Well, it's all done and working fine now. I spoke with the electrician and
he told me what to get. I ran the EMT and wires and he hooked everything
up. It's hard-wired, so I'll have to use the circuit-breaker to shut off
the power, but the panel box is within view of the machine and it's not like
a table saw where you're putting your hands inside too often. Plus, there
is a safety switch attached to the hood, so when it's opened up, no power.

The run is almost exactly 100', so it took a bit of wire. All 6ga with the
ground being 10ga. Liquiflex from the overhead box to the machine and it's
all working fine. I'm going to bolt a piece of EMT to the planer along the
cord for 4-5 feet and tie the liquiflex to it for protection.

The electrician was really cool and did this on his lunch break for me. he
also let me use his company tubing bender each night, so I gave him $200 and
lunch for his time and help.

Thanks to everyone for the help (Lew & dpb). I appreciate it.

Mike

"Mike Dembroge" wrote in message
news
What is the best way to make an electrical connection froma ceiling
mounted outlet to machinery that is located in the center of a shop? I
have a large planer that is going into the center of my shop and need to
run power to it from above. There is a metal beam 11 feet from the floor
in the area and I've attached a piece of unistrut to this beam to extend
over the planer.

I'm thinking of a whip and a "chinese finger" or some such, but I'm not
sure what they're officially called. I've googled and looked at the
grainger catalog, but haven't found what I'm looking for yet.

Thanks
Mike