| As you consider you power needs, whether you will install water and sewer, or how and where to run you dust collection pipe, so must you consider the environment in which you are placing them: structure, heat light and ventilation. I my case many of these decisions were made by default, but I knew this when we first talked about building a house and can live with that - I have done so in the past, very happily I might add.
My new shop consists of 2 by 4 frame construction on top of a concrete slab floor. I will be very comfortable with R-13 Kraft faced insulation in the walls, and blown in insulation in the ceiling. I would prefer tongue and groove solid wood wall paneling but the shop was partially sheet rocked when I moved in, and it would be much easier and cheaper to complete the sheet rock installation.
I would have preferred a wood floor, even if only plywood, but I have chosen to stick with the concrete. Although a wood floor is warmer and easier on the joints, the concrete floor is also fine, and doesn’t require any extra engineering to handle stationery tools, as would be needed with wood. There is one issue though. Whether it is covered with a wood floor or not, the concrete should be sealed. In my humid climate it is a virtual necessity. Concrete is a highly efficient wick for moisture, the bane of your expensive cast iron. It is also a source of some very obnoxious fine dust. A vapor barrier is required under a wood floor, but as I am leaving my concrete uncovered, I must paint it to keep moisture from the ground from entering my shop. The result will be a cleaner, drier shop.
Once we have made decisions on the structure and insulation of the space, we must decide how to heat and cool it. As I mentioned before, I will be initially set up to heat with electricity. I will be using an oil-filled electric heater to provide the main heat in my shop. This will keep my glue and finishes from freezing in the coldest weather, and maintain a base temperature. A thermostat controlled ceramic heater will add the extra heat for comfort and finishing. This may become an issue if you use volatile finishes such as nitrocellulose lacquer. I use water based finishes, for a variety of reasons so I need not be concerned with this issue. If these heaters do not provide the level of heat I require, I do have the option of moving to a gas fired system without great cost.
In the hot humid summer, I have the option of placing window air conditioners in one or both of the large windows in my shop. I was able to get the units for free and I have designed the circuits to handle the load. Again, if any extra circuits are required, I have the flexibility to add them as needed.
The raw shop space was outfitted with two bare, incandescent bulbs. I have two very large windows, approximately 3 feet by 6 feet tall, that provide ample natural light. With the presence of so much natural light, and after rating the capacity of the lighting circuit already in place, I have decided to simply add four more incandescent bulbs to the circuit. A bare bulb isn’t the prettiest, but it is a lot easier to keep clean with a quick shot of compressed air. Task lighting can be used in cases where a little more light s required.
I have considered that over the table saw and the bench that a little more light may be desirable. The builder left a switched plug in the middle of the ceiling for a garage door opener light. If an extra shot of light is necessary, I will buy a couple units to hang from the ceiling that can be plugged into this outlet on the ceiling. That way they are switched lights too. I will come back to the garage door opener as soon as I am finished addressing the lighting issue.
I don’t like fluorescent lights. They throw off light with strange tints that make things appear very different than they do in natural sunlight. Most people don’t light their homes with fluorescent light. They rely on incandescent light or natural sunlight. I stick to incandescent fixtures and windows for that very reason. When I finish a piece I want to do so in lighting conditions that will replicate what most people have in their homes. Thus, there are no surprises when you bring the piece to its new home.
I should add that the walls, after being covered in sheet rock and taped, should be painted a light, unobtrusive color. This will maximize the effect of your lighting and keep colored shadows off of any furniture you are finishing. If you have ever seen a light on in the corner of a room painted orange, or some other bright color, you will notice that there is a glow about the area created by light bouncing off the brightly colored walls. Furniture finished under these conditions can look very strange.
Now, I would like to back up to the garage door opener for a minute. I strongly advise against these. It is easy to leave the remote on a car seat on the driveway and have someone walk by and remove it without attracting any attention. You are much less likely to leave keys on the seat for others to pick up. That makes openers highly dangerous. You have made quite an investment. Protect it as much as possible. Insure all of your tools and make sure that your garage door, if you have one, is secure. I have even drilled out the track so that padlocks can be placed through it. This means that not only does one need the key for the main lock, which are usually fairly easy to defeat anyway, but you also need the key to the padlocks that keep the door from rolling up in its track.
Your shop can be ventilated either actively or passively: actively by cycling air though a furnace, make-up air unit, or even your dust collector system. Filtration units, which are quite easy to build yourself, are becoming popular for moving air in many shops. I have decided to rely mainly on passive ventilation. My two very large windows, and 16 foot overhead door, provide a great deal of ventilation. |
