I'll Show You My Workshop If You'll Show Me Yours

[cactus bum]

I thought I would show my workshop to the members. I made an existing two car garage into a three car size when we moved here ten years ago. I wired and lighted the space, and have a built-in vacuum system , with the vacuum unit in the shed adjacent to my shop. The table saw has it's own dedicated vacuum unit. Not shown below is the wood storage area of the shop.


The shop is a bit disheveled, but if you are reading this I know you understand. The door to the garage opens to make the space even nicer. The lights on the vertical garage door surface near the table saw become the overhead lighting for the table saw when the doors are up. I am big on safety. Good lighting, eye protection, hearing protection, and a good dust mask get me where I want to go.


The planer and sander are on wheels so as to free up needed assembly space when glue-up time comes for furniture. It may not seem like it in the photo, but I frequently don't have enough clamps, or the right ones.


Because the shop is actually used for all manner of tasks from rebuilding a weedeater to metal work to fine woodworking I have a bench that has most of the hand tools I would need for any project. The drawers on the right keep other bits and tools out of the dust. The cabinets to the right do the same for my hand power tools.


This photo shows the go-bar deck I just made, as well as most of the stationary machines. At the very left of the photo the dust collection pipe can be seen exiting the shop to the shed on the other side of the wall and the dust collector. Partly visible is my much-used compressor.
Of all the machines I have I would love to most upgrade my bandsaw. Grizzley is a brand where you can hit or miss. My bandsaw was made probably on a Friday afternoon before Chinese New Year in the year of the sloth.
You can barely make out the jointer just in front of the bandsaw. You can position one machine very close to another if you are willing to manhandle a machine out of the way twice a year. My bandsaw is on skids with pipes under the skids for ease of moving it.


Every time I don't have to go to the hardware store or Home Depot I gain 90 minutes in my day. I keep all kinds of hardware, parts, material scraps, and general stuff JUST IN CASE. It pays off! The tool box is holding down the stickered Alligator Juniper guitar tops I recently resawed and sanded to within 90% of their final thickness.

[Taffy Evans]

Hi There
I never tire of looking at the workshops of others, I like the look of yours very cosy and like mine not much room to swing a cat [or a mouse for that matter]. I see you've done a few things that Ive been "gonna do" for years. One of them is to get all the jars of nuts, bolts ect into some quick to get at order. I'm inspired now. I will show you my work shop as I put a broom through it on the weekend. Do you have gates on the extractor system for each machine?. Thanks for showing.

[kiwigeo]

Thanks for the pics Cactus,

Is that a homemade sander in rear left of first photo..looks interesting.

Cheers Martin

[Stephen Kinnaird]

Cactus,
That's a fine shop you've got there, and a clever use of space.
Here's a shot of my shop, which confirms my philosophy that time is best spent working on guitars, and not the guitar shop itself.
Anyway, here's my slice of guitar-building heaven.



For interest, here's a shot of my spray booth.
It's across the street.



Cheers,
Steve

[kiwigeo]

Steve,

I didnt know Tudor was big in Texas......

[cactus bum]

Thanks Taffy, The machines each have a dust gate. IF I were ever to do some kind of production run I could run and vacuum two machines at a time. Making the table saw have its own dedicated vacuum has made a lot of difference. At the same time I gave it it's own vacuum I put in a second dust port out the motor compartment of the cabinet type table saw. Ambient dust is much reduced. I'll keep an eye out for your photos of your shop.

KiwiGeo, That's my newly made thickness sander. I am not sure how much I will use it besides on guitar wood so I made it from parts I had around the shop. IF I got bit real good by the luthier bug I would probably do another better made one or go for a used performax. It was surprisingly easy to build.

Stephen, Thanks. Nice spray booth. Michael

[Paul B]

Spray Booth!

Colin's gonna love that!

[Allen]

I'm up for banning Michael for having a place for everything....and I mean everything. I mean, my God, he probably knows where to find it in there too.

I gotta do a bit of a tidy up before I'm gonna show you mine.

[Colin S]

For interest, here's a shot of my spray booth.
It's across the street.



Cheers,
Steve

It's funny but although I can't place it, that spray booth looks faintly familiar!

