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It has taken me a while to get to this point, but I finally have the new shop in good enough shape to start building guitars. I still have some work to do on it, but that will come soon.

Here is my new work bench that I made out of some spalted sycamore I had laying around.

 

And here is #11 getting ready for a Sitka spruce top. This is EIR and will be bound with curly red oak. The butt piece is red oak, but didnt have too much curl to it. I liked the contrast between the oak and EIR so much thaqt I decided to bind with the oak also.

#12 is in the mold right now, if you look close at one of the pic's above, you will see it sitting on the table saw. It will be sapele with an englemann top.

 

This is an experiment, but something I have been wanting to try. The cross braced backs seem to have some qualities that I like. I decided to make the braces thinner, but taller and then carve them to a unique design just to see what happens.

Thanks for looking !

Ken

 

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Reguards,

Ken H

That's impressive Ken.  Shop and Guitar.  Looks like a great setup.  I like the bench wood too.  

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Nice Shop - I wish I had the room! Im always schemeing a hostile take-over of the part of the house we use as the solarium area...
Id get beaten down though, so an addition onto my existing shop leading out onto the deck is my only option...
Anyways.... nice workshop, and one heck of a nice workbench!
I have designs on making a decent maple top workbench this summer..hope it turns out even nearly as nice as yours!
Cheers
Charlie

Here are a few that I forgot to post, but are really follow up's on some past posts.

First of all, I built a few cam clamps. I used some 1x2 oak that I had laying around. They arent the prettiest that I have seen, but they work like a champ!

and then I took a tip from Frank Finnochio on how to store the clamps so that they would be handy when working and added a rack bleow the top on my bench for them.

 

And lasty, what shop would be complete without some place to take a nap when you get plum-tuckered out from all that cyphering ?

 

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Reguards,

Ken H

Hey Ken, nice looking set up and looks like lots of space.

A comment/question if you don't mind.

Looking at these two pictures





I notice that the inlet hose to your dust collector has quite a sharp bend in it, that could loose you a good amount of CFM. Also do you have a return line from the baghouse (or what ever your venting the air out of) back into the shop? Hope so otherwise you are doing a lot of work for your heat and humidity control to remain in your work area. Without a return line all the heated and humidy controlled air just goes outside and you have to replace it.

Anyway, I would love a shop that big and as well set up. You'll be flying now.

Nice bench top too.

Looks like you'd even have room for a spray booth in this corner if you want.

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[QUOTE=Rod True]Hey Ken, nice looking set up and looks like lots of space.

A comment/question if you don't mind.

Looking at these two pictures





I notice that the inlet hose to your dust collector has quite a sharp bend in it, that could loose you a good amount of CFM. Also do you have a return line from the baghouse (or what ever your venting the air out of) back into the shop? Hope so otherwise you are doing a lot of work for your heat and humidity control to remain in your work area. Without a return line all the heated and humidy controlled air just goes outside and you have to replace it.

Anyway, I would love a shop that big and as well set up. You'll be flying now.

Nice bench top too.

Looks like you'd even have room for a spray booth in this corner if you want.

[/QUOTE]

Although the last picture shows walls that are bare with no insulation, the rest of the shop is insulated like an igloo cooler and has styrofoam insulation in the walls and fiberglass in the ceiling. Because of this, I can heat and cool the 2 1/2 car garage which is now my shop with just a 110v window unit A/C.

The problem with air conditioning is that it removed humidity from the air, and can cause the humidity to drop too low so I need to add some fresh air every once in a while anyway.

So far the sharp bends in the ducting hasnt caused any problems. That system will suck a hex wrench right off of the work bench too (dont ask how I know that). I dont run it for long enough periods for it to be too much of an issue....just while a machine is running. Prior to this, I was just using a 4" flex hose for everything and never had any issues. I got tired of changing the bags out though, so now it just blows the chips and dust into the chicken yard, which is right behind the garage. They love having something to scratch around in :)

 

I still have a couple of pieces of equipment to bring in, but havent decided where to put them yet. There is a 20" planer and a molder to bring in, and both take up a lot of real estate on the shop floor.

I do plan on building a spray booth as well, and most likely in the corner you suggested.

Thanks again!

Ken

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Reguards,

Ken H

Wow, Ken!

A shop? That’s big enough for a guitar factory!

I Like the tall thin brace idea! I was going to try something similar myself on my next, but, on the top.
Hadn’t thought about trying it on the back. Be interested in knowing how you like the sound
when you get her buttoned up.

I’ll third that, on the nice looking bench top too!

Robert

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Everything has beauty, But, not everyone see's it!

Nice! A shop to actually be able to move around in...I'm jealous!

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Christopher C. Cordle
North Muskegon, MI

http://www.yardsaleunderwear.com
http://www.facebook.com/christopher.cordle

Did you have chicken for dinner when the hex wrench was sucked up? You might have to warn them when you are "cleaning" with the dust vac!

Nice shop Ken, very nice. Is your shop tied in with the home A/C? My shop is in my barn and I use window A/C units. Very difficult to keep the Florida humidity at bay.

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Jim Womack

"Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for. "
Will Rogers

Missed the part regarding your window units, sorry. Mine don't work nearly as
well as yours, I'm afraid. On a different note, I didn't see the
requisite shop refrigerator... guitar building makes me thirsty!

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Jim Womack

"Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for. "
Will Rogers

Thanks for all the kind comments

Right now I have an upright freezer that has to find a new home, and one of those small refrigerators is in the works. Also a new coffee pot for the shop is in order too.

I'm surprised that nobody has commented ont he Hammock though

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Reguards,

Ken H

I saw that hammock, and I thought your significant other must have just discovered what you spent on the new shop.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

I think she might have discovered what I spent on the swap meet

 

Oh well, I have some place to sleep anyway !

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Reguards,

Ken H

Ken, Good looking shop you have there. Plenty of room!
And good lookin' guitar too. Man, I wish I had room for a hammock in my shop!

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755