Official Luthiers Forum!

Welcome to my World!
Wooden shed at bottom of "garden", 12' x 12' outside, (less 8" for walls and insulation inside) so bigger than some, but still a bit cramped with the machinery, but I'm glad to have it.
(There's another smaller shed close by set aside for spraying and buffing)
Here's the $0.05 tour.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Wow! Colin, that's great use of a small space.

I'm also at the "low" end so far as space goes but even more limited as my workshop is the 4th bedroom of our rented house, so no machinery for me! Total space is about 5' x 8'.



All of my power tool use happens in the "outside" workshop. Plenty of space out there, just have to wait for the right weather.



Cheers,

Shane

Shane I built guitars like that for ten years. A room inside my house with the saw dust making machines outside. My shop was more like 15x10 with high ceilings so I could store stuff on rafters but still, totally doable. My power tools outside were also under a roof and protected from the weather. I'm so used to that set up that even now with a new bigger space I'm thinking of setting up the power saws outside in a garage so I don't have to deal with dust collection and will have plenty of space. I like a clean workshop

I have posted these pictures elsewhere before, so some of you guys have probably seen them. Its been a while, and things have evolved a bit since, but the basics are the same (only messier )

I have a basement workshop, but since my house is built on sloping ground, only half the basement is below grade. That means I have pretty good daylight, and convenient access from the outside. I am just putting the finishing touches on a new spray booth in an my garage, which is a separate building. It insulated, heated and well ventilated, so I can use it all year.

My workshop has evolved over the years, but about 3 years ago I did a major overhaul and built it into its current configuration. I used some elements from its predecessors, and based on my experiences from those drew up a plan with a machine and bench layout that suits my work style and tooling, and made efficient use of the available space.

The concept is one “clean” bench / assembly room, and one “dusty” machine / wood processing room (and now, the third room, for finishing). Actually there is one more, small room, connected to the machine room, which is where I keep my dust collector.

Here’s the plan







First, some snapshots from the bench room...

The main workbench. Whatever I’m working on is usually on the “island” bench, while plans, parts, jigs, glue-ups etc are kept on the bench along the wall. For one thing, I have better access that way, but it also eliminates the chance of tools dropping on it etc.







I sometimes work on different things on either side of the bench, as the large work surface allows it. The bench also acts as a clamp rack, and holds a cabinet with abrasives, sanding blocks etc. I also keep a large 230/115 V stepdown transformer, a shop vacuum, trash can etc under it, and the added weight makes it very stable.







A closer look at some of the stuff over the wall bench; all within easy reach from my usual position between the two benches.







This is my sharpening bench. I use water stones, hence the HPL countertop. The wall cabinets are for books, the little drawers for small parts and supplies.







I enjoy working with hand tools, and an ancient planing bench is great for some of those tasks. The clamshell type cabinet holds most of my bench planes and regular woodworking tools







I monitor and control RH closely







Wood storage







Bridge blanks, headplates etc







More storage; tuners, pickups, strap buttons and whatnot. I like to keep this stuff fairly well organized, so I don’t have to waste time looking for it.







Works in progress







Various routers, jigs etc







That was all in the bench room, here’s the machine room:

Two bandsaws (one 24”, the other 12”), in front of my stash of Honduras mahogany.







Table saw with home made router table, and drum sander in the background







Jointer and edge sander

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Then there's the spray booth, which I built as an addition to my garage. One room for gardening tools etc, and another, insulated room next to it, for spraying finishes.



Here’s what you see when you open the door; the ceiling is quite high on one side, so I built an overhead shelf where I can store finishing materials, and it has hooks for hanging instruments while they cure.




My compressor is 5 hp, 3 phase 230V, which is plenty big enough for my needs. It is not ideal to keep it in the same room as the spray I’m told, so I may eventually build a separate insulated box for it next door, and perhaps look into cooling for the air lines if humidity becomes a problem. No trouble yet, so it stays for now.




Speaking of moisture and air, here’s my moisture trap, regulator and air filter, connected with copper pipes and screw fittings. There is also a ‘drop leg’ for draining the system, probably not essential for such a short stretch of pipes, but it is easy insurance. I also have a moisture trap and a regulator at the gun, which allows me to adjust the pressure very precisely.




On the opposite wall is my fan. I made this hinged frame over the opening, to hold the filter. There is another one just like it, diagonally across the room, which is the intake, so I can get a pretty effective breeze right through the room. In the winter this cools things down quickly of course, which is not optimal for finsh flow out, but it helps if the room (and finish, and everything it touches) starts out quite warm.




Without the filter, you can see the grille over the duct, and a hinged, spring loaded backdraft damper before the fan outside.





The "birdhouse", with the fan inside
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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Arnt, you've got a workspace that is very well put together! The bar has been raised!

