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hello everyone,my name is Donny Gilliam and I am wanting to start building guitars soon. I have been watching this site as a member for several years now and have talked to John Hall a few times. I have about every power and hand tool you can name as I have been a woodworker for over fifty years. Bought a number of tools from stew mack as I have been doing some repairs and building dulcimers. My shop is 24x30 and I am building on a 16x30 attached to it.It will have double doors going from the big shop to the small.I am now ready to start the wiring and I need some in put the on how to set up for building guitars. I plan to leave the heavy machinery in the big shop .Is this the right thing to do?I will need a lot of help from all of you at times.thanking you in advance,Donny

Welcome, Donny.

Never can have too much room.

Larger area:
Gotta consider your dust collection methods and lay out machinery according to your chosen plan.
Should have plenty of room left over for bulk storage.

Smaller area could be made into two areas:
Dedicated bench and work area specifically for construction, assembly, etc.
Have a separate isolated area for finishing.
Climate control important in these areas.

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Always have plenty of sandpaper; it's rough out there!

I could do all the build work in one large area, benches and storage at the walls, larger machines toward center. If you are only building instruments you only need to work on short pieces of timber so maintaining the ability to work 10 or even 8 foot stock is not really necessary. I would want a separate and preferably unattached space for finish work, or at least separated by a good firewall. I would also plan another separate area for repairs and customer interface, and don't forget everything like case storage, material storage and expansion. Yeah, square footage goes quick, think vertical when possible.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Welcome, Donny. I'm envious of your woodworking background, tool collection, and available workspace. Can't wait to see all the cool things you come up with once you are fully up and running. I like your idea of keeping the big machines together in one area, as I think it's nice to have a quiet space to do handwork. Also agree with the suggestions above about setting up a separate room for finishing.

It's good to have you with us!

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George :-)

Welcome , we need more guitars in the world ! " Clamps " Seems I never have Enough !

Set aside a corner and Make yourself a "clean room" with a work bench . So many times I want to work on finished stuff or something of that nature , and have no sawdust free area to work .

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Welcome Donny, I'll be looking forward to seeing your work. Some good advice up above and since I'm working in a much smaller shop, my setups probably wouldn't be that relevant. I have found that having a computer with internet access in the shop can be very helpful. Mine is just an old desktop but is nice for checking parts, looking up information on the forums, or just relaxing in my comfortable chair in my "domain" and hanging out on the forums.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I agree an IPAD would be great - I'm not sure my wife would give hers up. The desktop was basically free when I upgraded my home office. A small printer would be handy and is on my list just haven't got one yet.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"