# table saw outlet location



## DalyArcher (May 3, 2015)

I know this has been thrown around before, but I am going to ask again. I am planning out my new shop , building right from the ground up. 20' x 24', slab on grade with 10 foot ceilings. Polished concrete will be the finished floor material (with a bit of a "gripy" application) What is your preferred method for getting power to your tablesaw? Extension cord to a wall plug, ceiling drop or floor plug.

I am contemplating the floor plug, but a few things have me pushing away from it. 1 - it really locks the location of the saw and I have to make the decision before pouring, and thus before I have had a feel for the space and solidified layout. 2 - I will never have vehicles in there, but I may wish to hang a deer or moose in there, push the tablesaw aside and butcher in the shop as opposed to my wifes kitchen. The floor pug makes the idea of washing down the floor un-appealing. Plus, my luck, I know at least once I will kick over a bucket of finish or spirits…

The ceiling drop has its appeal as it can be done somewhat after lockup when I have a better feel for location of major tools.

Wall plug seems the easiest and may keep me in the habit of unplugging at blade changes.

So, who does what?


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## ScottM (Jul 10, 2012)

I'd say keep the floor clean. If you plug in to the floor you're going to kick it, step on it, etc. Just run an extension cord to the wall, but keep in mind the distance and gauge depending on your voltage.


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## Ghidrah (Jan 20, 2015)

Agree with ScottM, I have 5 outlets at the perimeter and 2 cables, 115 and 230 that reach across the shop for either type of tool.


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## GregD (Oct 24, 2009)

I like ceiling drops in my garage shop. The outlets are nailed to joists and I have short extension cords that hang down just low enough for me to reach them. My garage is unfinished and I installed the outlets myself so there is a possibility that what I have is not up to code. But it has been easy to live with and to modify as needed.


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## hotbyte (Apr 3, 2010)

Mine is on heavy duty drop cord to wall outlet on right side of saw. I keep saw closer to wall on the right.

The ceiling drop is interesting…does it ever get i the way of passing material across saw? Where, approximately, does it drop down?


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## chiseler (Dec 20, 2015)

My TS is in the center of the shop,and I ran plastic conduit in the floor and it come out just behind the TS under the out feed table and I mounted a 6"x6" plastic box that sits about 4"off the floor,(impossible to trip over).In that box I put a circuit for the TS,a circuit for the joiner which is directly to the left of the saw(I frequently run saw and joiner at the same time),a 220 A extension cord hard wired in the box for my Planer which is on wheels,and last but not least a 110A outlet.It is all completely out of the way,no cords to trip over,and nothing hanging from the ceiling to get in the way for those precarious cuts.

And the box is vertical,so can't fill up with dust
And yes,I built my shop from the ground up,and
I put it on piers so I have a wood floor.
You could do the same thing by laying pipe in the concrete


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## klassenl (Feb 13, 2011)

In the floor.


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## dyfhid (Jun 4, 2015)

Like chiseler I have a wood floor shop on sonnet tubes I put a box in the center of the floor, right under the TS for it. It's actually a box for setting in poured concrete, has a pretty good seal system, so dust doesn't seem to bother it. Hopefully, I don't spill anything down there, but I think I can be relatively careful of that.


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## chiseler (Dec 20, 2015)

> Like chiseler I have a wood floor shop on sonnet tubes I put a box in the center of the floor, right under the TS for it. It s actually a box for setting in poured concrete, has a pretty good seal system, so dust doesn t seem to bother it. Hopefully, I don t spill anything down there, but I think I can be relatively careful of that.
> 
> - David Taylor


My outlets are actually vertical.The box is about 4" above the floor then braced up with some 2x material

Scott


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## dyfhid (Jun 4, 2015)

Scott, oh, that's even better than my setup I wish I had thought of that


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

If I were building a shop from the ground up, I would definitely put the plug in the middle of the floor, or in the spot where you know the table saw will live. A friend of mine done that many years ago, and I thought that was a gr8 idea. The only thing is, of course, you have to have a very good idea of a layout/floor plan of how you're going to place your equipment. Also, I'd be sure to add a few 220 plugs here and there where you think you might need it. That seems to be an ever-changing thing, kinda/sorta. Good luck. New shop construction is always a fun fun thing. Work/Play safe.


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## eflanders (May 2, 2013)

New shop, I would defiantly go with wall receptacles. Why? Floor receptacles collect stuff, it happens and any future potential buyer may not want floor outlets in their shop. They are easier to modify should you decide to voltage or receptacle style. Lastly, I've had my shop in the basement for years, and I've changed machinery locations multiple times. Just my .02 opinion…


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## Kazooman (Jan 20, 2013)

If you decide on floor outlets, you could rough in several locations with conduit so that relocating the saw or adding other machines ibn the future would just require pulling the cable and installing the outlets.


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## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

Think about all of the machinery you will have in the middle away from the walls and then spend some time laying out your shop. Once you figure out where things are going then run the middle machines from plugs coming out of the floor. Make sure it's done according to code. I love the way it works in my shop and have been using it for at least a couple of years. I only have one machine away from the wall that gets it's power from the ceiling and it's my joiner. I move it around a little so it's better that the cord has a little slack and comes from the ceiling.

helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com


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## rad457 (Jun 15, 2013)

I went with ceiling drop along with D.C. line, not much choice as went with in floor heating. My shop is 24' by 24' and like yours is a dedicated shop.


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## biggeorge50 (May 26, 2012)

My shop is in my basement. I ran one dedicated circuit for the dust collector to a wall socket. I then put in 3 circuits along the ceiling joists with boxes about every 3 feet. I like the cords being out from underfoot.


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## wapakfred (Jul 29, 2011)

Ceiling drop for me. While I built my first shop (second shop was on the ground when we bought the place), I still avoided the floor outlets. I think I would prefer them if I was sure where things were going to go. But with ceiling drops I just ran my extensions with the DC duct work, so it really didn't cause any heartache.


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