.
                    • BT3100-1

                    #10
                    Pretty much everything seems to be covered with the preceding posts, but I'll chime in anyway just from my own experience with dealing with a small shop.

                    While the basement has been my only place for years, the biggest drawbacks was the wife's tolerance for the noise and the dust. I'm pretty clean, sweeping and vacuuming during and after each work session (always had the shop vac hooked to the tool I was using too). But still, it just turned into a hassle. I'm presently out in the backyard 12 x 20 'Amish' work shed, which works much better, although it's cramped, but I think quite efficient for me.

                    I agree with the others that you need more bench area than just the one that you have. Likewise, I agree that having your drill press in the corner wouldn't work well for me; but of course it all depends on the kinds of projects you do. For me, I often need to drill holes along the length of a seven or eight foot piece (bookcase or similar storage structure), so I have my drill press positioned more toward the center of my longest wall. In that position, it also acts as an in-feed support for my radial arm saw, which works out nicely for me.

                    Great on the positioning of the table saw, but don't you need out-feed support? I too position my table saw as close to the middle of the room as possible, but I have a bench positioned to receive the stock that I'm cutting. Likewise, I've positioned both my 60-inch benches end-to-end to the right of my table saw to act as a temporary platform to move my cut stock pieces.

                    Basically, from my perspective, you need to look at how you use the particular tool and place it accordingly. In-feed and out-feed are important. In my very small basement shop, I had my router table and table saw on wheels, so I could move them to the center of the room when I needed to use them, and then place them back against the wall to get them out of the way. My RAS and floor-standing drill press don't move so I had them in an adjacent room, angled so that I could feed them from the adjourning doorway.... workable, but not all that convenient.

                    In my present shop, I've got the table saw in the middle with an out-feed bench, and the drill press and RAS adjacent to each other, against one wall so their tables support each other. The router against the end wall, opposite the table saw, and my two workbenches on the wall opposite the RAS and drill press, where it can be used to hold the stock I'm working on. The whole idea is to not have to move my larger tools and still have the tables positioned so they support the stock as I move from one tool to the other during a project.

                    Planning also incorporates where the electrical outlets will go, which of the three circuits, that I presently have, are on, and also (very important) that the lights are on two separate circuits so I don't go completely dark in the midst of running any of the power tools. (Having all my lights go off when I'm feeding any tool, especially the table saw, is a nightmare I don't want to experience!)

                    Also, good idea to find a wall space for a first aid kit, phone, and fire extinguisher that is easily reached without giving it a lot of thought!

                    CWS
                    Last edited by cwsmith; 11-04-2019, 07:53 PM.
                    Think it Through Before You Do!

                    Comment

                    • capncarl
                      Veteran Member
                      • Jan 2007
                      • 3564
                      • Leesburg Georgia USA
                      • SawStop CTS

                      #11
                      The major tool that I see missing is the dust collector. If your idea of a dust collector is a broom and dustpan, or even a shop vac, or a shop vac with thein separator, you will find that when you get tired of dust everywhere and come to your senses and decide you need a substantial dust collector you will have to move a lot of stuff around. There are some nice collectors that are built for low ceilings that are nice packages. They all require a separate power supply though, and oh my at the noise they put out. You can’t believe the nose in a room the size of a workshop. Add another couple of feet for each side for a noise abatement wall, that makes it larger than your table saw and most of the outfeed table you need. In my opinion it’s money and space well spent.

                      Comment

                      • Carlos
                        Veteran Member
                        • Jan 2004
                        • 1893
                        • Phoenix, AZ, USA.

                        #12
                        I never move most of my tools, so I've started taking them off the mobile bases, and nearly everything is permanently connected to DC. This is after many many years of changes and refining things. Also I have a garage shop, and always work with the door open, so the bandsaw outfeed and table saw infeed are "free" outdoor space. Giving me a larger space. Even expensive mobile bases are less stable and have more vibration than a good thick plywood or MDF base, so that's my preference for tools that need a base. I frequently have long things on my DP, so I agree on giving it more room. My DP and miter table are aligned so that each can provide space and even support for the other. I have a rolling support on the DP base to support long pieces to the right of the SCMS blade. My workbench is the outfeed table. The outfeed of the planer and drum sander next with the DP and miter. This sort of nesting and sharing lets me put a lot of tools in a small space, and in some cases use them for mutual workpiece support.

