Money Out, New Wires in

Things continue to go well.

I had an electrician come out and look at my workshop. He gave me an estimate, and I’m having the wiring upgraded. I’ll be able to run a 7.5-HP compressor and a welder at the same time. I’ll be able to install my 10-HP phase converter. I’ll be able to move my machine tools up here at last.

I considered doing the work myself, and I suppose I could have, but I want it over with. I compromised. The pros will run the wires from the main panel to the workshop, and after they’re gone, I’ll wire up the receptacles on my own.

The people who built this house did a lot of great things, but they were not “tool queers,” as Youtube tool guru Keith Fenner likes to put it. They did not live for tools. Their biggest tools were things like a farm jack. Clearly, there was something wrong with them.

I’m going to have a mill, a lathe, a big compressor, a bunch of welders, and a plasma cutter, not to mention some 250V saws. Just a few things a guy needs in order to get by.

It’s hard to believe what it costs to put two wires in a hole and attach them to a couple of panels. It has to be done, however. I’m not going to continue to live without machine tools. It’s barbaric.

They should have the job done by tomorrow afternoon, and I’ll be able to get the tools moved up here next week. Between the completion of the wiring and the tool move, I’ll have to rearrange the shop. I need 8 or 9 feet of linear space for the lathe, about 7 feet for the mill, and a square yard for the compressor. Which I should leave in Miami. I should bite the bullet and get a bigger compressor.

I’ll have to run air lines up in the trusses. I’m not going to mess around with one air line I drag around the shop. I have to mount my big hose reel on the wall.

The shop has a big L-shaped Corian countertop which sits on a two-by-four frame screwed to the wall. It has to go. It’s a neat feature, but I don’t need it. It sucks up a lot of space, and it’s not flexible. You can’t move it. Maybe someone will buy it and take it away.

I could cut it up and save the Corian for other things. It’s a dynamite work surface. I just happen to have Corian blades for my table saw. I bought it from a guy who cut Corian.

Things are happening fast. It looks like God is preparing me for a pleasant time during the cool months.