Official Luthiers Forum!

Nice shops, everyone. Mine is a 12 x 24' building with no windows (too much heat comes in here in Tucson), but good lighting. I'm constantly trying to re-organize my storage but otherwise am very happy with it. Since these pictures were taken, I have retrofitted that HF bench to have a much larger, flatter top and a shoulder vice.

Here is my Laboratory. A little messy. Lots of things going on. From guitars to cub scout projects. I added a few pics of my wood room stash.

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Jason Moe
LaCrosse WI 54601

Thank you John for starting a great thread, really enjoying it. Well of course its a bit different for me being a cabinet and furniture maker by trade, plus the 25 plus years in the film business still brings in the occasion strange, yet interesting, job. I'd like to share a few pics too.
The space is 5000 ft with 2 offices and 2 bathrooms, nice industrial space from the 50's. I'm just going to throw up a few pics thru the years.

Jason wins the 'Stuffed Fish Award'...
Me self, I ate mine...

Tim wins 'Nicest Table Award'...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Too much space just means more that needs cleaning! Here is my workshop/shed!


Sometimes it feels like there is not enough room to swing a chicken though!

I am by strict definition a "garage builder." I am fortunate to have a third garage bay that has been pressed into duty. Here is where things begin....



From there, we move to the other end of the garage bay which is the final fitting/fretwork/fine sanding area.



And then to the polishing, setup, and pickin' area (that is supposed to be my office for my second full-time job (this is my third))

Okay - I'll bite. Guess I'm a garage builder also - power tools are in the garage with the 1970 totally disassembled Mach I; there is no room for a car that actually runs. There is no humidity control in garage, and I often drag the appropriate power tool outside to cut/sand. Assembly typically takes place on the pool table (or dining room table); as I explained to my wife, this is necessary for humidity control. I do store some of my stuff in my office/study where I have my books and jeweler’s bench. Most of the tonewood is stored in one of several old cedar chests, closets and on top of book shelves. In closing, I would like to say that my work areas are well planned examples of entropy; John and Terence have way too many tools; Hesh, Beth and a few others are way too neat; Tim and Meddlingfool have way too much room, but Meddlingfool's trout looks great.

Always interesting to see where others work. My shop is a work in progress. I've been at it since I moved into the new house in August but it's been so cold I've had to wait it out a bit. Was hoping to be up and running by now. I've got a temporary space worked out for doing repairs which has been keeping me very busy as well. On top of that I'm building a pottery studio for my wife. Once we have these shops done we'll probably never see each other again

The shop is a well built old barn circa 1920. The garages in the back were added some time later.



When I moved in it looked like this:


Then I cleaned it out:


Added Insulation batting to the walls:


Rebuild the stairs and do some drywall.



I plan on refinishing the floors and once I get all the drywall done will put up wainscot and probably lots of peg board. I'm looking into Mitsubishi ductless heating and cooling systems now. I still need to plan out the logistics. I'm not sure if I will get a dust collection system and keep the power tools in the shop or just keep them in the garage outside like I have in the past. I tend to like the idea of making dust outside but when it's 0 degrees out it makes you think twice.

After talking with our home builder I found out I had about 15 feet or so of full foundation walls in the basement of a daylight rambler. I had to dig out the space by hand removing the dirt with buckets. Luckily we had enough space in the rest of the crawl space to stash the dirt.



Poured a floor and framed the shop with a small paint room with proper ventilation, a closet for a clearvue dust collector and space for a wall of relatively deep build in cabinets.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

Wow! And the incredibly ambitious award goes to johnparchem

Why the heck would they fill a basement with dirt?

John really started something here......................a great thread. My place is in a bit of a mess, moving house in about a months time.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

[quote="jfmckenna"]
The shop is a well built old barn circa 1920. The garages in the back were added some time later.



When I moved in it looked like this:


JF, you get my vote for the shop with the most old timey potential. Can just imagine the refinished floors creaking as you move around the shop!

Here is my small shop. It is not too big, but has 9.5 foot ceiling, and 2 windows to let in natural light.

Here is main bench area:



Glenn

nice old band saw

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I live on a slope; the dirt never got dug out in that part of the house only a drench was dug for the foundation. The rest of the daylight basement was on grade at one side of the house. This area was not dug as it was totally below grade.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

Yeah I need to make some sort of sign to hang over the door. The floors do creak, they creak inside the old house too! It's also a train town so the train rumbles through every morning just in time to wake me up.

Fool:
No matter what you say, I am not your uncle.

Bob

Hesh, a chain tool and a tube of grease on the bench!?
What is going on?
separating bikes and woodworking is the reason I built a new shop.
And this from the paragon of clean.
I'm shocked.

I love seeing others' shops.

OK, so here's where I hang out. As some of you may know, I earn my keep building and restoring traditional wooden canoes. My guitar making has to share space in the canoe shop, which presents its challenges.

My shop is not a single purpose, shop. I have to be ready to work on any number of projects, and often simultaneously, so my space and tooling has to be very versatile. Everything is on wheels so that it can be repositioned, and the central work space is, in itself, a primary work asset. I also have to deal with pre-existing shop doors and windows, so I have limit of storage space, there's never enough!

There's always talk about favourite bandsaws, here is trusty General 15.

The shop itself is a re-purposed garage, 24' x 24', and adjacent is a fabric building 28' x 32', which I use for canoe and lumber storage.

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

Douglas, I have the same B&D router in my shop. A throwback to when their' tools lasted more than a couple of months. I just keep a round over bit in mine.
I'll haul out the trash and take some pics of my shop tomorrow.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Just another garage dweller. Space for the motorcycle but not the car.

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Doug

Don't let fear or common sense stop you from trying to build something

Here's my shop- microscopic compared to most of yours But I love having the use of my feet, sitting on the same surface as the work.

Douglas, are you building cellos?

Not yet. I have been repairing my wife's cello, not the one up on the shelf! That one was given to me during a visit to Calgary some years back, and its in really rough shape and I just don't have the time to do anything with it, not sure if its worth the effort, and I don't have the heart to toss it.

I am, however, making a bass viol, usually referred to as a viola da gamba. After some setbacks last summer I am again making progress.

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

My new shop is two floors. First floor is the guitar shop, second is the bike shop Right now they are all sort of mixed in till I'm done.