If it's not too late, see if you can make the ceiling nine or (way better)
ten feet, so that you can move sheet goods like 4x8 sheets of plywood around
on end without knocking the fluorescent light fixtures off of the ceiling.

Put duplex 115 outlets about every six feet along the walls, and set them so
that the bottoms are about 50" off the floor, so that if you stack sheet
goods along the walls you can get to the outlets without moving the sheet
goods. Another good thing to do is to 'hop' the wall outlets on two separate
circuits, so that no two adjacent outlets are on the same circuit. This way,
you can plug demanding tools into adjacent outlets without blowing a circuit
breaker. And wire them for 20 amps.

Put all the lighting on the ceiling you can afford, but wire it in two
separate switched circuits in such a way that you can turn half of the
lights on at a time - stagger the fixtures on the circuits so that you have
an even lighting pattern with either half turned on. Or maybe do it 2/3 on
one circuit and 1/3 on the other. That way, during the gloomiest days or
when you're working at night, you can crank up the lighting, and on sunny
days when you have the big doors open you can turn on just what you need.

If there's a crawl space underneath, that's a good place to run ducting for
a dust collector and dedicated electrical circuits for the big stationary
tools. If you put stuff like that under the floor, and you do a planked
floor instead of plywood, it's a nice touch to use square-edged boards
instead of tongue and groove. That way you can easily remove and replace
planks if you change your mind about stationary tool placement and need to
move the ducting and floor electrical outlets.

Speaking of floor electrical outlets for stationary tools in the middle of
the room, the ones that are recessed in the floor, with metal covers over
them, are less desirable than the raised 'monument' style outlets. The
recessed ones easily get filled up with sawdust, which can be conductive if
it gets damp, and the metal covers deform easily as you move heavy tools
around on the floor on mobile bases. You can get recessed outlet assemblies
with sufficiently heavy covers, but they're more expensive than the
readily-available ones.

Other than that, have a splendid time!

Tom Dacon




"tony weikert" wrote in message
ink.net...
Folks:
I'd like your input on a new shop I'm having built. Actually it's a
garage but it's prime purpose will be a woodworking shop. I'd like ideas
on lighting, outlets (how far apart and the height, I also told the
contractor I want a 220 volt outlet on each wall) and anything else you
think may be important for construction. It's going to be 27 X 45 feet
with an 8 foot ceiling. I'm also looking at getting the floor painted to
combat dust and make clean-up a little easier. Any and all inputs will be
welcomed. Thanks in advance.
Tony