I have been into cars since I first got my drivers licence. That was so long ago that they didn't even have your picture on them. Until I met my wife, what I new about working on hot rods wouldn't fill an ashtray. My wife's father was one of the best hot rodders you could ever meet. He got me started working on my own iron and taught me a lot of the basics of building your own ride. I was hooked. As I got better with cars, I started buying my own tools. It didn't take long before I had a lot of stuff.
After a couple of years, I would convert the patio of whatever apartment we lived in, into my "shop". When we bought our first house, the carport became my shop. With the second house, I enclosed half of the carport and put in a garage door and that was my shop. After we moved into the second house, my wife and I talked about it and I started putting money away so that, someday, I could build a shop the way I wanted it. When we finally moved into the house she wants to stay in, I closed in the whole two car carport and that was my shop. Shortly after that, my mom needed looking after so we converted my shop into an apartment for her. After my mom moved in, my wife and I had another discussion and she said to go ahead and build the shop. I took what I had saved, pulled a little bit from my retirement and called my contractor. I saved for about eight years for the money to build my shop for cash. Waited 6 months for it to be my turn with the contractor. It took two months to build and two weeks after it was finished I got transferred to South America for three and a half years. So the shop I wanted at 50 I finally got at 62.
When we left for South America, I put my two G Bodies, her daily driver, my daily driver and all of my tools and a lot of my other equipment in the shop and locked the doors. We got back from South America about four years ago and life seems to have gotten in the way of doing anything serious about the shop. I find the time to spend a couple of hours cleaning and organizing about four or five days a month. I have made a lot of progress but when I left for SA the shop was so full you had to climb over things to go anywhere in the shop. It was that crowded. Over the time I have been back, three of the four cars are out of the shop and a lot of my stuff is, or is getting, organized to where you can actually move around a little. More on that later.
The shop is 30'x30' with 10' walls and a low attic. I built it right next to the house at the end of the driveway. To get some basic electricity and lighting, I pulled some 12/3 wire off a 50 amp breaker we don't use in the house. I pulled the romex through a one inch hole I drilled in the middle of the wall of the shop, next to the house. I ran the wire to a temporary junction box and then ran a circuit to the front of the shop and another to the back. Both on the same wall. I drilled the studs and pulled the 12/3 like it's supposed to be. I installed three four plug receptacles, all pulling off the single 20 amp circuit. Using 8' extension cords, I hung and connected three - four foot florescent fixtures. I bought four but couldn't reach the ceiling where the fourth one went. I wired in a switch at the side door of the shop for the lights.
Anyway, today I started putting in a 60 amp panel and running wire throughout the shop. I used 12/3 because I'm running 20 amp breakers to handle my wired tools, my drill press, milling machine, etc.. I am going to have 5 - 20 amp circuits, one for the lights and four for the tools and other stuff that draws 120v. I will have all of the power draw separated so that I won't overload the circuits. I also ordered a really nice little 48"x33" CNC plasma cutter. The cutter will be 230v single phase and will draw less than 40 amps. It will be on a 50 amp breaker with 6/3 wire, which is pricey but is rated for 60 amps. I am also going to run the 6/3 from the house panel to the panel in the shop. I will have to turn almost everything else in the shop off to run the plasma cutter but I don't think that will be an issue.
What I'm doing now is drilling the studs and running the rest of the 12/3. I will have two 120v circuits on each side of the shop. The light circuit will power the lights in the shop, the lights in the attic and a couple of two plug receptacles in the attic. Anyway, that's the plan. I took some pics after a couple of months of cleaning. I'll post them and some pics of what I am doing with the electrical.
After a couple of years, I would convert the patio of whatever apartment we lived in, into my "shop". When we bought our first house, the carport became my shop. With the second house, I enclosed half of the carport and put in a garage door and that was my shop. After we moved into the second house, my wife and I talked about it and I started putting money away so that, someday, I could build a shop the way I wanted it. When we finally moved into the house she wants to stay in, I closed in the whole two car carport and that was my shop. Shortly after that, my mom needed looking after so we converted my shop into an apartment for her. After my mom moved in, my wife and I had another discussion and she said to go ahead and build the shop. I took what I had saved, pulled a little bit from my retirement and called my contractor. I saved for about eight years for the money to build my shop for cash. Waited 6 months for it to be my turn with the contractor. It took two months to build and two weeks after it was finished I got transferred to South America for three and a half years. So the shop I wanted at 50 I finally got at 62.
When we left for South America, I put my two G Bodies, her daily driver, my daily driver and all of my tools and a lot of my other equipment in the shop and locked the doors. We got back from South America about four years ago and life seems to have gotten in the way of doing anything serious about the shop. I find the time to spend a couple of hours cleaning and organizing about four or five days a month. I have made a lot of progress but when I left for SA the shop was so full you had to climb over things to go anywhere in the shop. It was that crowded. Over the time I have been back, three of the four cars are out of the shop and a lot of my stuff is, or is getting, organized to where you can actually move around a little. More on that later.
The shop is 30'x30' with 10' walls and a low attic. I built it right next to the house at the end of the driveway. To get some basic electricity and lighting, I pulled some 12/3 wire off a 50 amp breaker we don't use in the house. I pulled the romex through a one inch hole I drilled in the middle of the wall of the shop, next to the house. I ran the wire to a temporary junction box and then ran a circuit to the front of the shop and another to the back. Both on the same wall. I drilled the studs and pulled the 12/3 like it's supposed to be. I installed three four plug receptacles, all pulling off the single 20 amp circuit. Using 8' extension cords, I hung and connected three - four foot florescent fixtures. I bought four but couldn't reach the ceiling where the fourth one went. I wired in a switch at the side door of the shop for the lights.
Anyway, today I started putting in a 60 amp panel and running wire throughout the shop. I used 12/3 because I'm running 20 amp breakers to handle my wired tools, my drill press, milling machine, etc.. I am going to have 5 - 20 amp circuits, one for the lights and four for the tools and other stuff that draws 120v. I will have all of the power draw separated so that I won't overload the circuits. I also ordered a really nice little 48"x33" CNC plasma cutter. The cutter will be 230v single phase and will draw less than 40 amps. It will be on a 50 amp breaker with 6/3 wire, which is pricey but is rated for 60 amps. I am also going to run the 6/3 from the house panel to the panel in the shop. I will have to turn almost everything else in the shop off to run the plasma cutter but I don't think that will be an issue.
What I'm doing now is drilling the studs and running the rest of the 12/3. I will have two 120v circuits on each side of the shop. The light circuit will power the lights in the shop, the lights in the attic and a couple of two plug receptacles in the attic. Anyway, that's the plan. I took some pics after a couple of months of cleaning. I'll post them and some pics of what I am doing with the electrical.