Colin

[Kim]

You gotta love this place, thank you Steve and Collin

[Dave White]

Apparently Queen Elizabeth I once sprayed in Steve's spray booth

[Colin S]

Apparently Queen Elizabeth I once sprayed in Steve's spray booth

I don't know about that Dave, but I do know it's the home of probably the finest guitar and lute maker in the Northern hemisphere. A man of incredible skill and taste, and I should add, great humility, a builder that has taken the art of instrument making to a whole new level. One that will never be equalled by mere mortals. One to whom the word 'spray booth' are anathema. where only the finest French polish and Chunky cut marmalade are ever applied to wood. I could go on, but I'll just embarrass the intellectual and artistic giant that is this luthier.

Steve's just jealous of my bell! It's ding-a-ling envy!

Colin

[Stephen Kinnaird]

Steve,

I didnt know Tudor was big in Texas......

Kiwi, I'm surprised you didn't comment on the trees!
You could have said, "I didn't know you Texans went in for trees".
Or even better, paint.
"I didn't know that Texans used or even knew how to paint their homes."

Ahhh, missed opportunities.

But yes, Tudor IS quite popular in Texas. Or at least WILL be...when we finish annexing Kent. I'm gonna put my exhaust fan right in that front leaded glass window.

Thanks for the kind remarks. Oh, and Michael, no way I'm posting pix of my shop's interior! Not after yours, M8.

Dave, she DID shower here. Is that your meaning?

Steve

[Kim]

Dave, she DID shower here. Is that your meaning? Steve

Let's hope so Steve, it quite simply would never do to go round calling Beth 1 a tom cat

Cheers

Kim

[Hesh1956]

Ok here is my new shop which is a work-in-progress in that I am building it right now. I recently moved........ and the plan is to build a new, much larger shop.

The construction is going very well and I am completely enjoying building the new shop. Although I have never done any construction before I am learning as I go and finding it to be a nice break from guitar building.

When completed the shop will be about 400 square feet consisting of a main work shop, a wood and crap storage area, and an office for me to be a slacker in. All of this will be climate controlled to 42 - 48% RH. There will also be a new addition to my shop, a table saw and the table saw will reside in the utility room next to the shop.



A few of the walls, including the long wall that will create the hallway, are not yet built but will be in a day or two.











Here are Bob's cases safely waiting for Bob to pick them up next month.



And a couple of celler dweller guitars.



Here is the last box that I closed up before the move, a Cuban/Lutz for my friend Billy.



This basement is completely dry and I had work done to the outside of the house to channel rain water away from the foundation. The RH stays in the 42 - 52% range with no assistance. The shop will be insulated and of course be armed with a dehumidifier and humidifier for when it does need some supplemental assistance.

Thanks for looking!

[Bob Connor]

The shop's really starting to take shape Hesh.

How are you going to get that table saw down the stairs? And did you decide on which one to get? We might just have to get a few of the blokes around on the weekend of the 27th to give you some assistance.

Besides I want to take that pink and purple thing for a few laps around your back yard.

[Hesh1956]

Hi Bob

Yeah I decided on the Rigid table saw which seems a good value at $550ish.

It weighs about 300 pounds but from what I understand has multiple pieces in the box so the plan is to take it piece by piece and assemble it in place in the shop. Both of my doors in the shop are 36" doors so I have that covered.

The electrical has been interesting to plan too. Each side of the main work room will have a 30A circuit and the office/storage area will have a 20A but also all of the overhead lights in the main shop. This way if I blow a circuit when using a major tool I will still have my lights to keep my hands and the rest of me safe.

I am trying to preserve the existing carpet for the front part of the shop which adds just a tad more difficulty in the planning but is working out fine so far.

The drywalling will be fun.......... That is going to take a lot of Z-poxy to smooth out the walls......

Oh yes I want to put in a doggie door too so Sony can visit - he loves to eat curls...........

[cactus bum]

Hesh, Looks like hog heaven to me. In one photo there is what looks like a vacuum of some sort next to the office chair. What is this? Also, what is the yellow thing under the bench further into the room? May be a compressor? Your use of space is still not clear, so as you make decisions on this keep us posted with pics. Your shop is like a blank slate. I like it.

Your photos look a bit like this is new construction, yet there is a carpet in place and the roof jacks in place indicate remodel. Are you actually remodeling the interior?

Looks like two band saws. Do you dedicate one to some specific task? Do you find a need to have two blades ready for different jobs?

Your pink and purple carpet vacuum is real cute Hesh. Is this an accent piece or does it's color scheme fit in with the rest of the design plan? Also Hesh, you have seemed like a pretty reasonable person to me, but when you say things like "The drywalling will be fun", I begin to worry. Actually I have some weeds that need cutting. You could have a real party doing that. Come on down.

