Official Luthiers Forum!

I have a 20' x 20' shop that is getting pretty crowded. It's also a rental so I can't do any heavy modifications. The one area that I would like to upgrade next is finishing. Right now I get by with Shellack and I use Tru oil for all my necks because I love the feel of it. I have a Micromesh setup and a RO Sander used for buffing with some special pads. Not thrilled with the results. I'd like to make some kind spray booth that can be set up as needed and then taken down. I build multiple guitars at a time and the hope is to finish in batches by moving my table saw and bench from the middle of the shop and setting up the booth. The other possibility is setting something up outside or maybe finding a small shed to convert if I can't come up with something else. If anyone does anything similar to this- I'd love to see the setup.

Also Stewmac sells a complete buffing wheel setup for $661.58, which seems like a pretty hefty "luthier tax" to me. Am I wrong to think this or is that about the price that one can expect to pay for a decent setup? Same for LMI vacuum clamp setup, but I don't really know where to look elsewhere for a comparable setup, any help there would be appreciated as well..

The new stewmac buffer does look nice with its longer shaft, but I have been very happy with their older system. You can still get the Shopfox buffer assembly from grizzly for a little over $100 then I would order wheels and compound from Jescar for another $130 or so. If you want to go cheaper I have had good results with the p204 and w16 compounds but I got another set of wheels to try the p175 on my next guitar. You will need a motor which you should be able to pick up from Grizzly for about $160. The harder part to source is the flanges jescar sells them for $20 each and you will need four. With a self made platform that puts a new system at about $480 minus what you can save with a second hand motor.

I would also look into caswell plating since they have a kit for buffing wood. It runs at a higher rpm so I don't know if it is ideal, but it used to be sold by stewmac wy back so it probably isn't too far out of the needed range. Good new for it is you wouldn't need a motor, bad news I'm not sure whether the compounds are the best...
http://www.caswellplating.com/wood-and-acrylic-buffing-kit-includes-machine.html

So to me it seems there is a lot of guitar maker mark up, but it would save time and is optimized for what we do.

Kent

Regarding the "as needed" paintbooth, I used to use this when spraying water based lacquer. Sides are basically two bi-fold closet doors (easy to find 'round here on big-pickup garbage day). The roof,floor & back are ply pinned in place w/ big finishing nails, and it backs onto a closet which holds my dust collector (which connects to hole). Easy to setup & teardown/store in garage. (Filter media shifted for clarity)

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Dave
Milton, ON

Might as well throw this on too ... I used a simple single mandrel (Lee Valley) & motor mounted to 3/4" ply & bolted to (T-nuts in) the benchtop as needed. Don't think you need to spend a ton on a workable arrangement.

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Dave
Milton, ON

I put off getting the SM buffer for years, then decided on this tool, I'd get what I thought was the best setup. I'd looked at other setups, Shop Fox and others, and figured that after time and cost of gathering up all the bits and pieces, that the SM setup was worth it to me. Cost was a bit steep, but 7 years later, I still think it's in my top 5 best tool investments.

My shop is 10 x 20, so space is at a premium for me too. I built a swing-down setup that mounts to the ceiling, inspired by a pic I'd seen of Charles Fox's setup. Here's mine:







The pulley dettaches to get it out of the way. I've since added a latch that locks it in the up position just in case the rope or pulleys fail.

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

That is pretty sweet[THUMBS UP SIGN] thanks for posting the pics. That's a nice setup for sure, looks very convenient and quick to set up.


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Thanks for showing that Pat, I will be copying that idea. I'm getting ready to rework my shop over the Christmas holidays and have my StewMac buffer on a roll-around cart that is just plain in the way. My shop is about 12' x 22' so not much larger than yours.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Anybody, let me know if you want details, more pics.

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com