The Guitar Making Shop

A guitar making shop can be a dedicated building, the garage, or a room in the house. Whatever it is should be permanent. Setting up and tearing down every time you work can be very draining and will take away from your enjoyment of the guitar making project. Since a large amount of equipment is unnecessary, the materials are generally small and take up little space, a small work space works well. Another advantage of a small space is it is easier to control the humidity.

Most guitar makers work in very tiny shops. As a guitar maker a good portion of the day is spent in the shop so it is important to feel good while being in there. Your work environment has an impact on your guitar making. Making your work space a more comfortable place to be in will bring an immeasurable benefit to your enjoyment of your craft.

Proper Lighting in your Shop

There is nothing more frustrating than being unable to do really good work because you can’t see well enough. Lighting is an important element of any shop. In guitar making there are lots of small details and which can only be seen properly with adequate lighting. The tiny miter joints where the back and butt strips meet the purflings for instance, are very small and should only be attempted in the best light. Good lighting will also have a huge benefit on the quality of finishes. I have worked in a space that did not have adequate lighting. After moving into another space my finishes improved dramatically, and I didn't realize why at first. The moral of the story is not to skimp on lighting. If there are not enough windows, or you prefer to work at night, use the best lighting you can afford in your work area. If you have to purchase additional lighting it will be money well spent.

Workbenches for Guitar Making

Without a good workbench hand work will be difficult. If you are a woodworker you may already have a good quality workbench. Plans are available for many of the popular cabinet maker workbench designs if you are so inclined. There are also a couple of well known brand names available at many of the woodworking supply companies.

Some type of workbench is a necessity for guitar making. In my shop there are a number of benches and tables used as workspaces. The main work horse is the cabinet maker's bench. My bench has two wooden built in vises which are extremely useful. The only additional feature I might consider if I were to buy another bench would be a vise with swiveling face to clamp stock with angled surfaces.

The cabinet maker's bench is very versatile and is used in performing almost all the woodworking tasks in building both the instrument and the fixtures used in its construction. Additional work surfaces to perform glue ups will keep the guitar making project moving by keeping the main workbench free. If you are not keen on mounting a pattern maker's or universal vise, on your cabinet maker’s bench, another table or bench might be a good idea. I don’t think there can be too much work space in the guitar shop, and I am always trying to create more. The more work surfaces there are: more things can be done in parallel. Whether your shop is well equipped with woodworking machines, or you just have the bare minimum, it is usually a good idea to have a work surface near each machine. This will make using the machines safer and less stressful by providing a place to put the work pieces as you perform each task.