Now, Where Was I...?

I had planned to fit out my workshop with cupboards I built myself, but the mess I made as I fashioned a new workbench top out of MDF was the nail in the coffin where those ambitions were concerned. As the photos hereabouts show, I’ve taken the easy, dust-free path and installed some cheap, ready-to-assemble cupboards and drawers.

There are some minor tasks to attend to before I can declare my workshop 100% “done”, but I’m very pleased to have reached a stage where I can balance those needs with the more satisfying, creative aspects of life that have been missing to some degree as I've built this workshop.

There was always a danger - however remote - that when the opportunity to resume my guitar building adventures finally presented itself, I’d discover with dismay that the urge to do so had mysteriously evaporated sometime during the past three years. So, it was with a sense of relief as I sorted through my modest tonewood stash a week or two ago that I felt an overwhelming wave of anticipation and excitement wash over me as I mentally toyed with wood combinations and considered the guitar models their potential would be best served by. Any fears I might have harboured where my ongoing commitment to this craft is concerned were banished instantly.

With ideas for new instruments currently competing for attention as they swirl around in my head, I’m happy to let them fight it out until a clear winner emerges. In the meantime, I plan to fabricate templates and moulds suitable for a couple of new guitar models that will complete the range of body sizes and shapes I intend limiting myself to.

Cheers, Pete

Self-Motivation!

Just so visitors to this blog don't think that I've forgotten about guitars completely, I took a few photos earlier this week showing the state of play with the three guitars currently sitting in their cases under the bed. With little chance of progress until I've constructed a workshop, I tend to drag these guitars out into the light occasionally in an effort to maintain my motivation levels.

Finish was applied a few months ago, but without a work space, I'm unable to sand and buff them, attach bridges and install frets. The walnut/redwood guitar is an exception in some respects, and is tantalisingly close to completion; the neck on this guitar has an oil finish, so I was more easily able to install and dress the frets before I vacated my previous workshop here in town.

Construction of my workshop is a significant undertaking given that a shortage of funds necessitates that I complete as much of the work as I can myself. As a lifelong procrastinator, I need to constantly remind myself what a big part of my life this hobby/obsession has become and, therefore, just how important it is that I take concrete steps towards realising my dream of having a purpose-built workshop in which I can build guitars on a more-or-less full-time basis.

East Indian Rosewood/European Spruce Modified OM

Claro Walnut/Port Orford Cedar Modified OM

Claro Walnut/Redwood OM

Cheers

Pete

A Workshop, a Workshop, My Kingdom for a Workshop!

With several guitars 90% completed, it's a little frustrating to once again find myself without a workshop, or even a makeshift workspace I can use temporarily.

In moving interstate into a much smaller and cheaper house in 2015, the ultimate vision was that my partner and I would be financially able to engage a builder to construct a purpose-built workshop in which I could fulfil my dream of building guitars on a more-or-less full-time basis. Reality has bitten hard, however, and the quoted price for such a building has been a little shocking, to say the least.

Plan B - the cheaper option - involves me learning a new set of skills in order to build a suitable workshop myself. My preferred building method will involve a post-and-beam framework, with straw bales used as infill between the timbers comprising the walls. The interior and exterior of the bales will be rendered so as to seal them against the elements and provide the necessary rigidity.

Proposed workshop site, with a view over an adjacent reserve.

Step 1, which I have almost achieved, involves settling on a rough design. The second, more challenging step, requires negotiation with the appropriate authorities to secure the necessary planning and building permits. I'm prepared for this to be a long, drawn-out process, complicated somewhat by the fact that our property sits in a zone susceptible to bushfires.

Needless to say, this is something of a departure from my usual instrument building adventures and is at odds with the nature of this blog, but I'll post progress reports and photographs here from time to time for anyone interested. Unfortunately, photos of guitars will have to wait a while!

As usual, please feel free to ask questions, or make comments.

Interesting links:
Why Build With Straw Bales?
Building a Home Using Straw Bale Construction


Cheers
Pete

Workshop Dreaming

I guess "rustic" wasn't in the forefront of my mind when I envisaged my dream workshop, although I've always considered that its setting should ideally bring me close to nature. The primitive outbuilding at the rear of our temporary home will function as my workshop - hopefully in the short term - and actually allows nature into the workshop! Needless to say, I'm prepared for my resolve and my adaptability to be tested in the months ahead.

Our cottage is simple but comfortable, but to state that the structure at the rear of the property that will function as my workshop is basic is to take the concept of understatement to new levels. I can deal with the uneven dirt floor, but it's the "air-conditioning" that is likely to provide the main challenge. I've taken the precaution of attaching a hygrometer to the wall behind the workbench; my guitars and I can seek refuge in the cottage whenever the relative humidity creeps outside of what I consider to be safe limits. In a controlled environment, I try to maintain a relative humidity of 45%, so alarm bells go off in my head when I see the gauge drop much below 40%, or begin to rise above 60%.

To take a pragmatic approach, I'm confident that if I pay close attention to the ambient temperature and relative humidity, the standard of my workmanship won't suffer, although my personal comfort may be less than optimal at times. Having said that, when I eventually have that dream workshop, you can bet I'll appreciate it!

Cheers
Pete