Keep us posted. What an exciting time for you. Cheers, Michael Pollard

[Hesh1956]

Hesh, Looks like hog heaven to me. In one photo there is what looks like a vacuum of some sort next to the office chair. What is this? Also, what is the yellow thing under the bench further into the room? May be a compressor? Your use of space is still not clear, so as you make decisions on this keep us posted with pics. Your shop is like a blank slate. I like it.

Your photos look a bit like this is new construction, yet there is a carpet in place and the roof jacks in place indicate remodel. Are you actually remodeling the interior?

Looks like two band saws. Do you dedicate one to some specific task? Do you find a need to have two blades ready for different jobs?

Your pink and purple carpet vacuum is real cute Hesh. Is this an accent piece or does it's color scheme fit in with the rest of the design plan? Also Hesh, you have seemed like a pretty reasonable person to me, but when you say things like "The drywalling will be fun", I begin to worry. Actually I have some weeds that need cutting. You could have a real party doing that. Come on down.

Keep us posted. What an exciting time for you. Cheers, Michael Pollard

Hi Michael my friend!

The vac that you see is a Festool CT-22 dust extractor. It is the heart of a line of tools, Festool, that all hook up to this vac providing superb dust collection. The CT-22 is 134 CFM and HEPA rated so unlike many shop-vac type vacs that essentially strain the dust and put the finest particles back into the room this thing filters at the 1 micron level. It is one of the finest tools that I have ever purchased and I am absolutely satisfied with it. I use it where many folks use much larger, greater CFM systems and it works great.



The containers that you see above the vac are also part of the system. One contains a Festool drill, another a Festool ROS, and the large one is for accessories for the vac.

The yellow thing is a Shop-vac air cleaner that works pretty well but will not work well in the nearly 400 square feet that I will have in the shop suite. So it will be relegated to the utility room where my new table saw will go. I just purchased a Jet, ceiling suspended air cleaner with remote control for the main shop.

The pictures will make more sense after this weekend when I finish the last two walls and get the doors hung. More picture to come.

The house is new construction but I am finishing the basement myself. The carpet that you see was installed by the builder but before I had a shop plan in mind. Fortunately it will work out fine for me since the two rooms where the machines will be are not carpeted but the wood storage area and office will be carpeted. It's a little tricky for me, not having done anything like this before, to preserve the carpet where I want it but so far so good.

The two band saws are simply what results when one purchases tools early before they know what they will actually be using them for with Lutherie.... But I do use the small one for brace stock, head plates, etc. The larger Jet saw has an aggressive 4 TPI blade that I use for up to 3" brace billets and more.

The pink and purple Dyson vac is pictured as veiled innuendo with two purposes. First I wanted to show my friend Colin that I appreciate a very fine product that was invented and designed in the UK. And second, this is the veiled part..... I am picturing this vac for my friend Billy just to irritate him as retribution for photoshopping my face onto this picture.....



Besides you know the definition of the word innuendo don't you? It's an Italian suppository.......

Hey I'll help you get rid of those weeds too! When I said that drywalling will be fun what I really mean is that I am clueless about drywalling and making a rather bad joke......

I'll post more pics as this comes together.

[Paul B]

Hesh, go here: http://www.how2plaster.com/ to learn all you need to know about drywalling.

[zac_in_ak]

WOW Hesh that is such a step up from your original Flushtone© workshop I am glad you have such a nice place to work can't wait to see the finished shots! I have been kicked out of my mini flushtone and out to the kitchen counter but its ok I am actually getting things done out there.

[Craig]

My workshop is at one end of our house. A fantastic spot to work.




And my views out the windows

[kiwigeo]

Bloody great views there Craig.

[Kim]

Just beautiful Craig, the views, the light into the shop it's just superb the air of the place, wow.

Lucky dog, but your skilled enough to be worthy my friend.

Cheers

Kim

[cactus bum]

Craig, That is a nice intimate space to work. Let your mind rest while looking out the windows. Great.

I can barely make out a bandsaw in the left corner of the photo. Is that a bookbinder's press I see? Is it actually a fret press? Do you do without a table saw, or is this machine somewhere else? Do you find having three benches meets your needs, or did you have to reluctantly choose between the third bench and some machine? The reason I ask is I could not in a million years do without a table saw. It is the heart of my shop. Your go-bar set up seems to do double duty as storage for other things while not in use. Good idea. Guitar heaven. Cheers Michael Pollard

Actually, looking harder I think the clamp rack between the nearest bench and the windows on the left of the photo that I thought was a go-bar setup isn't. Is it?