Power Supply

[Dan Hall474]

I'm new-ish to the woodworking world and am slowly trying to stock my small garage(workshop) with tools. My table saw, a used Grizzly G0715P, had to be converted 220V to 110V in order to use at my house. I'm looking to get a jointer/planer combo next. I would like a budget friendly, 12" helical head machine. I'm considering the Grizzly G0634X, which requires 220V. It seems that most options available require 220V power supply. Is this the case throughout all woodworking machines? Should I have an electrician rewire the garage or is there a safe way to convert? Thank you in advance for any help!
-Dan

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Big machines really want 240 volts. I think upgrading your circuit would be worth doing.

[Tom M King]

It's really not that big of a deal to add some 240v circuits. Sticking to 120V is really quite limiting.

Edison chose 110 volts for his circuits, but the whole country upped to 120, 240 sometime in the 1930's.

[Eric Arnsdorff]

This is the trend to all electrical things related to delivering increased electrical power comes down to the losses involved in this delivery. Woodworking equipment follows suit. Lower voltages require higher currents which also creates higher heat losses. The way to reduce these losses is to raise the voltage.

As you build your shop and add better and more powerful tools, the higher voltage becomes more needed. As you move into larger commercial and industrial equipment, the same is true and the voltages increase even more.

You'll find the 240VAC in a woodworking shop is very desirable and nearly a necessity.

[Aaron Inami]

The highest power motor you can realistically run on a standard 15A 120V line is about 1-3/4 HP. Some people can run 2HP motors and they are available, but these will commonly cause the circuit breaker to switch off. A 20A circuit can be used here. However, if you want something larger than 2HP, you really need a 240V circuit. A 12" jointer needs a 240V circuit because the minimum horsepower motor is usually 3HP. More is better, though.

If you are stuck on 120V, the best you can do is a 6" jointer and/or one of the 13" planers. For 13" planers, most are bench top planers (like Dewalt 735), but you can find full size 13" planers that run on 120V such as Shop Fox W1842. I think Jet used to make a 13" full size planer but I can't remember if it was 120V.

[Bill Dufour]

You could add a big transformer to create 240 volts but amps will be limited to one half what the 120 outlet can provide. So not more then 1.5 hp regardless of voltage. It is cheaper to add a 240 line into the shop then buy a big transformer. I would run 240 to a subpanel and have at least 50 amps for car charging and what not.
BilL D

[Aaron Inami]

Found it. Jet JPM-13CS planer moulder, 13" at 1.5HP on 120V.

[glenn bradley]

There is a specific step many of us take when we move from benchtop machines to floor machines. Any induction motor leaving the 1HP level for more powerful tiers should probably move to 240v service. I did run a 1-3/4HP hybrid tablesaw at 120v and at 240v; there was no difference in actual use. A 3HP jointer, planer, sander, etc. is a different story.

In one of my home shops I just added a 50amp breaker to my home service panel and fed a sub panel with that. Since I only run one machine at a time plus the dust collector, this worked fine for a decade. If you are not comfortable working with house current, many electricians do piece work. That is, add a breaker and sub panel only. You could add your 120v and 240v breakers, wiring and outlets. A general methods book on house wiring can be had at the library or on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/s?k=book%2C+house+wiring&crid=1NCIHGYKQNY5H&sprefix=book%2C+house+wiring%2Caps%2C198&ref=nb_sb_noss_2).

[Robert Hayward]

I have six 240v outlets in my small garage shop fed from a sub panel off my main breaker box. They really are not that difficult or expensive to install.

[Jim Becker]

Unless one wants to maintain a stable of smaller capacity tools, having one or preferrably two 240v circuits in the shop is a good move. The second is for a dust collector. The first is for whatever power tool you'll be using in the moment that uses 240v power.

Since I have a mixture of larger tools, my machine circuit that is not dedicated to a particular tool is a 30 amp 240v circuit so it can handle my most demanding machines as well as those that only require 20 amps. I've standardized on the same 30 amp plug/receptacle format (L6 twist lock in my case) so rearrangement doesn't require any changes to machines or where they plug in. I mention this because it's not just about voltage...machines have amperage requirements, too, so your circuit(s) have to reflect the highest requirement if/when you have multiple machines unless you run dedicated circuits. (that's not very cost effective, honestly)

[Rich Engelhardt]

Kill two birds.

Run a 100 amp sub panel to the garage. That way you'll have enough for that charger you'll need for your electric vehicle.

[Jim Becker]

Kill two birds.

Run a 100 amp sub panel to the garage. That way you'll have enough for that charger you'll need for your electric vehicle.

This is a good idea in multiple ways and in some geographies, there are tax incentives for installing BEV/PHEV charging that can counter a chunk of the cost of installing the subpanel.

[Dan Hall474]

Point taken! I'll have an electrician take a look. Thank you!


It's really not that big of a deal to add some 240v circuits. Sticking to 120V is really quite limiting.

Edison chose 110 volts for his circuits, but the whole country upped to 120, 240 sometime in the 1930's.

[Dan Hall474]

Thank you all for your responses! It sounds like the move is obvious to upgrade my workspace to a higher amp capacity, specifically so Im not forced into smaller machines in the future. Just to clarify, the advice would be to ensure the minimum capacity is the sum of what would be my two highest-amp machines that would be running at the same time? ie jointer/planer + dust collector

[Dan Hall474]

Jim do you mean that at the same outlet you are plugging and unplugging the tool your using at that moment? The cord on my table saw for example is incredibly short. It seems like a lot of moving around to make that happen?