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Doug

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

Here's mine- an over stuffed two car garage.
Second photo is of my latest addition a SuperMax 19-38 drum sander.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

Humidifying bucket in Scotland? Whats that for?!

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"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso

https://www.facebook.com/FenskeGuitars

I am seriously jealous of Arnt's space; that'd be just about ideal for me

Yep, Arnt wins my vote for most enviable guitar shop!

Tim

Ah my friend Peter from the Land of the Dragon and Leek. (I hear they do a good pint there by the way)
By way of explanation, a Fairy Tale.
So once upon a time, it got cold.
Perhaps not freezing. Well, not this particular year anyway.
But that miserable, cold, damp, 2 or 3 degrees, the RH outside (bad guy) gets high.
However, when the outside air enters the handsome prince's heated workshop, and quickly warms up, the RH of that air drops, cantankerous bad guy that he is.
Yes, even below that magical 40-45 we all know and love.
And that is not good for many mysteries which we, in the know, perform in the hidden confines of the "shop".
Shrinkage. Cracking. Even braced plates turning mysteriously inside out.
Of course, as an apprentice adept, I may not speak of this to outsiders. Except in the form of dire warnings mixed with incantations when they pick up their precious magical wooden boxes.
But I can tell those such as yourself, who are entered into the mysteries, this.

I have observed that if I leave a bucket of water in the shop with the dehumidifier running, the RH will stay stable.
Otherwise it dries out in winter.
A friend of mine calls it "Driving The Shed"

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Arnt, your shop is really nice.
A pleasure to see, and something to aspire to.
No surprise seeing the guitars you make.
But you know that, and have worked at it for a long time.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

LOVE your super Max Rusty - want.

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Thank You and Best To All

I'll only show my "workshop" if there's a prize for the messiest!?!
To all the clean freaks, I will tidy up one of these days.

this is an interesting thread , I love to see the different shops , some organized so well . some multi purpose. The point is that if you want to do this . you can

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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

Aha that's the difference... You actually heat your shop! Mines usually around 15°C

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"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso

https://www.facebook.com/FenskeGuitars

here's what I've got at the moment, it's a bit sparse but a lot of that is because I don't have a lot of tools in permanent positions, I just bring them out when I need them and put them away when I'm done (ooooh, my back!!)







I really only started getting big tools a couple years ago so I don't have a whole lot, and some of what I do have is not that heavy duty. For the amount of time I get to spend on this stuff though it suits my needs. Also, we're renting this house and while my landlord has been very cool about me putting a shop in the garage I know it's not permanent so I've arranged it with that in mind. I'm trying not to build in too much so when the day comes we can just back a truck up and load up. Lighting is a challenge, and I'd really like to have 220v out there but that will require a new panel for the house so it's on hold at least for now. Also, I have been gathering parts for a proper woodworking bench but between work, school, trying to finish the guitars I've got going and trying to have some free time to maintain sanity, it hasn't gotten very far. I'm thinking it'll be a summer project.

oh and I bought the drill press from the father of the bass player for the band, "a Perfect Circle", so it's got some cache.

Here is my shop.. as I do this for a living and it's really hard to make a living as a luthier in Taiwan (especially when I have absolutely no ability to tap into the local market which I know next to nothing about), I expand if I can. I do feel like I've reached the limit this space can offer me because it's basically a collection of random sized rooms which makes space planning difficult. If I had all this space all in one room then it would have been more ideal. There are certainly things I wish I'd have but seriously I make a lot more money doing repairs or fret jobs so most of the shop machines are actually not necessary... but I hate being limited. Plus having a well equipped shop gives customers confidence.

Only American made tools I have is that Powermatic 1150 that somehow made it here, other than that everything else is Taiwanese because I think I'd pay over 10,000 dollars to ship even a 400 dollar drum sander from the US (Grizzly's embargo against Taiwan not withstanding).

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I sure wouldn't worry about 'mercan tools. They are all made in Taiwan or China anyway...

Here's a photo of my humble shop in my garage....

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

Terrence - I'd like to see and hear more about the Shop Fox Binding Jig (or so it appears).

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P A U L B U R N E R
Burner Guitars

It's a pin router Paul not a binding jig. I use it for F holes on archtops and hogging off wood when shaping the arches. I've also discovered a number of other uses for it.

I still use the old Ribbecke style tower for most binding although I got the LuthierTools uk device a while back after seeing Arnt's. It's nice for tight cutaways but to tell you the truth I am still more comfortable with my old tower on straightforward binding jobs.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

I just did a major shop overhaul. Also picked up a new bench and thickness sander. I look forward to enjoying more horizontal surfaces, multiple work stations, all dust producing machines in one area, more room for stash storage, etc, etc.

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Doug

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