New Shop Thread


gee-dub

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13 hours ago, wtnhighlander said:

@gee-dub, I wish I had thought of it...I have a 1960's era electrician's drill I could loan you. The gearbox is folded back on the motor so that with a typical spade or short auger bit, it still fits between studs so the holes are square-through.

Weighs about 40#, though! :o

Appreciate the offer.  Since that's just shy of 1/4 of my body weight I'm probably better off that you didn't think on it earlier :D:D:D

Getting waylaid today.  Tomorrow I will add some blocking for the drywall installation or run the wires for the 3-way and 4-way switching for the lights.  I have so much to do I can just go where the mood takes me for a while yet.

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Good call on the face plate labels.  I did this in my previous shop and will follow through on this one as well.  My labeling convention runs like '2, 32.3' which means the outlet is on service panel 2, breaker 32 and that this is the third outlet in the path on that breaker.  I only daisy chain general use outlets that are used incidentally. 

Most outlets are assigned and just have something like '2, 35' as the outlet has a dedicated breaker or '1, 10-12' for a 240v position that uses breaker positions 10 and 12.  I run GFCI's per code on the walls.  Where outlets are ceiling mounted (or otherwise difficult to reach) I run GFCI breakers for ease of access if required.

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As a contrast I can’t recall ever tripping one except in the house. I have heard that variable frequency drives and some variable motor controls caused them to trip in error. The easy fix there is to pass-through a non-protected outlet before starting the GFCI line. You can then plug your problematic tool into the non-GFCI protected outlet ahead of the protected section.

Apparently this doesn’t apply to corded variable speed tools because I run corded drill motors and variable speed routers on GFCI circuit’s all the time without incident (???). Old wives tale maybe? Erroneous reports from poorly wired shops? I’m no electrician but as I say, I have never tripped a GFCI in the shop. I do follow the NEC religiously. Maybe there’s actually a purpose to that book other than to just bug the pee-wad out of me. :D

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1 hour ago, Mark J said:

@gee-dub,  what are you planning to do for lighting in your new shop?

Three zones.  Outlets in the ceiling for hanging 'shop lites'.  Current units are LED, 4000k.  They will hang just below DC ducting to avoid shadows.  This is a change from years of 6500k T-8 lamps that served me well.  The upside to the 6500k is the bright white light, minimal eye fatigue, great visibility.  The downside is that I had to keep a variety of other lamps available to get a better color read when selecting material and finishing.  When it was time for new lamps I bought a range of CRI and Lumen value lamps to test.  The 4000k seems to be the best balance for me.  Four rows of four fixtures in the main machine and assembly areas.  Another 3 or 4 in the parts / finishing area.

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10 hours ago, bradpotts said:

looking good! I wish I would have thought about attic access when I was laying out my shop. Where the ladder comes down is right over my table saw. 

I wish I had had the forethought to put a ladder in mine when I built it. Back then I was a whole lot smarter and younger and a 6’ ladder would allow me to pull myself thru the opening between the joist. And also back then, all I was storing up there were 4 or 5 bags of duck decoys. 

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