I was looking through a workshop edition of Wood magazine the other day, studying the layouts of a dozen and a half shops of all shapes and sizes when I realized that people kept referring to there shops as small. 440sqft, 600sqft, all "small shops." I laughed at the idea. Is that really a small shop? It sounds huge to me! My shop is 75sqft and at times has been smaller and  

Over the years my workshop has evolved and de-devolved and evolved again. When I was in high school living with my folks, I had my dads workshop at my disposal. Nothing too fancy, 200sqft, just right for most work that we wanted to do. Then in College I set up shop in my apartment. No power tools, 1, 6 foot workbench and pegboard everywhere. Then I moved and moved again and again and again and tools started getting lost or sold. For a short while my shop was set up in a 10x12 wall tent in the back yard. Then the kitchen table. A roll out table in the closet. Before long all my woodworking tools fit into one box. By the time I built my first CBG I was working out of a cardboard box of tools on the living room floor (only when the wife was gone). That was a year ago, almost to the day. Now I'm in the garden shed out back cranking out CBG's and furniture and whatever I want. So as all this ran through my head and I laughed about these 450sqft "small shops" I began to wonder, where do other people work. What is your shop? Are you working on the kitchen table or living room floor? Or do you have some huge shop out back? Where is it that you create your CBG's?

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  • I'm lucky that I have a decent size shop, but CBGs are what I do for my only income.  I'm unlucky because sales are slow and I have to live in it for now.  Check out my store and see if anything interests you, I've lowered prices.

    Here's my shop.  I've since added another 10' bench on top of cabinets my friend ripped out of a kitchen - lots more storage and work space!


    Find more videos like this on Handmade Music Clubhouse

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    here is my shop

  • ๏ ๏ It used to be the living room...

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  • I work on my apartment's 2nd floor balcony/patio. I have a rolling used ikea bakers rack/cutting board thing i use as a workbench. If it doesnt involve a drill or dremel i do everything by hand. I.e. I dress my frets and shape my necks sitting in a patio chair using rasps and files. Southern style. Too damn hot to work standing up.
  • Sometimes those are the best set ups. Just a turn from everything. I have a friend up the road who's shop is so huge, you get tired just walking from one tool to the next, and the workbench always seems to end up 20 feet away. 

  • I have a 12x16 shed out back, with tool stations around the walls and table saw in the middle of the floor all I can do is walk in circles.

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  • Most of my work gets done on the bench under the yellow bins in the back corner of the garage behind the race car project. Don't let the clear floor in the foreground fool you, a lot of stuff was moved out to get the picture. Most of the time I have to stack stuff out of the way to access the area. and much of the work is done on a 18" X 24" "work top" board that clamps into the bench vise.

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  • In my dungeon

    • Ahh! So that's where you find all those bones.

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