Official Luthiers Forum!

As mentioned in a previous thread, we've been involved in a major shop overhaul for a few months now, with the latest projects being a trio of bench amps and a dedicated electronics bench. Despite what might seem like a fairly roomy shop, fitting another bench in was a challenge, with about 5-1/2 feet of unused wall space available (there was no real space for a free-standing bench without sacrificing customer seating/after work jam/Scotch space).

In the first photo, one of the other denizens of the shop is seen working on the #1 Micro Deluxe bench amp (a design which uses the classic tweed-era Fender Deluxe circuit, but downsizes the power section to just over 1.5 watt using what is normally a preamp tube driving a 10" Cannabis Rex in a Champ-style cabinet). The adjustable-height drafting stool helps fit the 40" bench height to my own towering 5'5" height or to the boss's more diminutive 74".



The design was influenced by our experience in the difficulty of keeping the floor space around and under benches clean, as well as the tendency of shop users to bury essential supplies and equipment in drawers. The cantilevered bench top keeps the floor nicely accessible for cleaning and adds to the uncluttered look of the renovated shop. while the slat-wall surface-mounted tool storage, dedicated on-bench storage for wire and solder, and semi-cantilevered diagnostic equipment mounts keep things accessible but out of the way of active projects.



Because the bench is located in the work-flow path of the #1 repair bench and wall-mounted fret buffer, the front edge of the Ikea Gerton bench top was radiused and chamfered to avoid encounters between sharp edges and both guitars and guitarists. The 'belly cut' curve on the front was borrowed from ergonomically shaped desk tops and has the added benefit of allowing the stool backrest to sit nearly flush with the front edge of the bench when not in use. The Ikea Gerton desk/table top (29.5" x 60.5" x 1.125" oiled European beech) is readily available, more than stiff enough for the task, and is made of solid wood strips joined without metallic fasteners, so easily trimmed to size and shape. At under $100, the Gerton is less expensive than any of the other solid wood options we looked at, and complements the 'woody' look of the new shop.

The Akro-Mils small parts storage boxes are filling up as the contents of the motley assortment of parts storage cases and boxes are emptied, inventoried, and moved to the new units. We laid out the storage over the bench to permit up to three additional units to be added as the parts inventory grows...buy stock in Brother - their labelers are fantastic.



All of the shop's current users are right-handed, so the right hand-dominate arrangement of the bench works well thus far. An additional design goal was to accommodate a bench DMM, two soldering stations (or a dual-iron station), and the usual assortment of equipment, supplies, and tools without hampering access to the instrument on the bench. The shelves were mocked up in 1/2" scrap ply, then cut from 3/4" hardwood ply once finalized, while the tool storage over the bench was worked out within the constraints of the need for a plans area (handy for seldom referenced wiring diagrams or amp schematics...this one takes two 8-1/2" x 11 pages in vinyl sleeves or an 11" x 17" diagram), the '3rd hand' tool, and the already mentioned DMM and possibly, a scope and AC & DC power supplies.



The semi-cantilevered shelf take a full sized Digital Multi-Meter (DMM) and allows a digital oscilloscope to be stacked above the meter for active electronics work and for amps. The space immediately under the DMM holds the hand-held BK DMM for work at the other benches or elsewhere in the shop, while the space just below that should take a DC power supply. Adding a variable-voltage AC power supply to the bench would require some additional mods to the current configuration, but might be done once we are ready to do the first major rev on the bench.



Wire and solder storage is handled with a removable unit (two 1-1/4" deck screws); with six bays, there is room for three colors of pull-back wire, a roll of shielded wire, 18g bus wire, and a standard one pound roll of our preferred solder for the work done. The solder storage makes sense only because we transfer off the roll to a plastic tube-style holder; otherwise, we would use the more common portable roll holders. We've also already determined that the V2 bench needs a blood groove just in side the shelf edge below the clipboard to secure a tablet where 'net-based diagrams or info is being referenced.



The two supports were framed up with spruce 2x stock and joined using stub tenons in shallow mortises and a securing screw to allow disassembly. The supports were lagged in to the concrete wall with four 3/8" lags per side, and the top secured with three deck screws run through fender washers, and set in oversized holes to handle cross-grain top movement. Just visible are the steel angle inserts which Ikea uses to keep the table/desk top flat - we retained these despite the fairly stiff construction of the supports. The 1-1/8" thick beech top should be adequately stiff to avoid any droop between the supports, but we will take a measurement or two over time to see if a support is required along the grain (we'd prefer not to...just another knee-banger).



The open nature of the floor space under the bench is seen in the last picture, along with the arrangement at the rear edge of the bench to keep most wiring off the work surface. This space was as much planned as a result of the wall-to-slat spacing due to the insulation accommodated by the 3-1/4" high spacers. We have reserved some space at the end of the bench for one of the bench amps (1 ea Micro Champ, Micro Deluxe, and Micro Bassman), although we may end up wall-mounting that amp down low enough to avoid interference with the fret buffer, but up above kick height.



I'd be interested in seeing how others have handled work spaces and tool storage for repairs and other projects...always a treat to be able to visit someone else's shop to see how they thought about and addressed challenges.

_________________
We have become a civilization that elevates idiots, prostitutes, and clowns. Am I still to defend it? Yes, for its principles. Yes, for what it was. Yes, for what it still may be.

-Mark Helprin, The Oceans and the Stars: A Sea Story, A War Story, A Love Story (A Novel)

No hints but nice shop!

Electronics was my business so I've set up lots of benches. They are all different depending on the job to be done (like most work benches), yours looks fine. If you do any board level work you might want a grounded anti-static mat on the bench instead of the (doormat?). For most guitar work an anti-static mat is unnecessary. Nice label maker, I've got the same model.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Good point! We have some some PC board work, but I see an ESD cuff worn only when doing stuff like replacing opamps...an antistatic mat would make more sense and could stay on the bench even when a guitar needs a carpet square for protection.

Re: Brother...just wish their label cartridges were not quite so expensive! Even at Costco, we still pay about $40 for 4 cartridges, and just 26' of label stock in each.

Thanks!

_________________
We have become a civilization that elevates idiots, prostitutes, and clowns. Am I still to defend it? Yes, for its principles. Yes, for what it was. Yes, for what it still may be.

-Mark Helprin, The Oceans and the Stars: A Sea Story, A War Story, A Love Story (A Novel)

Yeah, those cartridges are expensive.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

No suggestions from me but what you've done here is fantastic and I wish that we had something like this. Very, very nicely done!

_________________
Ann Arbor Guitars