                        I run the DC (240v 20a) and one power tool, or the shop vac (120v 12a) and one power tool. If the wife decides to lathe, then that will be running too (115v 10a). I put in a 70a subpanel which is overkill but nice. There are circuits spread around, including the existing 2x20a garage circuits, so there are never two tools on the same one running. The shop vac has its own (shared with low-power stuff). Everything else is on other circuits. You'd overload one if you ran the miter and the edge sander at once, but that doesn't happen ever. The 240v 30a is shared between the drum sander, TS, and BS. The DC has its own circuit, and it is located outside. That's a huge improvement over having it inside. Since I don't see a DC in your picture, will be be outside?

                        Comment

                        • capncarl
                          Veteran Member
                          • Jan 2007
                          • 3564
                          • Leesburg Georgia USA
                          • SawStop CTS

                          #13
                          Food for thought about dust collectors.....I think dust collectors are particular to humidity...... something you don’t usually have much of in AZ. Here in the Deep South when the rh gets 40 to 60 the sawdust will probably cake up in the pipes like concrete. I’ve seen dust collector systems handling peanut skins and dust cake up to the point the piping is nearly solid with a small opening and the cyclone is caked up so bad it breaks down its supports and falls to the ground! Having the dust collector clyclone and motor outside solves a giant problem with the noise it creates. Neighbors might object to the noise though. Nothing like having some cranky old geeizer mad at you for the rest of his life so you have to handle touchy neighbors with grace. I elected to install my dust collector inside the shop to keep from pulling out my air conditioned/heated air and squirting it outside and pulling outside hot/cold/wet air inside. The noise was not something I anticipated until I had the machine installed. Locking back I believe that my best option was to install the clycone outside behind the shop under the lean to attached carport and build an air tite and soundproof enclosure around it and return it’s filtered shop air back into the shop.

                          Comment

                          • mm1992
                            Forum Newbie
                            • Nov 2019
                            • 37
                            • Columbus, OH
                            • BT3100

                            #14
                            Thanks for the advice guys, it's not as easy to quote from my phone as it is from my computer, so hopefully I can address everything.

                            As for an assembly table and outfeed support for the tablesaw, yes I do need that. In my old shop setup I had a workbench on casters that was 1/4" lower than the saw that I used for that purpose. It worked great but I HATED having to clear my workbench from what I was working on to make a cut. Hence in this case I pushed the workbench against the wall to hopefully allow me to keep whatever else I'm working on sitting there while I use the saw. So I'll have to figure out what I want there, but I think something adjustable to be an outfeed table and an assembly table would be perfect. The idea of a roll around cart sounds great too, something I can tuck away in a corner but then stack a bunch of wood on as I'm making cuts and then wheel it to the router table or whatever.

                            For the lights, I'll keep my existing dedicated lighting circuit and supplement a couple of lights on the dedicated air compressor circuit. 2 20A circuits around the room should cover power for (most) remaining tools and dust collection.

                            A master switch is a great point. There aren't kids yet, but I've been replacing all the outlets with tamper resistant ones as we've gone though the house painting and fixing up stuff. Might as well make it easy to child proof the shop, and a single subpanel breaker makes that easy (for everything but the existing dedicated light circuit)

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                            • Carlos
                              Veteran Member
                              • Jan 2004
                              • 1893
                              • Phoenix, AZ, USA.

                              #15
                              With the DC inside of a 3/4 plywood "shed," very little noise gets out. I also mounted the motor on a piece of rubber mat, with rubber isolators, on a piece of MDF. My neighbor on that side uses a gas blower and gas mower weekly, which are both much louder than the DC. I can't remember the measured levels exactly, but at a few feet away it's easy to have a conversation. There is a tiny bit of dust escaping since it's a cyclone only, no filters. It vents only down by the ground, so there's nearly zero visible dust in the air.

                              As far as clearing the feed/work table, two thoughts... I too kind of hate it sometimes. But 90% of the time I SHOULD be clearing it as I've left junk out and it doesn't need to be out. I have a rolling cart nearby for project hardware, small pieces, and required tools. I put the stuff in the cart and it's by my work area but out of the way.

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