Archive of 'Electrical Archives - The Art of Woodshop Design'

• 7 Strange Lessons & Tricks I Learned Installing a Shop Subpanel

  Written By Bobby.
  In Shop Systems

  

  In my previous article, Wiring Up Your Shop, I mentioned that I eventually wanted to put in a subpanel, but I didn’t feel like messing that deeply into electrical work.

  Well, now I kinda need to. I’ve got a bunch of 240V circuits that I need, and with my ideal shop layout, I just can’t have one breaker.

  Previously I had re-wired my Table Saw, Jointer, and Drum Sander with a longer power cord. I ran these along the dust collection flex hose up to the ceiling, and then to a common 240V outlet.

  Since I used these tools one at a time, all was fine. But my Drum Sander really belongs on the other side of the shop, so now I need at least two 240V outlets. I don’t want to put two 240V outlets on one circuit, but I don’t have any more room in my Main House Panel.

  
  

• Fast Fixes for an Under-Performing Workshop Layout

  Written By Bobby.
  In Shop Systems,Workshop Layout

  

  I thought I had the perfect design. Everything seemed to flow, tools were arranged ergonomically, and everything had electricity and a dust collection connection.

  Then I used that design in real life.

  Most things were exactly what I imagined they would be like, but there were a few deficiencies I couldn’t ignore…

  
  

• Wiring Up Your Shop

  Written By Bobby.
  In Shop Systems,Workshop Layout

  

  Are you tripping over power cords? Do you worry about what you’ll do when you buy a 240V table saw when you only have 120V outlets? Are you routinely tripping circuit breakers?

  As part of your overall woodshop design, assigning each tool to a circuit and positioning outlets to handle your current and future layout is one of the first steps…