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Back in the saddle....
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Author:  Sprockett [ Mon Aug 07, 2006 12:22 pm ]
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FINALLY!!!!

The shop has reached a point where I can start building again, it's coming close to a year since I have done any building at all and I've been anxiously waiting to get cracking. We had the Garage door replaced a week ago, and we had to move all the tools out of the way so they could install the new one. I've been unhappy with our floor epoxy because we did it in winter and it never took for one thing and the color never came out like we wanted, so down to Home Depot I went and this time I bought a slate grey to go down first and then the red I wanted.

So we prepped, scrubbed and finally painted and this is what we ended up with after two coats (a base and then the color):



It looks much better now, while we did that the last of the dust collector parts came in and I was able to get it finished and working, this time when we moved the tools back in we took our time and made sure everything would fit where we needed it. We pretty much stuck to the original plan with a few variations for space, I also put up some temporary shelving until I could finish the cabinets.

So at this point the only things left to do are build the new shop cabinets (that includes the new setup bench), install the air conditioner (when it shows up) and get the CNC up and running (more on that in a bit). The new garage door really cuts down on the heat in the shop, so all the sweat over insulation and making sure the door has a good postitive seal paid off in spades. It was in high 90's today and the shop stayed in the low 80's the whole day.... Nice...

Here are some picts of how everything is layed out:



This is looking down towards the side door...



Looking the other way



Down along the side wall...


This is the setup for the table saws dust collection, I put some UHMW over the back access and ran a splitter so that some air can go to the dust guard on the top and the rest will pull through the table. The real test was that I cut some MDF and normally I get a cloud of dust and my jeans are coated, this time I got neither.... SWEET!!! The gate on the dust arm is so I can turn it off if I'm running something like a dado blade... The other gates are for the router table and the jointer, all these gates are wired so when you pull them the unit comes on...



This is the vacuum press area, those shelves will eventually become an actual cabinet with more storage up there, but for now they work fine.



This is the Bandsaw and the Drill Press area, I ran an extra dust collection outlet for the drill press since I do sanding there from time to time...



Here you can see my temp shelving, all this will be replaced by my setup bench (which I'm still working on getting drawn up)...



Gotta have a place to store cold drinks and yes I have some beer in there, along with sodas and gatoraide, probably the most used tool in the shop



This is my layout for a cabinet that will hold all my hand planes and chisels, one side is hand planes as you see here and the other part will be for the chisels, I'm going to use magnetic strips to hold up the chisels.



And finally my first project in the new shop!!, I need to build a couple of small jigs for this based on the stew mac plans. I was tempted to replace some of the parts like the heel and neck blocks because they aren't very well done (not to my standards at least) but for the class I'm teaching I'll just fix what they provided. It's not a bad kit at all, just some of the parts are a little rougher than I expected, but nothing I can't fix.

I gave my wife a list of supplies I needed from various places to get the guitars going and she rolled her eyes, especially the SM and LMI ones... hehehehe But it's been a flippin year and I let my common supplies run down, my LMI white glues got frozen so they have to be tossed... so I need new stuff

Has anyone use the Titebond white glue?? I'm curious if it would work on the uke, I'll use hide glue for the braces, but was thinking of yellow or LMI for the other parts...

Cheers

-Paul-

Author:  CarltonM [ Mon Aug 07, 2006 1:22 pm ]
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Alright Paul!!! It's all coming together nicely now, though I know it's been a long process. Happy luthing!

Author:  Michael McBroom [ Mon Aug 07, 2006 1:34 pm ]
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Wow!

Author:  Dave Anderson [ Mon Aug 07, 2006 1:41 pm ]
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Sure is a good lookin' shop Paul, I'm sure you are very proud of all your labors on it! Now,the fun part...building your great guitars again.

Author:  vpelleri [ Mon Aug 07, 2006 2:06 pm ]
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You don't realy WORK in there do you?

Author:  old man [ Mon Aug 07, 2006 2:41 pm ]
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You've got way too much stuff. That's very nice.

