Help: New tools and need space and electrical plan

[Ralrick]

I bought some new tools this weekend and now need to redesign the way I have been working in my garage. I have a 2 car garage and need a to create a plan for how to layout my new tools. Anyone have a good online resource for shop layout considerations. I currently have a Powermatic 64 Contractors tablesaw, 10" Sliding miter saw on a dewalt extendable stand, 6" Jet jointer, Jet 14" bandsaw and a grizzley DC system. Drill press will be the only stationary tool. I'll be adding a planer in the near future and hopefully building a nice router table (have a cheap portable one at the moment).

My questions are focused in a couple areas.
1. I plan to keep all my tools on mobile basis for use of the garage when not woodworking. I have notice through some of the shop pictures on this site that usually people place their tablesaw near the middle of the shop along with an outfeed table / assembly table. This makes sense but I don't usually see the power cords. How are you running power to the machines and does anyone use drop down cords for the power or are you using extension cords of some type?

2. Dust Collection - With a mobile set-up, do you just move the DC hose to each tool as it is being used or is there another preferable set-up? I have also heard that there is some potential fire hazards with static elec charges being built up with dust collectors - Is there some precautions that need to be taken to prevent problems?

2a. My DC is wired for 220v and I think I need a dedicated line for my tablesaw. When you were setting up your shop, did you hire an electrician to run separate circuits for each tool or did you have multiple drops with the idea that you won't be running mutiple tools at one time?

3. I would like to use the space over the garage door for storing some wood. (My wife is a general contractor specializing in remodeling and it is not uncommon for us to have multiple 4x8 sheets of wood in the middle of the garage floor - it will be tough to set up shop unless I find a way to store sheet goods out of the way - either verticle or someplace overhead). Anyone have something you've designed in a garage for sheet storage?

I'm sure there are more questions coming but tired of typing at the moment. . . . .thanks in advance for any and all advice.

[Tarhead]

Grizzly has a shop layout utility: http://www.grizzly.com/workshopplanner.aspx
I think sheet goods are best stored on the long edge against a wall unless you have a strong back. You can attach a long bungee to the wall and keep them from falling.

[DaveO]

Originally Posted by Ralrick

I bought some new tools this weekend and now need to redesign the way I have been working in my garage. I have a 2 car garage and need a to create a plan for how to layout my new tools. Anyone have a good online resource for shop layout considerations. I currently have a Powermatic 64 Contractors tablesaw, 10" Sliding miter saw on a dewalt extendable stand, 6" Jet jointer, Jet 14" bandsaw and a grizzley DC system. Drill press will be the only stationary tool. I'll be adding a planer in the near future and hopefully building a nice router table (have a cheap portable one at the moment).
The Grizzly layout tool is a good one, or you could just draw a scaled floor plan of the space and move around cut out pieces of paper to represent the tools. Make sure to check infeed and out feed space to allow enough room for a minimum of 8' stock.

My questions are focused in a couple areas.
1. I plan to keep all my tools on mobile basis for use of the garage when not woodworking. I have notice through some of the shop pictures on this site that usually people place their tablesaw near the middle of the shop along with an outfeed table / assembly table. This makes sense but I don't usually see the power cords. How are you running power to the machines and does anyone use drop down cords for the power or are you using extension cords of some type?
I have my tablesaw permanently located in the middle of my shop. I also have a lolly column very close to it that I run the wiring down and then it just runs across a small area of the floor that isn't in any traffic pattern. I created a "extension cord" out of 8 ga. wire that runs to the 240v outlet on the wall.

2. Dust Collection - With a mobile set-up, do you just move the DC hose to each tool as it is being used or is there another preferable set-up? I have also heard that there is some potential fire hazards with static elec charges being built up with dust collectors - Is there some precautions that need to be taken to prevent problems?
I have a small DC and I leave it always connected to the tablesaw as it is a pain to get under the outfeed table to hook it up. I also have another hose branch that gets moved to whatever tool I am using. I have learned to step over the section of hose that lies on the floor. There really is no concern about static electricity and fire hazards in a home shop DC system. You just don't get enough velocity to create enough static energy to cause a problem.

2a. My DC is wired for 220v and I think I need a dedicated line for my tablesaw. When you were setting up your shop, did you hire an electrician to run separate circuits for each tool or did you have multiple drops with the idea that you won't be running mutiple tools at one time?

3. I would like to use the space over the garage door for storing some wood. (My wife is a general contractor specializing in remodeling and it is not uncommon for us to have multiple 4x8 sheets of wood in the middle of the garage floor - it will be tough to set up shop unless I find a way to store sheet goods out of the way - either verticle or someplace overhead). Anyone have something you've designed in a garage for sheet storage?

I'm sure there are more questions coming but tired of typing at the moment. . . . .thanks in advance for any and all advice.

