Woodshop Preference

Pop Golden

New User
Pop
Thought a little more about my lighting. My 4 ft, T-8 2 bulb lights are standard shop lights, but to get the most light I double up the 2 bulb fixtures into 4 bulb fixtures by adding a cross member putting them side by side. The majority of my lights are this confederation. Most machines have a source light I have a few 2 bulb fixtures, and over my workbench is a 6 bulb fixture. Most of my machines have a dedicated source light. These are 100 watt equivale LED. Love those LEDs cool & lots of light. The best machine attachment is the Shopsmith bracket. Shopsmith sells a Monofit light to fit this bracket. Since I started with a Shopsmith I used these handy brackets. Tried to upload pictures. no cigar!

Pop
 

Jim Harrison

New User
Jim
My shop is 12 x 27, shed roof 8 one side, 10 on the other, built on a cement slab, T12 tubes for lighting end to end on center of ceiling, insulated, but at present not heated. Size was limited by space available, but more space than I ever had in the past. Would I like more space, sure, but I suppose it fits my age and energy level. In the ideal world it would be nice to have several such buildings, one for building, one for finishing, one to store mostly complete projects, one for lumber and all those scraps too good to throw away, yes it’s nice to dream, but if a fellow had space to add portable (or smaller) buildings as his dreams and projects grew that might be a practical solution
 

bob vaughan

Bob Vaughan
Senior User
Building codes here say 20 foot height maximum for an out building. I chose a barn type building with 8' ceilings and an up stairs with about a 7' ceiling for storage. I'm so glad I did it. All of that extra stuff would have interfered more with work flow than the occasional annoyance of an 8' ceiling.
 

Dorm

New User
Dorm
I built a pole barn at my place near Clayton. It was 24x24 ... 10' walls with cathedral style trusses for added height. I poured a slab and had way too many windows. I liked the light but there was not enough wall space for cabinets and/or storage. It has a 36" side entry door and 2 each 5'x10'sliding doors on the front . My 'member' pic is of me standing in front of one of these doors. I also put a 10'x ~8' shed roof extending out the front door as well. Posts were spaced on 6' centers and I put 4 gang outlets at each post ... all 20amp service. Compressed air outlets ... 2 each on the rear wall and one side wall. I used 4 hi-intensity lights in the ceiling, and these were great ... full brightness at the flip of a switch even in the cold. Also built a 12' shed roof extension across the back for wood storage, lawn mower, etc, including a 6x10' room for air compressor and dust system. This worked well mainly to lower the noise.
I didn't do well on sealing the barn as all the wood siding was board/batten, rough sawn SYP. There was no insulation whatsoever, and I didn't use a Tyvek or similar wrap to the outside. Once the 1x8 boards shrunk some, it became really drafty in the winter time. Even with a small wood/parlor stove it'd get too cold to work in.

Don't scrimp on lighting, power and compressed air outlets, and with a 'do over' I'd use fewer windows to allow for more wall hanging/storage opportunities.

Ciao ... Dorm
 

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