What do your workshops look like?

[Michael_Molnar]

quote:

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Originally posted by:

Seth_Leigh

Wow, Michael, I think in every single workshop that you posted a pic of, there's been a Gerstner (or similar) toolbox, as well as in some of them the Ikea. Those workshop spaces are pretty cool actually, especially Eric's corner office. And he's got a freaking lathe! Awesome!

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Gerstner tool boxes are the standard for all machinists. The old chests command high prices.

The Other Michael

[Melvin Goldsmith]

Hi Michael..cool pics!....Please excuse my ignorance but am I

correct in assuming these guys are working in the same building as

your 'last' workshop?....As a country boy I get a mindwarp of

vertigo guessing that these workshops must be quite high rise but

they all look wonderful.....and as spaces the ones with windows on

two sides look great.....to be honest, anywhere in London these

spaces would be pushing 1500 GBP a week rent!..but then again

we in the UK do have a share cropper economy when it comes to

property and increasing numbers wish we had something like the Bill

of Rights...

[Michael Darnton]

I still have a workspace and a storeroom in this space, which is on the 20th floor and has clear views south to the end of the earth, and east, over Lake Michigan, and the powertools are mine, so I come up to cut things now and then. The total space is about 2000 square feet, and there's room for the three of them, and me, even though I'm not using the space right now. There's a couple of storerooms, the toolroom, and a reception area. I won't tell you our rent--you'd just shoot yourself. We are in the southern-most part of the central business area, an old part of town (by Chicago standards), undesirable, and far from the modern and more desirable office spaces that cost multiples of ours, but still definitely in the flow of things and normal, not fringy.

The Darnton and Hersh shop is on the 4th floor of the same building, and bigger. We have three people in the shop (counting me) and four to six others, depending on how you count. Two blocks east and two south is the Fine Arts Building, where there's Bein and Fushi, William Harris Lee (a violin "factory" with about 20+ people), and two independent repair shops, one one-person, the other three-person. One block west and two south is the the Old Colony Building, with Kenneth Warren & Son, and three or four other independent one-man shops. One block east of us is Wabash Avenue, which 100 years ago was lined with music stores and instrument manufacturers. Schilke's brass instrument shop used to be a couple of blocks away, until they moved to the burbs. A block from our shop (in various directions) were the locations of William Lewis, when they were a big violin shop in the 60s, Kagan & Gaines, Lyon & Healy, Carl Fisher's Chicago retail store, and the original home of the Chicago School of violin making.

If you're getting confused, all of this is within about 2 north-south blocks and three east-west ones. Why is that? For one thing, the front door of the Chicago Symphony is exactly 2 blocks east of our front door, and has been there for 120 years or so.

People think of Ann Arbor or New York as violin centers, but Chicago has been a music city for well over 100 years, and certainly has a bigger footprint in violins than Ann Arbor, and possibly also New York--I haven't mentioned any of the dealers and makers outside of that small neighborhood that I'm in--there are, of course, many more of those outside that small area.

Does having a Bill of Rights count when the government is tearing it apart into little pieces with a rigged political system?

[Brad Dorsey]

"increasing numbers wish we had something like the Bill of Rights"

Perhaps we could loan you ours, since we don't seem to be making much use of it at present. But I'm afraid there's nothing in it that guarantees low rents.

[Melvin Goldsmith]

Your Constitution would sure be welcome..At least we'd have a base

to fight from...at present a tiny 2 bedroom house here costs

200,000GBP and even then your rights to ownership are actually

simply a lease from the Queen...Next step is that the Govt wants to

put satelite monitors in all cars so they can track our Journeys,

monitor us, fine us by computer and charge us for driving by the

mile....over 60% of my income goes to pay direct and indirect

taxes....

[Magnus Nedregard]

Hey Melvin, in Norway some people come close to 75 % and that is no joke. I wonder what the state can spend all those money on, we're only about 4,5 mill people here, it can't be that expensive to run a heap of forest, fish and stone, with some occasional human beings here and there? And the rent here is actually not much inferior to what you'd find in central London, believe it or not!

[tim2]

quote:

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Originally posted by:

Michael Darnton

I still have a workspace and a storeroom in this space, which is on the 20th floor and has clear views south to the end of the earth, and east, over Lake Michigan . . .

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Awesome! Got any pictures of the views?

Thanks,

Tim

[mcarufe]

I am just finishing a 200 sq ft studio for playing as well as making and repairing. When I can afford a digital camera I will post in future. On the subject of taxes, the US has a large group of people that think the gov't spends our money so well that we should even send more!!! Most people forgot that JFK was a champion for lowering taxes to stimulate prosperity. I know it is much more difficult for you all on the other side of the pond to get ahead. That is probably why so many new comers do so well here. Why don't we all have a 'tea party'!

Mike

[ChrisBurt]

My 8'x8'x22' shop; pardon me for cleaning. Today's the first day, in two months, I've been able to even get close to working. I had to do something productive, and cleaning gave me a chance to think about how make the space more ergonomic. I want to incorporate a Bogaro & Clemente Rotating Table on a raised, portable surface, and maybe install my bench vise.

The North and West windows of the "hand-tool area" look out on woods, a neighbor's horse pasture, and a stream, well... an irrigation ditch (looks like a stream); a dehumidifier runs nearly constantly. Most edged hand tools lay in drawers at the left of the bench. To the right, in front of the stool, a stack of sliding shelves offers a convenient instrument-in-process warehouse.

