Menu
What's new

Work Shop Ideas Needed?

Bill Satko said:
My garage (converted to my shop) also has access to a large the attic space via pull down stairs, but unfortunately the truss system takes up all the space. Suggest you get a truss system designed to allow for storage. Something like this:

203-1.jpg


The truss designers will design it to handle loads. It should not cost much more than a normal roof truss. Much better way to go.
Click to expand...

The disappearing stairs are for access to the two air conditioning units and water heater. I will use some are for light storage but not much.
The roof pitch is only going to be 7/12. My residence is all 10/12 and 12/12 and I can't get my fat butt up there. I want a roof that I can walk on and 7/12 is about the max for me.

Regards,
 
Travis Johnson said:
I put a in-floor receptacle in for my table saw and I messed up on the conduit. I ran the bends too tight, and with the heavier wire, it would not push up through. Now I have an empty box that fills with sawdust and does me no good as far as power goes. The point here is to really plan for light sweeps when bending your conduit. It sounds pretty dumb I know, but when dealing with the limited space of a slab, it is easy to make the bends too steep.
Click to expand...

:D Been there and done that
 
One thing I do feel I got right was my dust collection system. The runs from the machines are above floor, but the dust collection system drops into a sump below the floor then out a spout and into my manure spreader. In other words it extracts the sawdust directly from my machines, through the collector and outside my shop without me ever touching it. I don't need to empty any dust collection bags either. It simply blows it into a pit or into my manure spreader simply by tuurning on a switch.

But by having a sump below the floor level, whatever escapes the collection system and lands on the floor, can be swept directly into a trap door over my sump where the blower pushes it into my manure spreader. Because of these two things, I do not have a dust pan in my shop.

This is only possible because my shop is built on a 6% grade and the left side of the shop is exposed. I had to haul in fill and gravel to level the shop out so I used concrete and bricks to create a sump before backfilling and pouring my floor on the "lifted" side of the shop. It has worked out extremely well though.
 
Travis Johnson said:
One thing I do feel I got right was my dust collection system. The runs from the machines are above floor, but the dust collection system drops into a sump below the floor then out a spout and into my manure spreader. In other words it extracts the sawdust directly from my machines, through the collector and outside my shop without me ever touching it. I don't need to empty any dust collection bags either. It simply blows it into a pit or into my manure spreader simply by tuurning on a switch.

But by having a sump below the floor level, whatever escapes the collection system and lands on the floor, can be swept directly into a trap door over my sump where the blower pushes it into my manure spreader. Because of these two things, I do not have a dust pan in my shop.

This is only possible because my shop is built on a 6% grade and the left side of the shop is exposed. I had to haul in fill and gravel to level the shop out so I used concrete and bricks to create a sump before backfilling and pouring my floor on the "lifted" side of the shop. It has worked out extremely well though.
Click to expand...

Very smart, making the land work for you.
 
Travis Johnson said:
One thing I do feel I got right was my dust collection system. The runs from the machines are above floor, but the dust collection system drops into a sump below the floor then out a spout and into my manure spreader. In other words it extracts the sawdust directly from my machines, through the collector and outside my shop without me ever touching it. I don't need to empty any dust collection bags either. It simply blows it into a pit or into my manure spreader simply by tuurning on a switch.

But by having a sump below the floor level, whatever escapes the collection system and lands on the floor, can be swept directly into a trap door over my sump where the blower pushes it into my manure spreader. Because of these two things, I do not have a dust pan in my shop.

This is only possible because my shop is built on a 6% grade and the left side of the shop is exposed. I had to haul in fill and gravel to level the shop out so I used concrete and bricks to create a sump before backfilling and pouring my floor on the "lifted" side of the shop. It has worked out extremely well though.
Click to expand...

I like the idea of the sump/sweep for the DC... I've run my DC pipes overhead then down one wall where they run under the work bench to the exit. MY DC is outside the shop in another "closet"... wish I had made the "closet" a little bigger for a future compressor. Even with the DC running full time, I get lots of wood chips off the lathe scattered around the shop.
 
Lots of good suggestions. I'd reinforce the window recommendation. I'm in my basement shop and would love good daylighting. Also, don't underestimate the value of insulation. If you can afford it, overinsulate. Standard recommendations call for R11 in the walls and R19 in the ceiling/roof. That, in my book, is an absolute minium. Spending a few more bucks now will only save you more money the longer you have your shop. I like the idea of DC and power in the slab, but it works well with drops from the ceiling as well - just not as elegant and might get in the way from time to time.
Have a great time with setting up the new shop.
paulh
 
Travis Johnson said:
I put a in-floor receptacle in for my table saw and I messed up on the conduit. I ran the bends too tight, and with the heavier wire, it would not push up through. Now I have an empty box that fills with sawdust and does me no good as far as power goes. The point here is to really plan for light sweeps when bending your conduit. It sounds pretty dumb I know, but when dealing with the limited space of a slab, it is easy to make the bends too steep.
Click to expand...

Good morning Travis, not to hijack the thread but when I had to get the wire from the box to the TS receptacle I tied a small piece of cloth to a length of nylon twine and sucked the twine through the conduit with a shop vac. (did this once on a 250' run once too) I then used the strong nylon to pull a a bundle of #10 wire through the conduit. You can also us the nylon to pull the end of a fish tape through too. The trick is to use the more flexible multi-strand wire. YMMV Just a thought!:thumb:
 
Royall Clark said:
Good morning Travis, not to hijack the thread but when I had to get the wire from the box to the TS receptacle I tied a small piece of cloth to a length of nylon twine and sucked the twine through the conduit with a shop vac. (did this once on a 250' run once too) I then used the strong nylon to pull a a bundle of #10 wire through the conduit. You can also us the nylon to pull the end of a fish tape through too. The trick is to use the more flexible multi-strand wire. YMMV Just a thought!:thumb:
Click to expand...
You can also buy some wire lubricant at your electrical supply - the Borg might have it also. It helps.
 
I would run a min. of 200 amp service. The cost is almost the sam and you do not need to use it all.Cost is way more if later on you want to add a larger service. My floor is a very uneven concrete floor for now. By end of summer it will be a new concrete slab with radiant heat and wooden planks resting on that. I like the dc on the ceiling, it is better for moving pipes around as you upgrade machines and fine tune your set up.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top