Unless one wants to maintain a stable of smaller capacity tools, having one or preferrably two 240v circuits in the shop is a good move. The second is for a dust collector. The first is for whatever power tool you'll be using in the moment that uses 240v power.

Since I have a mixture of larger tools, my machine circuit that is not dedicated to a particular tool is a 30 amp 240v circuit so it can handle my most demanding machines as well as those that only require 20 amps. I've standardized on the same 30 amp plug/receptacle format (L6 twist lock in my case) so rearrangement doesn't require any changes to machines or where they plug in. I mention this because it's not just about voltage...machines have amperage requirements, too, so your circuit(s) have to reflect the highest requirement if/when you have multiple machines unless you run dedicated circuits. (that's not very cost effective, honestly)

[Rod Wolfy]

I'm not sure from your message how your garage is set up or finished. My first garage didn't have drywall and the studs were open. The second & third one had drywall.

If you're handy: I put a couple of 240 breakers in the open spaces on my panel (in the garage) and ran the wire thru the 2x6 in the wall between the bay that the panel was in & the next one over, then put in a couple of boxes with a 220 outlet in each. Not that hard, especially with YT videos to educate you. I did it over 20 years ago, before YT. Cost now is about $100.

[Jim Becker]

Jim do you mean that at the same outlet you are plugging and unplugging the tool your using at that moment? The cord on my table saw for example is incredibly short. It seems like a lot of moving around to make that happen?

You can have multiple outlets on one 240v circuit just like you can (and normally do) with 120v circuits. Just be sure that the machines you intend to plug into that circuit are never going to be running at the same time. For example, I can support my sliding table saw, my bandsaw and my J/P combo on the same circuit. There will never be an instance when I'll be using any of those machines simultaneously.

As an aside, I tend to put pigtails on my machines and then custom make extension cords that are the length I need to get from the machine to the outlet it will be using. That keeps things neat and also provides for a complete disconnect right at the machine for any kind of service/maintenance without having to get to the wall or ceiling outlet...which can invariably become blocked from time to time "just because".

[Maurice Mcmurry]

My garage shop only has one 20 amp 240 volt circuit. I have 6 240 volt outlets. My biggest motors are 2 HP. (table saw and dust collector). It is a one person shop. I have yet to trip the 20a 240v breaker. My welder outlets are connected directly to the 40a sub main. The 40a 240v "shop" breaker in the house has never tripped as well even when I turn the buzz box up to 11 and burn up cutting rods. Everything has been inspected and passed.

[Will Blick]

ditto what Jim B does....
if u are a ONE man shop, u cant run two machines at the same time.
To the OP,
agreed, 240 V is so helpful...but with small machines, 120v can suffice.
think of this in terms of how much potential energy a machine has in amps...
120V at 15 amps = 15amps
240V at 30 amps = 60 amps, or 4x the potential energy, that is significant, and useful for certain tasks like jointing, planing, re sawing, TS when using thick hard woods, etc.
be sure to check your incoming service, and be sure its sufficient to support what u are doing.
And if you do not get permit, assuming u are in the USA, and the house burns down as a result of faulty work, often insurance does not cover it...something u might want to investigate.

[Jim Dwight]

Yes, you need to have capacity for a dust collector and the most power consuming tool it could be paired with. Probably a table saw or jointer/planner. Probably 3hp or 5hp motors on both tools.

I will also disagree with the other inputs you've received, however. I've made lots of furniture for myself and my kids using only 110V machines. My DC is the "2hp" HF motor/blower mounted on top of a super dust deputy and discharging outside. My garage shop is not heated or cooled and eliminating filtration helps the admittedly small DC work OK. My table saw is the 1 3/4 hp SawStop PCS. I have to be more careful about what blade I am using for deep cuts or difficult wood but I can and do cut 3 inch deep in hardwoods whenever I want to. I have a 14 inch Jet steel frame bandsaw with 13 inch resaw capacity and it works fine on 110V. My planner is an old Ryobi and I use an old Inca 8 5/8 capacity jointer. My tools are not as powerful or as capable in some ways as the tools others are using. But I don't think my tools limit what I can make although they may limit how I can do it. For instance my jointer has really short infeed and outfeed tables so I use my track saw to get large boards ready for glueup. That allowed me to make a 10 foot long dining room table last year.

I think there are definitely advantages to bigger more powerful tools and a bigger more powerful DC but I don't think they are necessary for a hobby shop. I have two 20A 120V circuits for tools and a 15A light circuit. You will probably need to do some wiring to have even this much in a typical garage. It will not be a lot more expensive to add 220V circuits versus 120V. Just depends on whether you are willing to work within the limitations of less powerful tools.

[Will Blick]

> I've made lots of furniture for myself and my kids using only 110V machines.

Valid point... anything is possible... I should have prefaced my response, "240V circuits are more desirable for most heavier duty ww machines". Heck, u dont even need any electricity at all,
like the Neanderthal forums here. They make gorgeous furniture with just their own physical power and hand tools, like they did 200+ years ago!

That being said...if anyone in this hobby is running new circuits, just run 4 conductor cable from breaker to end source, so you will be prepared for anything in the future. Size accordingly, of course. The 4th conductor is optional of course, but some machines require a neutral to have both 110v and 220V.