Thread: Alternative power tools plugs?

One thing I like about the metal working area of my shed are the overhead power points. At each of these PP I locate a expander board and then leave the power tools plugged into the expander board and hanging from their own strong hooks. This way tools like my 4 angle grinders and a corded drill are all plugged in a ready to go in one area of the shed. Likewise my 4 bench grinders.
The cord tangle problem is not eliminated but much reduced and they don't take up bench space.

The WW area has a couple of overhead PP but the roof is too low to hang tools from that area of the shed.

Go cordless?

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

Go cordless?

Cordless can be nearly as bad as they still take up bench or shelf space with battery chargers and cords etc. Admittedly they can be on a non-working bench

You have to have a mess of cords somewhere, might as well be in a corner out of the way.

I will say that there are few things more irritating than cordless tools dying mid-cut/mid-hole/mid-screw, but that's the price you pay for not tripping over cords.

Originally Posted by BobL

One thing I like about the metal working area of my shed are the overhead power points. At each of these PP I locate a expander board and then leave the power tools plugged into the expander board and hanging from their own strong hooks. This way tools like my 4 angle grinders and a corded drill are all plugged in a ready to go in one area of the shed. Likewise my 4 bench grinders.
The cord tangle problem is not eliminated but much reduced and they don't take up bench space.

The WW area has a couple of overhead PP but the roof is too low to hang tools from that area of the shed.

Thanks for the idea, never thought of hanging them from the roof. I just put in more GPO's. My 3 drills are mounted on the end of my Symtec lathe as I've set them up for turning pens.
Kryn

I think Woodwould had a thread about cutting off the long cords and adding an IEC C14 plug to the leftover short tail. Then just use one long matching power cable for all tools. These are rated up to 10amps, for up to 15amps use C20.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60320

I've been very tempted to make these mods myself someday.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/5pcs-IEC-...item43d3f1eba3

Originally Posted by Fuzzie

I think Woodwould had a thread about cutting off the long cords and adding an IEC C14 plug to the leftover short tail. Then just use one long matching power cable for all tools. These are rated up to 10amps, for up to 15amps use C20.

I accidentally ran over the cord of my belt sander about 500 mm from the sander so I just located the plug at this point. This turned out to be a PITA as the plug was then constantly bopping and hopping along behind and over the work and getting hung up on work and bench corners. This went on for about 15 minutes before I replaced the coat with an original length cord. In fact I reckon tools like sanders should have an extra long cord to minimise this effect.

I think WW cut his cords off as short as possible. He may have even used the panel mount c14 housing to integrate it into the tool body.

Originally Posted by Fuzzie

I think WW cut his cords off as short as possible. He may have even used the panel mount c14 housing to integrate it into the tool body.

That makes a bit more sense although in might be tricky to integrate into some of the more compact power tools.

One think I have used quite often with sanders is the dust flexy and the power corded suspended from above with an added long ocky strap to keep an upward tension on the suspended bits.
In addition to this the other end of the ocky is arranged so that it can slide along either a suspended wire or pipe. This has the advantage of keep the cord and the flexy off the work and out of the way.

Festool cords plug directly into the body of their tools.



Fair Winds

Graeme

I run lights on wires as well as power leads.

I hate leads running on the floor as I know that sooner or later I will trip or snag the cord and drag a tool off the bench.

https://www.woodworkforums.com/showth...853#post298853

Originally Posted by BobL

One thing I like about the metal working area of my shed are the overhead power points. At each of these PP I locate a expander board and then leave the power tools plugged into the expander board and hanging from their own strong hooks. This way tools like my 4 angle grinders and a corded drill are all plugged in a ready to go in one area of the shed. Likewise my 4 bench grinders.
The cord tangle problem is not eliminated but much reduced and they don't take up bench space.

The WW area has a couple of overhead PP but the roof is too low to hang tools from that area of the shed.

Thanks and a little tardy with my reply, but my issue is with tools used out of a workshop situation, I constantly end up with a tangle of leads on power tools.

Originally Posted by DoctorWu

Thanks and a little tardy with my reply, but my issue is with tools used out of a workshop situation, I constantly end up with a tangle of leads on power tools.

Moving or using?

When moving, I have always used strips of Velcro - roll up the cord and Velcro the loop - you can now buy Velcro type cable ties instead of making your own.

When using, use one of those distribution blocks - preferably with safety switch built in - loop the power tool cord over my shoulder to give me room to move and keep the cord out of the way of the job and tool.

If using extension cords, my cords are on a large wind up hose reel like you can get for water hoses - easy to store, easy to pull out and retrieve. One absolute must when using the hose reel is that the cord MUST be totally unwound from the reel when using.

Hope it helps you out.