You might take a look through the galleries and see how other folks have set up their shops. Often a picture is worth a 1000 words.
HTH, Dave

[Rick Orwig]

I have my equipment in a oversized one car garage. As I wanted to still be able to park my truck inside when not working on a project all my tools are on mobile bases as is my DC. I had an electrician add 2 120v 20 amp circuits and 2 220v circuits. This allows most operations to be performed without too much hassle except rolling the DC to the machine. By the way a remote switch for the DC really makes life easier. I studied a number of shop layouts but unless you have lots of room I find the being able to move, for instance, a planer or jointer to the center of the workspace for long pieces makes a lot of sense. Extension cords are necessary at times but that is not a big hassle for me. My wood supply including sheet goods are stored vertically on a mobile 8 ft wide self designed rack. Clamps are also stored on the frame of the wood storage rack. Most of the 4x8 sheets I have cut in half at the time of purchase as I do not usually need anything larger and it makes handling much easier. I hope this helps you.

[junquecol]

I'm currently about half way through a rewire of my shop. I'm using multi-wire branch circuits for the machines. What this means is a double pole breaker feeds two hots (220) and a neutral allows for two seperate 110 circuits form this breaker. One leg of the 220 passes through the sensor for my DC and operates it when either the 220, or the sensed leg of the 110 is used. Everything is run in 3/4 EMT. This way, I don't have to pull a seperate gound. By using 3/4s I can go back and add additional circuits in same pipe in future if needed. A subpanel should be installed in the garage. Your 110s may have to be GFIC recepticals, depending upon the inspector. Of course you may not be getting a permit. My shop is a detached (by fifty feet) building and thus wasn't considered a garage, even though it has two overhead doors.

[cpowell]

Originally Posted by Ralrick

I bought some new tools this weekend and now need to redesign the way I have been working in my garage. I have a 2 car garage and need a to create a plan for how to layout my new tools. Anyone have a good online resource for shop layout considerations. I currently have a Powermatic 64 Contractors tablesaw, 10" Sliding miter saw on a dewalt extendable stand, 6" Jet jointer, Jet 14" bandsaw and a grizzley DC system. Drill press will be the only stationary tool. I'll be adding a planer in the near future and hopefully building a nice router table (have a cheap portable one at the moment).

My questions are focused in a couple areas.
1. I plan to keep all my tools on mobile basis for use of the garage when not woodworking. I have notice through some of the shop pictures on this site that usually people place their tablesaw near the middle of the shop along with an outfeed table / assembly table. This makes sense but I don't usually see the power cords. How are you running power to the machines and does anyone use drop down cords for the power or are you using extension cords of some type?

2. Dust Collection - With a mobile set-up, do you just move the DC hose to each tool as it is being used or is there another preferable set-up? I have also heard that there is some potential fire hazards with static elec charges being built up with dust collectors - Is there some precautions that need to be taken to prevent problems?

2a. My DC is wired for 220v and I think I need a dedicated line for my tablesaw. When you were setting up your shop, did you hire an electrician to run separate circuits for each tool or did you have multiple drops with the idea that you won't be running mutiple tools at one time?

3. I would like to use the space over the garage door for storing some wood. (My wife is a general contractor specializing in remodeling and it is not uncommon for us to have multiple 4x8 sheets of wood in the middle of the garage floor - it will be tough to set up shop unless I find a way to store sheet goods out of the way - either verticle or someplace overhead). Anyone have something you've designed in a garage for sheet storage?

I'm sure there are more questions coming but tired of typing at the moment. . . . .thanks in advance for any and all advice.

1 and 2a. I ran 220 for the tablesaw overhead with a drop. I left the wire long enough that I can place it out of the way no matter what area I'm working in. I use dedicated 220 circuits for the DC and bandsaw. The 220 tablesaw circuit is shared with the jointer. I wired a plug for the 220 planer I will get one day (if my 120V benchtop planer ever dies) on the same circuit.

2. My DC has two 4 inch hoses (ports). One I share between router table and bandsaw. The other is shared between tablesaw, jointer, planer. I move the flex hose from machine to machine, but the bandsaw is 4 feet from the router table and the tablesaw/jointer/planer are within a few feet of each other. It's not a big deal and I promise you that you will only run stock through the planer one time without the hose connected- DAMHIKT. I will run hard pipe overhead and use a dedicated drop to each machine one day.

3. I have overhead sheet storage in one corner of my shop, about 7 1/2 feet above the floor. It is just a 2x4 frame with screwed metal joining plates. It saves a TREMENDOUS amount of space. I never have a problem with ply bending/warping. It is a PITA to dig ply out of. I still wouldn't do it differently. I just don't have enough wall space to dedicate to sheet stock. I think wall space should be reserved for toys tools. (A workbench is a tool, right??)

Chuck