HeyBub wrote:
Gramp's shop wrote:
Finally convinced my wife that I deserve the double garage for my
shop and will soon be moving out of the single stall I now call home.
This means a fixed location for most of my machinery, especially the
TS (soon to be equipped with a fixed outfeed table). Need to do the
prep work first -- power distribution and lighting and a good plan
for dust collection. Want to minimize wires on the floor and all the
other crap that gets in the way of my feet.

Larry (48 days to retirement, but who's counting?)

Suggestion: Put the power outlets on the ceiling.

Good suggestion. I have a couple of ceiling drops in my shop in the central
area where I have TS, joiner, dust collector, drum sander and router table.
Wall outlets around the perimeter too. I find the ceiling drops very handy,
best not located directly over a machine though.

I first started hanging power from the overhead in about 1963. I had a
photo studio, lights on stands with casters. Cords and casters don't mix
well so I strung aircraft cable end wall to end wall, three strands per
side, tensioned with turnbuckles (damn near pulled down the frame wall, the
other was concrete block). I used power cable the length of the room,
formed it into loops and hung it from the cables with metal rings, one per
loop and tying the power cords to the rings. Each power line was plugged
into a wall outlet, other end hung maybe 60" in the air. I could move
anyone most anywhere and hook a light to it, loops straighten out when
moved.. When not in use, they could just be shoved back to the end wall.
Worked well, ceiling was 12+'.

I intend to do something similar in my shop but will use a lazy "C" shape
curtain track attached to the ceiling and plastic slugs that fit it. What I
need is some coil cord that I can use as ends for the power cables. Coil
cord because the shop ceiling is lower, want to keep the power cord ends as
high as possible but still be able to reach them. I can find coil cord but
w/o a ground, want the ground. Someday...
--

dadiOH
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