I have 13 four-foot, twin-tube fluorescent fixtures in my 560sf shop for general lighting, on two dedicated lighting circuits. Each circuit controls about 1/2 the fixtures, in a checkerboard pattern. I almost never use just one of the circuits, though; only when I go out just to get something for the house.
Jim
I've got 16--4 banks of 4--dual 4' tubes, plus a row of 8 150 and 200 watt incandescents up the center in a 25' x 48' shop. There are still a few dim spots, so when I get back home--soon, I hope--I've got 4 more 2 tube and one 4 tube I plan to install, one of which will be directly over my Unisaw (the 4 tube). Theya re set up on 3 switches, one for the incandescents, and one for each side of the shop with the fluorescents. I sometimes don't use the incandescents, but almost always use both rows of fluors.
Charlie Self "Telephone, n. An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance." Ambrose Bierce
How high is your ceiling, Charlie? (Mine's just over 8')
Do you know how much light your incandescents supply, or what they were rated for new, in lumens?
And do I recall correctly your previously posting that is white? Walls and ceiling?
Jim
Sure could use a 1200sf shop!
Jim Wilson asks:
Ceiling is 9', which was my goof--I set one post so that was the upper limit of the whole shop. Ceiling is semi-gloss white (I think gloss glares too much). Currently, the walls are OSB chip colored, along with pegboard colored (natural, not the white), and hanging tool colored. That will change if I ever get out of WV.
I haven't any idea how many lumens the lights kick out. They're your basic Lowe's (or HD, I don't really recall) 18 buck fixtures, with the cheap bulbs.
Me, too, if I can ever get back there. Trying to operate out of a 300sf garage with one 20 amp circuit is not the hot set-up. I didn't realize how spoiled I had gotten until I got back into trying to setup and work for myself again. One helluva lot of difference with 4 times the size, plus a 200 amp Square D box.
Anyway, I think we're really far enough along to get this house on the market late next week. After that, who knows?
Charlie Self "Telephone, n. An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance." Ambrose Bierce
Well Charlie, At 12'X16', I've got only 192 square feet. Bummer. Fed by a measly 8 twenty-amp circuits. Neener-neener-neener. ;)
However; I'm wondering about the wisdom of my designing one 16-ft wall with three windows in it. (Too late to change it now, construction's almost done.) As I get closer to finishing construction and give more serious thought to where everything's going to go, I'm remembering-- I hope correctly-- that in one or your books you advocated windowless workshops. I really felt I had to put them in since the view was so nice, (one of those "feed your soul" things), but man I gotta admit some extra wall space sure woulda been nice.
You still feel the same way about windows or has your opinion changed over time?
Best, Michael
Michael Baglio asks:
Pretty much the same. For me, windows are more of a PITA than anything else. I put windows in opposing corners of my shop, two on each side, two on each end, then pulled one out up front (allows too good a view of what's in the shop). They allow a nice breeze on some days, but also provide the space to hold some small window AC units (should have put proper central air in...VA in summer is not fun without AC).
But otherwise, the windows change the nature of light as the sun moves across the sky, both daily and on its annual travels. It hinders getting clear shots when you're taking pictures, too, screwing up both the color balance and the exposure.
So, for the most part, I don't care much for windows and I flat love extra wall space (not that there's ever enough).
Charlie Self "Telephone, n. An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance." Ambrose Bierce
My shop lighting was broken up into about 6 differant circuits. I got tired of flipping on switches so I combined the circuits I could, no only three switches turn the lights on. Some times I wish I had just one big friggen switch that turned EVERYTHING on when I enter the shop! Greg
Then getcha a Clapper and just clap-on clap-off to your delight all day long... :)
One of these days, if voice recognition stuff ever gets cheap and plentiful, I want to have some lights that come on when I say "fiat lux." As in "Dixitque Deus fiat lux, et facta est lux."
Maybe I have a god complex.
Motion sensor switches are also available. I've got one somewhere that someone gave me. Never used it. Be a kind of shop alarm, too: if the lights come on when you're in the kitchen getting coffee, it's time to pull out the old .30-30 and go check.
Charlie Self "Telephone, n. An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance." Ambrose Bierce
Been thinking of something similar myself, actually. Not long before I moved out here, somebody went around and ripped off everyone's lawn mower. Nobody ever got their mower back. I like my tools.
I don't have any guns though. Not 'cause I'm a namby pamby bleeding heart gun control whiner, but because I had to pay for Christmas a couple years running, and guns are the hillbilly version of those big gold necklaces certain groups of urban youth like to keep around as a sort of bank on a chain.
One day I'm hoping that guy gets broke at a time when I'm not, so I can get my guns back. :) I haven't gone shooting in years.
Anyway, the claymore is almost as good. It has a nice WTF factor that throws people off guard.
On Thu, 20 Nov 2003 23:19:30 -0500, Silvan brought forth from the murky depths:
Didja hear that joke...?
I picked up a HALdeluxe from the Borg (via phone in NorCal) for $16 when they were on clearance. It came with voicemodem, software, X-10 interface, etc.
What's this "maybe" stuff?
-------------------------------------- PESSIMIST: An optimist with experience --------------------------------------------
Sword or mine?
Just looking for a data point here.
Tim Douglass
Tim Douglass asks:
I think he posted earlier that it's the sword. Sometimes sounds like Silvan might deserve the nickname "Screwy Scot". Most places I've lived, swinging a sword at anything other than a Highland Festival could bring legal problems.
Of course, setting off a mine with its many BBs ain't a friendly gesture either.
Charlie Self
"I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself. " Ronald Reagan
Lawrence Ramsey notes:
Oh, you'd be surprised, I think. Silvan does, Tim does, I do and that's just a start. Betcha buck that Tom Watson does.
Charlie Self
"I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself. " Ronald Reagan
If'n I unnerstands ya corectally, da two can be tolt apart as, da bidness side of da newish Claymores has a sign dat goes sumpthin like, "Front - Towards Enemy", whilst da older, simpler, and more personal types, on their bidness edges, hath naught but a glint and a swoosh.
Regards, Tom Thomas J. Watson-Cabinetmaker Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania
Tom Watson responds:
Yeah, well..the glint is built in, but you have to provide your own "swoosh," unlike the sneakers.
Charlie Self
"I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself. " Ronald Reagan
You won't get inside my shop in the dark anyway! My shop is surrounded with halogen floods, all on motion detectors. My neighbor call me every so often and tells me that lights are on, better check it out! Greg
This is real? Wow, I guess I should get with the times and stuff.
Or not... No, I have too many things on the someday list as it is.
Sword.
I can do whatever the hell I want in my own yard, dammit!
Besides, how is swinging a sword at a burglar any more likely to bring legal problems than leveling a rifle at him?
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