Official Luthiers Forum!

Kyle and I are thinking of tearing the carpet out of a seldom used room in my home and turning it into our "shop" MINUS the big power tools (Band Saw, Thickness Sander, Drill Press?, Spindle Sander?, and belt sander) as those will stay in the garage. Up until now we are using my "office" to do much of the "clean" work - and it's getting a little old having to always put everything away so I can prep for my dad gig and possible client visits.

We have a room that is 8' wide and 14'4" long. The room also has the standard 2' deep double bifold closet. Totally willing to pull off the close doors if needed. There is a double double-hung window on one wall.

Looking for your ideas on how you would organize this space.

Clean slate!

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

Hi Paul,

I am actually looking at doing the same thing later this year. Similar set-up, only the room will be slightly wider and shorter than yours. I had planned to take the closet doors off and putting up shelving. I plan to use that for wood storage, and misc storage. I currently have a very small space, with the power tools in the garage (small, but i can control humidity). I look forward to any replies you get .

Glenn

We will need to include a gobar deck in our space. We are thinking of putting screw inserts into a countertop so we can screw the gobar deck support poles into it - and then put the top on. That allows us to pull down the top and poles and store when not in use. Just a though.

It would be nice to use the closet for both wood storage and storage of MANY other items.

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

Paul, it seems like every time you post a new topic, that I am going thru just the same thing!

Last month I put a stud wall across my basement and put drywall and a vapor barrier up last week. I found an old antique door that looks kinda nice and that lets light in.

I, too, have the power tools out in the garage, on a table. This is my setup/assembly area. But it's also like my "home office." I have recordings and a stereo in there and I don't want dust. For finish I am doing french polish and I use everclear, not denatured alcohol. so not much of an issue, there.

I built a bookshelf that covers one wall. Then, I bought one of those cheap industrial kinda shelves at menards. and i also made a cheap workbench out of 2x4's. here are the drawings i made when i was planning it and a couple of pics of the space.

having the big shelf makes everything so much more manageable. this shelf was only $40. whew, that particle board stunk when i unpacked it. i let it gas off in the garage for a few days before bringing it inside!

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"...you have to get over your strict adherence to your largely imagined notion of absolute perfection..."

Sounds exactly like my shop. I have an 8ft bench along one wall and a 3ft bench on the other shorter wall. The back wall has a desk with a PC on it and drawers that store plans, other stuff. A book case that I sticker wood in and a closet that is now full of guitars.

My shop is in a 9 x 13' bedroom. The full length bench under the windows incorporates tablesaw/ router table/ drillpress/ radial arm all at the same 40" bench height (...roll out jointer & lots of storage underneath. The lower benchs are 34". Wood storage & dust collector are in a closet on the left. For a go-bar deck I attached a plywood rectangle to the ceiling, directly above a height-adjustable body fixture (in the vise) & use 42 " bars .... works great & no storage issues. May give you some ideas.

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Dave
Milton, ON

Here are some screenshots of one idea. Since both my father and I work on guitars at the same time we don't want to get things too congested. I was thinking the inserts for the gobar deck could be put in the "island." The storage under the bench on the back wall would be used to store guitars in process. The closet would then be used for wood storage and other odds and ends I am sure many of the tools would be stored on walls.

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--Kyle Burner--

Without a doubt if I were redoing a shop .. the bench woudl be longer if possible, and the storage above it would double as the top of the go bar deck .. so you have deck available anywhere on the bench thats clean - nothing to set up or take down - and storage for guitars in progress thats up out of the way - very important.

My go bar area is somewhat like that now, except it uses my large router table as the base, and then the upper deck (30x30) hangs from the ceiling, with shop built multi bin storage for purfs and bindings between that and the ceiling.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

If you can stick a small 2' X 4' island in the center with a go bar deck above it works well. I have one and I hang out there a lot.

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

Instead of going up from the benchtop, why not come down from the ceiling? You could mount something up high that would remain permanent that you can just have your go bars go up to. Put it 3' above the benchtop so it won't be in the way of other operations, and make your own go bars out of wood, various lengths for various tasks.

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"...you have to get over your strict adherence to your largely imagined notion of absolute perfection..."

I like the idea of having an upper shelf that acts as the top of the gobar deck above our long bench. However, I do NOT want to put anything into the ceiling as I have one of those "popcorn" spray texture ceiling which would be a bear to repair if I ever moved.

I'm wondering how to keep the long 8' span shelf from flexing under the pressure of the gobars - maybe some type of an angle brace into the wall? (upside down above the shelf?)

I'm betting my engineer son can figure this out.

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

I'm a big fan of central work islands and half island type benches, but I would hesitate to put one in a small room such as that. Too much traffic area, and too little bench surface in that space. Instead, put benches along the wall(s), with storage underneath and a shelf or over (which can double as a go-bar deck, as has been suggested). If the layout is well thought out, a small space like that can be a very effective; almost all tools can be within reach, or close nearby. You can aways clamp a solera type work board or a fold-up table to the main bench if you need a work surface with access from more than one side, but don't make it permanent. I like the look of Dave Stewart's shop.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Paul,
Pretty easy to repair. You can buy the texture in a spray can. However you don't need to use the ceiling to do as Tony suggested. You can go off of the wall either above or below the shelve/deck.
Link

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Cut to size.....Beat to fit.....Paint to match.

If you have room under a bench you might want to add a couple drawers big enough to hold a guitar.
I find myself working on more than one project at a time. I can put all the parts of a guitar in a drawer and it's out of the way but every thing is still there.

I got the idea from some body here, I ain't that smart!

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Say what you do, Do what you say.

Yep I copied it from you Filippo. Thanks
Guess I need to thank Todd also.
By the way mine doesn't look like "Furniture", be nice if it did.

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Say what you do, Do what you say.