The violin (my first in twenty-five years) is on the bench with a knife next to it. I'd stopped, mid edge work, just after Christmas. I've set things up in hopes I can finish edge work next week.

The "hand tool" and power tool areas are nominally separated by a ceiling mounted air filter that runs when the power tools are running.

The power tool area is small, but all tools except the drill press have lockable wheels. Portability helps me optimize space. Dust collection ducts run to a remote-controlled collector out in the garage. Everything but the thickness sander has been ducted.

[FiddleDoug]

Here's mine. Really just one bench in my general purpose shop that

I've kind on reserved for violin work. Too bad it's in the

basement. Natural light would be nice.

[FiddleDoug]

The picture didn't work. Let's try that again.

[martina hawe]

Nice to see so many different workshops!

Thats where I work at the moment, it´s a shared

workshop/bedroom and not to end up with shavings under my blankets

I ve got to hoover regularly. Some of my wood is stored in here too

and my UV found a place in the staircase

I´m still missing a toolrack, shame that

woodworking-magazine-article (nearby thread) isn´t

 available without subscribing

enjoy your weekends

martina

[Magnus Nedregard]

It looks like you have quite a few new instruments going there, Martina? I had the shavings in the blankets-problem for some years while I was in Cremona, until I could afford an outside workshop with some friends. (Rents in Cremona are quit reasonable) It has a romantic side too, don't you think? Every violinmaker has to go through that.

[martina hawe]

Hi Magnus

I quite like maple shavings, the noise they make when you step on them, what a pleasure! (not on carpet, of course...) but I can´t see the romantic part in sharing my bed with bits of wood... I´ve already had the pleasure for good when I lived in Hamburg, working 1,5m away from my Futon. At least today I´ve got a bigger space between bed and bench, that helps

Making violins keeps my seoul alive at the moment, should try to sell them too ähem

anyway

did you try sleeping on shavings only?

martina

[tim2]

quote:

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Originally posted by:

martina hawe

I´m still missing a toolrack . . .martina

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I like your bench area. Did you make the dark set of drawers to the far right in the picture - nice joinery.

Tim

[MANFIO]

It's interesting to see som many workshops, they can differ a lot indeed. I imagined many Venetian makers worked as Martina in the crowded Venice... Pietro Guarneri di Venezia worked in his house, he never had a workshop.

Melving! Taxes in England are high... the same here... But here public education and health system collapsed, so we have to pay for our children's school and for a health plan, and it costs a mint.

Magnus, have you been in Italy with the Euro? Things have changed since the Euro... everything now is much, much more expensive... The "liretta" was a great currency...

[Magnus Nedregard]

I agree, maple shavings are ok to live with, while spruce shavings can be very uncomfortable, especially the ones from the gouge. The long, broad and thin ones from the big planes, are very nice though, and are fun for the children to play with. I think I never tried to sleep on a heap of shavings, but I can't be absolutely sure about that

Manfio, are you saying taxes are high and you have to pay for school and health system?? It is true that Italy came out a lot more expensive after the Euro, the Lira was great fun and at a certain point you lost count of the millions and billions and you didn't really get the picture of what things cost!

[martina hawe]

-I like your bench area- Thanks

- Did you make the dark set of drawers to the far right in the picture - nice joinery.

Tim

...I have to dissapoint you, I didn´t make that drawers myself, I bought them somwhere ages ago, yeah but they´re well made

[MANFIO]

Yes Magnus, taxes are high and we have also to pay for school and health system...

[Berl Mendenhall]

I'll try to attach some of my shop photos. I don't do this sort of thing much so here goes.

Berl

[Berl Mendenhall]

Ok Now that I know thats worked I'll try to explain the pictures.

1- The first doubles as a picture of my bench and tool holder for another thread. I got the Idea for the tool holder from a Coloinal Williamsburg cabinet shop.

2- The second is my drying box which I love (one of the best things I've built). It has a bathroom exhaust fan and filtered vents in the door pluse I mounted the ballast on top to keep as much extra heat out of the box as possible. I also have seperate switchs for each light and the fan.

3- The third image is my varnish area. My shoip is 35 feet long and 15 feet wide. I petitioned one end to make a room for varnishing on one side and a toilet area on the other side.

4-The last image is a long cabinet makers bench I made several years ago. I've haven't finished making the drawers. Gonna get to that some day. It's great to use and I just like looking at it. I built it out of old barn beams. Top is four to five inches thick. Doesn't move around no matter what you are doing.

[Berl Mendenhall]

Oops last photo was suppose to be of this bench. Berl

[colledge]

WOW! That's the MOAB (Mother Of All Benches). Very nice. Nice craftsmanship.

Sean

[tim2]

quote:

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Originally posted by:

luthier9010

Oops last photo was suppose to be of this bench. Berl

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That's a pretty heavy-duty bench. I particularly like the heavy timber around the perimeter.

My shop:

small picture here

large picture here

It's just a "general purpose" woodshop.

Tim

[Seth_Leigh]

Berl, thanks for the pictures. Those tool holders are cool, especially the vertical one with the knives in it like rungs in a latter. That looks pretty darn handy.