Helpful Tips To Improve Your Garage Woodworking Shop
Posted on: 8 October 2014
For many homeowners, garages double as woodworking shops. Whether you enjoy crafting wood furniture, or use the space to cut wood for your home improvement projects, it's important to keep safety first in your mind. Working with wood in the confined area of your garage presents specific problems that could result in disasters. Here are a few tips that may help.
Install a Dust Collector
Each time you cut wood with your saw, a lot of sawdust is created. This dust will fall everywhere, including on the cables and springs of your garage door opener. It's important to keep these moving parts free of sawdust or it could cause your garage door to break down.
Also, sawdust can collect on the safety beam sensors. The sensor beam will think that something is blocking the path of the garage door, like one from AA Garage Door Co. As long as sawdust is on the sensors, the garage door will not close for the safety reasons these high-tech sensors were made for. Instead of wiping down all the moving parts and the safety sensors after each use of your saw, install a dust collector to collect the dust while you work.
Hire an Electrician to Upgrade the Circuits & Lighting
Your power saws may pull more amperage from your electrical circuitry than it was designed to handle. Because of this, with each power saw or tool you use, you could be putting your home at risk of an electrical fire. If you use a lot of various power saws and tools, it's a good idea to hire an electrician to install additional electric circuits in your garage and a separate circuit breaker to handle them.
In order to work safely, you'll need to have good lighting. Improvements in the lighting condition of your garage can make it easier for you to work on intricate pieces. These types of improvements are not ones you should do yourself, even though you may consider yourself quite handy. Faulty electrical wiring caused as many as 47,700 residential fires in 2011.
Improve the Flooring Surface
The condition of the flooring in your garage should be improved for a safe environment, especially if your garage floor has cracks in the surface. The last thing you want to do is actually trip over a crack in the floor while carrying tools and materials. You can resurface the flooring yourself, or hire a contract contractor to do it for you. Resurfacing the flooring will also take care of any pits or grooves that could collect wood chips. This will make it easier for you to clean the flooring.
Install Soundproofing to Reduce the Noise of Power Tools Heard Outside
Most garages do not have thick exterior walls or insulation. If your garage has thin walls, you may hear some complaints from your neighbors regarding the noise coming from your power saws and other tools. Install soundproofing along the walls and ceiling of your garage to reduce the noise that can be heard outside. This can help you worker longer into the nights since you won't have to worry about disturbing the neighbors or your family. An additional benefit to soundproofing is that it can help keep the garage at comfortable temperatures, especially in the middle of winter.
Many people who have woodworking shops in their garages tend to be overcome by sawdust and wood chips, which can create dangerous situations. Garage door openers will not work properly if the moving parts are covered with sawdust. Sawdust and wood chips can create fire hazards, especially if the electrical wiring is faulty. Resurface the flooring for a safer environment, and install soundproofing so you can work without bothering anyone in the neighborhood.
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