Electrical Work in Progress

Here's a few photos of the electrical work in progress.

There are many options in providing lighting for a workshop. After much reading and pondering I decided on bayonet mounted domestic LED bulbs, in particular iGlobe 9w warm 2900k 100w equiv. 16 mounted in the workshop and 4 in the storage bay. I selected a large number to reduce shadows and have even lighting. (The exact number was determined by the rafters layout.) The bulbs are all the same brand, power, and temperature.  

The three main options for lighting were traditional fluorescent tubes, bayonet mounts, or LED strip lighting. 

Fluorescent are what people expect in a workspace. However, they hum, take time to warm up, flicker on warming up, and then flicker with AC current. LED strip lighting is new and perhaps the cheapest. However, it relied on transformers and offered little back compatibility or flexibility.  

The bayonet mounts with LED bulbs were the best compromise. Additionally even with the expensive LED bulbs the installation cost is less than half that of a fluorescent.  They are cheap to run, offer consistant light, switch on instantly, and are said to last 50,000 hours.    

I was also given a large mercury vapour light which I'll mount in the centre. This should add some character to the shed.

The majority of domestic outlets in Australia are 10A 240v which isn't quite enough for the larger 3-5hp machines. The workshop now has 6 x 15A outlets offering plenty options. (Note the 15A sockets have wider earth pins so that you can't plug a 15A plug into a 10A socket.)

I also had the opportunity to install a single three phase outlet. As I don't have any three phase tools this may be overkill. However, I wanted to future proof it as much as I could, and hopefully make my little workshop more attractive if I was ever to sell it.

A work in progress... 

Electrical Work Begins

Today the Electricians arrived to begin work on the shed. Its an exciting prospect given it has been about 10 months in the planning. The current plans should have enough power and flexibility to future proof the shed.

Details

• New 32A three phase sub-main, from the location of the existing meter box to the RH rear of the residence, then underground to the approx.. center of the proposed work shop area.
• 12 pole D.B in the proposed new workshop, c/w main switch and ELCB,s for light and power circuits. 
• Twenty One (21) batten holders (16 – in the workshop, 4 in the storage area and 1 in the carport.) LED lamps to be supplied by owner.
• One light switch for the workshop, one light switch for the Storage Area & one weatherproof light switch for the carport, and one 2 gang switch for the ceiling mount GPO’s.
• One double weatherproof power point in the Carport.
• Two ceiling mount double 10amp power points.
• Four 10amp double power points.
• Four single 15Amp 240volt power points in the workshop.
• One double 15Amp power point.
• One three phase 10A power outlet.

Re: Ray's question. The sub main is on the right hand side inside the door where the switches will be easy to reach. The scrap bin is easy to reach across at that point, but I may yet move it.

Electrical Layouts

At this stage it looks like the workshop will have power before Christmas. It's all become a little complex (cough cough expensive) but it should allow for ample power and flexibility now and into the future. Plenty of 15A outlets, plenty of lights, and even a three phase. Any feedback is appreciated. 

Northside Dovetailed Vegetable Bed

Potter's Pal's Carrots

This post follow's up a post earlier in the year when I planted from heirloom carrots in newspaper pots. The experiment was a mixed success. The pots while out of the ground dried out quickly and I lost a number of seedlings. In the ground after transfer they did a lot better. Next time though I will have smaller thinner pots to help the breakdown of paper. 

Four-sided

Progress...

End of Winter

With the end of winter rapidly upon us, the garden is starting to spring into bloom. The vegetable raised bed is not quite ready but progress is being made. The site is excavated by hand. Drainage pipe laid. Timber beginning to come together with halflaps, wooden dowels, and dovetails.  

50" Rip Capacity.

The 50" rip capacity rails arrived a few weeks back and have been attached to the machine. Looks pretty. Still no power to the shed. 

Garden beds by a furniture maker

While the shop continues to be without power my focus has remained on the gardens. I'm installing various garden beds and in particular a large one on the north side of the shop. This bed will be 5.4-6m long x 1.2m wide x 0.5m high, made from 2.4m x 1.2m x 50mm Tallowwood sleepers. A simple task to cut to size and screw together... however... I don't like simple. Rather than simple screws I've decided to dovetail the joints. In a sense treating the project as a rather large chest or blanket box. 

To begin with I've used hardwood dowel and titebond 3 to joint the end pieces.

I've recently acquired a  Makita BDF459SHE brushless drill. This is a piece of kit I can definitely recommend. Plenty of power. Not too heavy. Holds a charge well.

I used the circular saw to trim the ends using a MDF guide and a Chris Vesper Square. 

Then laid out the joints like I would any other. 

However, the dovetail saw stayed in the toolchest and the 4351FCT Jigsaw did all the hard work. 

A slight deflection in the blade resulted in some angled cuts. However, repeating the cuts on the other side and adjusting the oscillation of the saw resulted in a good result without chiselling.  

The site of the future Northside bed. I've be excavating slowly by hand to level it and remove rocks. I'll also be placing a drainage channel along the edge. 

Joining the sleepers end on end will be a little tricker... perhaps finger joints, perhaps half lap... proper scraf joints made be a little too much. 

Electrical Plan: Draft 1

Click for enlarged image.