SqueazleI finally had enough of the crappy lay out of my garage shop. One whole wall (the wall where my tools live, of course) featured one measly outlet and no dust collection save a tired shop vacuum. It's been a constant, annoying hassle to pull tools out, find an outlet/extension cord, pull out the shop vacuum, find another outlet, (preferably on a different breaker) move the one 4" to 2-1/2" hose adapter from the last tool I used, use tool, then do it all over again for the next tool. It really took me out of the zone of building. On top of that, I had an older dust collector I had gotten for free that was in a corner, unused, collecting dust in the wrong way. I had a little bit of extra money, and decided to solve my problems all at once.
How it all looked in the beginning. The peg board was installed by the previous home owners. It can be helpful but can also be a pain in the butt when you go to pick up a tool and the hook comes too. Note the older Jet dust collector...collecting dust.
Since the peg board was easy to remove, it made running new electrical outlets quite easy. I installed 5 outlets on their own breaker and relocated the 220v outlet for my table saw. All done to code, even though I'm not an electrician.
I had intended to just put the pegboard back up as it was but I kept having issues; outlet holes cut wrong, new nails pulling right through when I tried to take it back off, etc. I so went full bore and just decided to replace it all with T111. That wasn't available but some good 3/8" bead board was. Of course, that meant disconnecting the sprinkler pump and electronics. Weee, fun. However, it all got done.
Since the wiring for the outlets ran right over my workbench area on its way to the breaker box, why not throw in a cord reel where it's most convenient?
Dust collection finally installed.
For now, things on the wall will go back where they were before but that will change in the next big shop upgrade, so I decided to put in french cleats so rearranging things would be easy in the future.
Some rearranging later and this is how it all sits. i can't even say how much this is going to improve workflow! everything just get's pulled out and flipped on. No moving, no plugging, no shop vac. So satisfying!
The new arrangement all together. The next phase will be wall-to-wall 42" cabinets on that back wall and the peg board replaced as well.
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