Wow nice shop AX racer.I am ordering 12 4' T8 double bulb fixtures on Monday for $15.99 each less another 10% discount for being a staff member.When I install them I will put them on different switchs so they all dont have to be on at one time.Thanks for all the great advice.Getting antsy to start to build, but have to wait till the snow is all gone and the frozed is out of the ground.Will post pics as soon as I start building.

 

After reading some of these posts I decided I needed more lighting so, today I had the electrician who rewired my house after the fire come over and install a couple more 4 footers.

That makes 1 - 4 footer over the work bench at the east end of the garage. 2 - 8 foot (double 4 footers) running east to west on the north and south sides splitting the garage in 3 sections.



And now, on the west end, a 4 footer on each side of the garage door suspended from chains to bring them level with the rails for the door to ride on.



Now I have plenty of light through out the entire garage. All the ballasts are electronic and very quiet.

I also bought a new compressor today. The other one I had was just enough to make the Plasma cutter work. I bought an impact wrench and tried to use it but the little compressor I had wasn't up to snuff so, now I have a 60 gallon 240 volt unit capable of 11.5 scfm @ 90psi. More power! R, R, R, R, R!!!!



In case you are wondering about the artwork, it's some of the fire damaged stuff that I salvaged but didn't want to put back in the house because it still smells a little bit smoky.

 

Thanks! I waited a LOOONG time to have a shop, so I made sure it was everything I dreamed of. 20' x 8' insulated steel overhead door, no columns or posts, full 2nd floor cathedral ceiling also without posts. All walls are insulated, sheathed in OSB. I coved all the floor to wall joints with epoxy coving material before coating, carried the floor coating 6" up the walls, so the floor is seamless with no cracks or crevices around the edges and the whole thing can be washed out. There is a full width trough drain just in front of the door.
I have 3 switches controlling the ceiling lights, one for the 2 simple screw in fixtures with CFL bulbs for low level lighting and to satisfy the building inspector (rest of lighting and electrical was installed after certificate of occupancy was issued) 2nd switch controls front 1/2 main lights, 3rd switch the rear 1/2. Each task light is on it's own switch. The garage has dedicated 200A 220V service meter and panel. The 16' of benches on the left in the pic are reclaimed Stainless commercial kitchen table tops from my local scrap/recycle yard, the smaller bench is a 20"x36" 3/16" mild steel topped welding table. The SS tops are backed by 16" x 2" thick LVL beam material and are all cantelevered so there are no legs touching the floor.

 

BACAGrizz, You're going to LUV the extra light and the new compressor!
Here's what I did with my compressor: bought 4 rubber hockey pucks from my local sporting goods store. Center drilled them and countersunk one side with a spade bit so the head of a 3/8" carriage bolt would not touch floor and bolted the pucks under each leg. The compressor has no tendency to "walk" even on my smooth floor and is significantly quieter to boot! I think the pucks were 3 or 4.00 apiece, well worth it!

 

AX,

I already love both the light and the compressor. I have been out in the garage all night puttering and straightening things out to make room for the big unit.

I like the idea of using hockey pucks. Right now it's still on the pallet it came with. I will go to academy sports tomorrow and see about getting some.

Thanks for the idea.

 

That looks just like my compressor but mine says Colmen on it.It works great but produces alot of water.When I get everything set up I want to install a drip leg and some kind of drier.

 

All your vertical drop lines should have a drip leg with a drain valve at the end below the quick fitting. Also be sure your main distibution line slopes towards the end and also ends in a long drip leg. Drops should come off the TOP of the distribution line looping up and then down. Put a good size drier (not just a water separator) between the flex line out of the compressor and the distribution line. Drain the compressor tank after each day's use or install an automatic drain.

 

I'm getting in this thread late, but I did want to let you all know what I used. In my 30x60 shop with 12' walls, I wired up outlets and hung the Home Depot cheap 4' lights. I currently have 12 up and have enough outlets for 4 more.

I have one spot over my tool box that I'm going to mount a 4 or 8 foot light at about 8 feet off the ground, but other that that its great.

And as for the cold start lights, My cheap lights fired up everytime all winter long sometimes at zero degrees, even with no heat, so I wouldnt pay the extra for the cold start lights. Just my .02$

 

They will light up nearly immediately (while flickering) but will not come up to full brightness for several minutes until the ballasts warm up. Since they have stopped manufacturing T12s, and will soon stop producing the bulbs, buy the T8's if you are buying new, and save having to replace them in a couple years, or buy a large stock of bulbs.