Ron

Author:  Rod True [ Mon Aug 07, 2006 3:11 pm ]
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All right Paul!!!!

That's just great, glad the ends in sight. Hey how bout a picture from outside with the overhead door open for a full visual on the entire shop.

So, where's the spray booth?

Author:  peterm [ Mon Aug 07, 2006 3:37 pm ]
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Very nice....I wish I had as much room!!

Author:  Sprockett [ Mon Aug 07, 2006 5:14 pm ]
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Thanks for the nice comments guys, we sank more money than we wanted into this shop, your basically looking at my retirement. But in the end I think it's worth it, I got a full schedule of guitars to get cranking on, now if the CNC would just hurry up and get here

Rod... No spray booth, I decided it's cheaper to have it sent out and done, I'll do the white stage and epoxy fill it and then leave it in Adam's hands to finish for me. I considered it for a short time and if I was going to do that I would build another small shed just for that purpose....

And here's the shot you asked for



The cool thing is that not only can I build guitars but cabinets and just about anything else, I'm considering hiring out for some custom work to help pay the bills. Like I said it's not finished but it's close, now I can take my time and work out the last items at my leisure while I get back into building again...

Cheers

-Paul-

Author:  Don Williams [ Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:00 pm ]
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Lookin' good Paul, except for the missing wall on the front. But I guess if you want customers to see you working that's as good a way to do it as any other...



I think most of us are a just a little envious...

Author:  LanceK [ Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:15 pm ]
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Very nice!
IT makes me want to park in the drive way

You HAVE been busy!

Author:  Serge Poirier [ Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:36 pm ]
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That's another great shop to work in, i know i'd want to!

Great job Paul, i'm really happy for you, you've worked so hard...

Congratulations!

Serge

Author:  Rod True [ Tue Aug 08, 2006 1:29 am ]
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Alright alright.....

Can't wait to see the first progress' on your first guitar to come out of the new shop and home.

By the way, where's all your wood?

Author:  Sprockett [ Tue Aug 08, 2006 2:02 am ]
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The wood is stored in a shed with the mechanicals, I'll be re-organizing that this week as well. I didn't want to keep a ton of stock in the shop, it just gets in the way and collects dust. Also I can somewhat control the humidity in a smaller space better...

Cheers

-Paul-

Author:  npalen [ Tue Aug 08, 2006 2:07 am ]
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It just ain't fair!

Author:  RussellR [ Tue Aug 08, 2006 2:49 am ]
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Well done Paul

Good luck in your new shop and don't make a mess in there

Author:  drfuzz [ Tue Aug 08, 2006 5:42 am ]
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That looks so great - some really good ideas to steal too

Author:  Alain Desforges [ Tue Aug 08, 2006 5:07 pm ]
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All right! Now get in there and dirty that shop up!!! It's sickeningly clean!

Author:  Sprockett [ Wed Aug 09, 2006 3:30 am ]
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It won't be clean for long Alain!!!

I started on the jigs for the UKE last night and made a mess.. hahahaha...

I will say that the new DC system is MUCH better than my old one but when I'm really focusing I forget to pull the blast gate for small things. I may at some point look into wiring some of the gates to the machines so I can't forget, kind of defeats the whole Dust Collection system when the nut behind the wheel forgets to turn it on... hehehehehe

Nelson, I've seen pictures of your shop and I would trade in a minute, in fact I got a bunch of my ideas from studying yours

I'm hoping to get a big 200lb box with my CNC this week, the Fedex guys are avoiding me again

-Paul-

Author:  Terry Stowell [ Wed Aug 09, 2006 12:40 pm ]
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okay, so the painter in me says "what colors didya use?"

Author:  Sprockett [ Wed Aug 09, 2006 3:32 pm ]
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Sahara Shade (Behr)

And the cabinets are Mayan Gold

The floor is red brick...

They sound weird (who names these anyway) but they look good...

-Paul-

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