Workshop in the woods

[charlese]

The advantage is it will use only half of the amps. Same number of watts though - so the electric meter will indicate the same usage and same cost. With less amps you generate less heat - and of course can use smaller wire and breakers.

[paulmcohen]

The advantage is it will use only half of the amps. Same number of watts though - so the electric meter will indicate the same usage and same cost. With less amps you generate less heat - and of course can use smaller wire and breakers.

I get the EE stuff, what is the advantage from a Shopsmith perspective?

[8iowa]

Guys:

I apologize for the lack of updates. I've been working my tail off on the new shop and have not had much computer time lately.

The building is now finished. I have painted the interior and sealed the floor. I hope to have my fluorescent lights installed on the ceiling yet this week. My concrete contractor has not yet poured the apron in front and I also need to have gravel put around the front and sides before I can move my tools in. I've been taking pictures all through the project and will soon put some up on this site. I should probably also write an article on building a small shop.

The 20,000 acre fire is in the Newberry area about 80 miles East of me. It has been burning for two weeks and is only about 60% contained. We did have a scare back during the 4th of July holiday. A new neighbor, who is both stupid and stubborn, continued to burn brush despite our warnings and pleadings. His fire got out of control and burned 15 acres. The fire came within 1/4 mile of our house. Two fire departments, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Michigan DNR responded and contained the fire with bulldozers. Our neighbor is now faced with a $15,000 fire supression bill. I hope this will help us to get rid of him. We are having an unprecidented drought up here. We had just a little bit of rain last night and are hoping for a lot more.

I'll be back soon with pictures. Many thanks for your interest.

[charlese]

Guys:

A new neighbor, who is both stupid and stubborn, continued to burn brush despite our warnings and pleadings. His fire got out of control and burned 15 acres. The fire came within 1/4 mile of our house. Two fire departments, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Michigan DNR responded and contained the fire with bulldozers. Our neighbor is now faced with a $15,000 fire supression bill. I hope this will help us to get rid of him. We are having an unprecidented drought up here. We had just a little bit of rain last night and are hoping for a lot more.

I'll be back soon with pictures. Many thanks for your interest.

This neighbor thing is what I was thinking of when I suggested vegetation breaks around your shop. Don't mean to be an alarmist, but experience shows care of adjacent vegetation is wise. As an example, our visiting daughter, by using an out of commission plastic flower pot for an ash tray, caused afire that burnt half of our storage shed wall.

My fault for placing a pot containing potting soil and the roots of dead flowers next to the shed. Sometimes it doesn't take much!

In addition to neighbors, there's neighbor's guests and tourists that can be stupid. Even the UP has high fire dangers sometimes!

Looking forward to you coming pictures and I will re-iterate - I'm jealous!

Best regards,

[Bruce]

This neighbor thing is what I was thinking of when I suggested vegetation breaks around your shop. Don't mean to be an alarmist, but experience shows care of adjacent vegetation is wise. As an example, our visiting daughter, by using an out of commission plastic flower pot for an ash tray, caused afire that burnt half of our storage shed wall.

My fault for placing a pot containing potting soil and the roots of dead flowers next to the shed. Sometimes it doesn't take much!

In addition to neighbors, there's neighbor's guests and tourists that can be stupid. Even the UP has high fire dangers sometimes!

Looking forward to you coming pictures and I will re-iterate - I'm jealous!

Best regards,

Proof again that smoking hurts others too.

[a1gutterman]

For Paul,

The 240v motor should last longer, not that there is anything wrong with the longevity of the 120v.

[charlese]

Glad Tim answered Paul's question. I had NO idea of an advantageof 220 V. from a Shopsmith point of view.

To batguy - Yep! smoking hurts - that's why I chew!;) Or did while in the woods.

[8iowa]

413

The shop is now completed except for the concrete apron in front and gravel on the driveway. The upper doors will enable me to back my pick-up truck to the front of the building and feed lumber to the storage loft while standing in the bed of the truck.

I guess I inadvertently raised the 240V question when I mentioned the 240V circuits in my new shop. Many of us are aware of the fact that the common household 15 amp circuit is marginal for the Shopsmith. You can get along OK as long as nothing else is on the circuit. However, if the line shares other items such as lights, TV, small appliances, or other shop equipment (such as the dust collector), you will probably suffer occasional circuit breaker trips. At least this has been my experience.

When we built the U.P. vacation home in '03, I discovered that electrical codes require 120V receptacles to be wired thru a GFI In a garage, which will often trip with an electrical motor on the line. (I eventually replaced the GFI with a standard receptacle as my wife wanted to put a freezer in the garage). I was thus faced with the prospect of having two dedicated 120V circuits in my already crowded electrical service box – one for the Shopsmith and one for the dust collector. At that point having the electrician put in a 240V receptacle for my Shopsmith was an easy and not too expensive solution.

Backing up a little bit. I visited the Shopsmith retail store (a frequent stop in my many trips up and down I75). I purchase a demo MK 505 with the upgrade to 520. They actually tried to talk me out of changing the 120V for a 240V motor, citing resale advantages. However, I was not buying this machine for the next owner!

So apparently there is no advantage to Shopsmith in selling 240V machines to the domestic market. They probably offer this option because the 240V motor is operable on either 50 or 60 HZ (cycles per second) and thus can be sold in this manner in England and many European countries.

The advantage of 240V to a user is that it can provide a dedicated circuit for the Shopsmith (as long as you don't put it on the same breaker as the stove or dryer). The amperage is also cut in half to around 6.5 amps. This can be important if you are in an older home with only 100 or even less amperage service. Installing a 240V breaker in the existing electrical service box would be an economical and practical way to run your Shopsmith and not seriously affect the electrical needs of the rest of the house.

It is commonly thought that 240V motors have more power and longer life. This is not so. Other than cutting the amperage in half, everything else is the same as with the 120 V motor, ie: torque, speed, HP, and longevity.

Now I’ve got to get off the keyboard and get to work installing my light fixtures on the ceiling of the shop. I’ll keep you posted and put some more pictures up later. Thanks for your interest.