Builders Skunk Works

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Comment by Joseph McFarlane on February 26, 2012 at 5:00pm

Photos from the Bricklined Hole of Hope and Art.  Many things go in, some come out, nothing leaves unchanged.   This "scattered" look mirrors my "head like an unmade bed".   As my wife loves to tell me, "You're a mess!"   I have a portable planer, jointer, and assorted other stuff not to be seen in these photos.  You can see a home-made bench and router table, band saw, a portion of the drill press, my tucked away Grizzly table saw, some stickered wood.   (If you look closely you'll see a cocktail on the bench, too! Well, I was only gluing up at the time, not running  a saw!  Woo hoo!) 

Comment by Penny Nelson on January 29, 2012 at 5:57am

In Australia we have a big hardware chain called Bunnings. Filled to the rafters with cheap stuff from China. Before I made all the mods in the shed I bought a flat pack workbench on sale: Here is a video of the adventure ...

One womans dreams goes slightly wrong..

Comment by Penny Nelson on January 29, 2012 at 5:53am

Well I've been MIA for about two years - sold my house and bought one with a shed - no one warned me sheds fill with junk! So then had to clear the shed and get to assembling my workshop. Most of the furniture come from my local dump that has a recycle shop.

This was how I started but had to replace the bench top cause it had weird tacky glue under the vinyl flooring that was tacked to the top of it.  Here is a link to  My Shed  from begining to end.

Comment by Richard Stark on August 8, 2011 at 1:14am

THE ORIGINAL HIGHWAY HEADQUARTERS. Sadly since My move to a new home the orig shop is no more. This was a magical (to Me...) place where I could escape and it brought Me alot of peace.... I hope to recreate it soon enough...until then Im under a carport on a picnic table...which is cool because I build My 1st couple CBGs on the counter at my old home...but I think the old coleman trailer had a lotta mojo....definitly a sacred space that I miss.

Comment by Wichita Sam on May 22, 2011 at 12:23pm

I'm not about to shop you my shop.  It is in a continuous state of disarray, all the more that I'm recovering from surgery.  That said, I wanted to contribute to the wonderful ideals and tools with what I am calling

 

"Stupid Dremel Tricks"

 

 

 

 

 

The top tool is a dremel grinder disc shaft upon which I stacked 4 thin cutting discs.  Why?  Well, I hate the task of filing out the bottom of a nut groove flat and level with a hand file.... really slow work on hard wood necks.  Now a quick and easy task... The tool is adaptable, just add or remove discs so that it is just narrower than the nut groove that you've roughed out with a saw.

 

The second tool is a sanding drum shaft for the small size drum that I've modified by adding washers that are slightly larger than the diameter of the sanding drum. 

So you ask... what the heck?  I might be the only one that has gotten to energetic with a sanding drum while shaping or enlarging a hole on a box top and leting it slip onto the top and marring (gouging) the top.   The washers act as "stops" so the sanding drum stays against the edge of the hole I'm grinding on and doesn't skip into the box or out onto the top....

 

hope this is interesting and (maybe?) helpful.

the best,

 

Wichita Sam

Comment by Thomas on May 11, 2011 at 12:54am

Big clean up in process and tool hunt. I now have a fret saw and wire, (yippy, another challange) also in the process of fixing up a jointer planer.  Lesson learned,  cheep tools are just that and clean workshops are a dream :)

 

Comment by Mark on April 30, 2011 at 5:31pm

I like this topic...  I've had wood shops in the past.. but now... not even enough room to hold my tools... but.... that does not stop me..or slow me down... I built my Bucket Oar Bass off my rear porch and bedroom.. any sanding was done outdoors,, but the rest was more of a puzzle... improvisation of a woodshop.. kind of goes with handbuilt instruments...

 

Comment by Mark Ayers on April 29, 2011 at 5:28pm

Jess

 

That's a nice shop build to build. Thanks for4 adding your pics...

Comment by Jess on April 29, 2011 at 4:42pm

I manage to pump out a little cigar box entertainment and instrumentation from my 8 x 12 shop in the basement of my home (next to the bar/music room).  Ted was kidding me about it being too clean, but it's the only way I can maintain my sanity and to still have fun . . . can't deal with chaos very well.

A 360 degree view

 

Comment by Mark Ayers on April 29, 2011 at 3:42pm

This was my original description for the group.

 

 What secrets lurk inside your build area? This group is for builders and wanna be builders (and the curious too) to look deep 

inside your very own Skunk Works, take some pics and or videos of your shop. 
Showcase your unusual design facilities, your special adaptation of tools, machines and 
processes. It is the simple that is brilliant so don't be shy with your design and layout in 
your build area. Ask questions, share your success and your flops.  This group is about sharing  in the spirit of "How To' in the handmade, home build 
musical instruments. So there you have it boys and girls, come one come all, step right up  and see what new, 
nifty, old- tried and true inside the walls of our members very own Skunk Works. Feel 
free to share resources, suppliers, tips and techniques in your shop  I pulled this from the Wiki: The designation"skunk works" or "skunkworks" is widely 
used in business, engineering, and technical fields to describe a group within an 
organization given a high degree of autonomy and unhampered by bureaucracy, tasked 
with working on advanced or secret projects. Sounds to me like the handmade musical instrument movement.

Had to trim the fat to get it to 250 for the description. Well that was fun... 

 

Welcome aboard everyone