Duane McGuire Blog

I keep plugging away. After hanging ceiling drywall and fifteen light fixtures, I’m pretty good at getting up and down a scaffold. So why don’t I feel like a kid? (because its been 40 years since I was sixteen?)

The lighting is beautiful to my eyes – pretty much drafting room quality. Its fifteen dual-tube 8′ fixtures (T-12), for the 28X30 space. About 1900 watts total. I have it wired on two 15A circuits. I haven’t yet "split the ballasts", but will do that. When that is done, I’ll have the ballast in each fixture light just one tube in of its own and one of a neighboring fixture. That way I can have uniform lighting at 50% and 100%, depending on the need at the time.

The fluorescent fixtures are not state of the art. Current lighting is predominantly efficient T-8 (1 inch) fixtures which are very nice and quiet! While I would like to go premium, the cost savings of my used T-12′s (1-1/2 inch) paid for the ClearVue cyclone. I found 20 used fixtures with tubes for $400 and grabbed the deal.

Here’s today’s photos:

My shop is too big! OK. That’s the last time you’ll hear that. Though the work continues it seems slow! There’s just a lot to do. I had the week off from work. It has been nice. Most of the insulation is done on the lower level. For now, I’ve just sealed off the attic room. I love insulation! Though temperatures have been in the 20′s and 30′s a very small fire in the woodstove keeps the place nice and comfy. Sheetrock is installed on 90% of the shop ceiling. The storage ceiling is yet to be done. Most of the ceiling was a two-person effort, with the help of Terri or Erin. (That’s the way to do it!) But I did about 5 panels on my own. The drywall lift I rented made the job pretty easy. I don’t know how else I could have managed to install drywall on an 11-foot ceiling. Cool stuff. I hope the engineer had an equity position. The Telpro panel lift is a great tool!

A milestone! I finished the rough-in electrical last night and had the inspection this morning. Yes … was a bit nervous … I’m not an electrician. I have some experience over the years … but still I get concerned about nuances of code, when the inspector is on his way. I shouldn’t have worried. I knew that it would go well when we walked up to the door and the inspector said, “That’s a beautiful door!” I gushed … “gee thanks I made it of cherry and walnut”. He barely glanced at the wiring, and passed it all off.

None too soon! It’s cold, and I had to get the electrical inspected before I could start insulating. I haven’t dared to put a thermometer out there, but with full ventilation and no insulation, I don’t think the woodstove raises the temperature more that about 15 to 20 degrees.

Here’s the details on the electrical: The sub panel is fed from an 80 amp breaker at the main panel/meter box on the house. The panel is a 200 amp panel. Formerly, it had 2 100 amp mains. I down graded the 100 amp mains to 2 60 amp mains for the house, then added the 80 amp main for the shop. As you can see below, I built lots of diversity into the shop circuits, especially since it is a one-man shop.

Circuit details for the shop:
30A 220: Planer
30A 220: Dust collection
20A 110: Perimeter outlets A
20A 110: Perimeter outlets B
20A 110: Table saw
20A 110: Jointer
20A 110: Attic outlets
20A 110: Storage outlets
15A 110: Shop Lighting A
15A 110: Shop Lighting B
15A 110: Storage/Attic Lighting
15A 110: Swamp Cooler
15A 110: Garage Door opener

Lighting for the main shop will be 15 8′ 2-lamp T12 fixtures that I picked up used at a good price.