Better than pics....
This is my actual bass in the video.....
This is my actual bass in the video.....
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What's On Your Workbench?
- Thread starter HaMMerHeD
- Start date
Now that's pretty cool. I can't believe this isn't more of a "thing" considering how tight the restrictions are on true rosewoods now.
My tiny ukulele is pretty much done, last coat of finish going on tonight and should be playable by the weekend (assuming I can fit my fat fingers between the frets).
My workbench shows that I'm getting closer on my 12 string neck reset. The destruction piece is done, now to start prettying things up, so that I can put the neck back on (after repairing the tenon).
Most of my repair time is spent on getting these 3 casters back in business for my son and a buddy. The Xavier neck (take off for a different project) is surprisingly good. Fret sprout like you'd expect, but it's really nice. The CherryBurst body is getting the bizarro world pickguard that I'm putting together (double lipstick bridge, '74 teisco gold foil pickup middle, and HB sized P-90 neck). The pickguard should be arriving soon, then I'll shoot some more pics. That should prove to be an interesting setup. The neck/bridge will share a volume, the gold foil will get it's own volume, and they'll share the tone control. The bridge and neck will work on a 3-way tele-style switch.... this experiment is fun so far!!!
I need to get my son's college stuff out of the garage so that I can stop using my office as a repair area. :-D Kidding, I'm loving having him (safe) at home.
Most of my repair time is spent on getting these 3 casters back in business for my son and a buddy. The Xavier neck (take off for a different project) is surprisingly good. Fret sprout like you'd expect, but it's really nice. The CherryBurst body is getting the bizarro world pickguard that I'm putting together (double lipstick bridge, '74 teisco gold foil pickup middle, and HB sized P-90 neck). The pickguard should be arriving soon, then I'll shoot some more pics. That should prove to be an interesting setup. The neck/bridge will share a volume, the gold foil will get it's own volume, and they'll share the tone control. The bridge and neck will work on a 3-way tele-style switch.... this experiment is fun so far!!!
I need to get my son's college stuff out of the garage so that I can stop using my office as a repair area. :-D Kidding, I'm loving having him (safe) at home.
Now that I've built 4 of the "same" u-bass/short scale guitar sized body, I've gotten frustrated with my lack of skill in terms of getting really consistent bends and consistent body shapes by doing everything freehand. So, I'm building a fox-style bending machine to help do side bending for acoustic instruments and I'll make forms for each instrument size as I go. Together with the go bar deck and radius molds I posted a while back I should be in business.
Anyways, I had to come up with a handle for the big screw used to clamp the waist down to the mold. I had bought a length of 1" maple dowel to use, but as I was getting ready to put it on the threaded rod I felt like I needed to do something a little more creative.
So I dug through my scrap bin and found an odd curve-shaped cutoff of bubinga from when I had cut out the body from my recent build off bass. I trimmed the ends, went over it with a sander, and hit it with some oil. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out:
Anyways, I had to come up with a handle for the big screw used to clamp the waist down to the mold. I had bought a length of 1" maple dowel to use, but as I was getting ready to put it on the threaded rod I felt like I needed to do something a little more creative.
So I dug through my scrap bin and found an odd curve-shaped cutoff of bubinga from when I had cut out the body from my recent build off bass. I trimmed the ends, went over it with a sander, and hit it with some oil. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out:
I used to have a big vise like that in my old shop, I had built it from a kit that included the screw and hardware. I deliberately didn't include one in my current shop. I know a lot of people will probably shun me for this, but I don't like them - at least for instrument work. I find that they get in the way. When I want to hold something against the face of the workbench I just use quick-grip clamps. Clamps get the job done fine and are out of the way when not in use.
If I had more bench space such that I could put it off to the side and it wouldn't be right in front of me all the time, or if I was trying to put together a traditional furniture shop, I might want one. But not in a smaller shop for instrument building.
If I had more bench space such that I could put it off to the side and it wouldn't be right in front of me all the time, or if I was trying to put together a traditional furniture shop, I might want one. But not in a smaller shop for instrument building.
I find that I'm constantly trying to figure out how to clamp my stuff so I can work on it, and the shop I'm using doesn't have anything for clamps other than one metal vice mounted on a table that's way too high (I think it's like 40" working height to the tabletop) and then basic quick clamps. I usually find the quick clamps just don't hold it as snug as I'd like, it tends to slip around a bit, which gets VERY frustrating. This shop has tons of space so I'm thinking I could add one to an existing table or something and still have tons of room to work away from it as well. The down side is, it's not my shop, so I'd be adding stuff to something I don't own. Not that it would be an issue, my boss really doesn't care at all. He has told me several times I can literally do whatever I want in there. He's mostly just happy to see his dad's old workshop being used again.
This is my work bench as of today, a total mess. I moved into this house about 5 years ago and quickly threw my shop together and that's pretty much how it stayed until this weekend. I decided it was finally time to get everything the way I've wanted it. I cleaned and started arranging everything so it flows well and I will finally have room to work at each tool. I'm really looking forward to getting it set up for building basses amongst all the repairs and doodads the family and friends always seem to need.
I also just gained this little beauty from a relative. It was barely used so they felt I should put it to good use. I couldn't agree more! She also has a couple of bins of clamps for me too.
I'm trying to get everything set up to build my first scratch bass for the WBO.
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Okay, so what's on my work bench today? Well....it's a workbench! 
Its a Harbor Freight bench that I just picked up used on the local OfferUp for $60. It's 60"x20" and 34" tall, has 4 nice lined drawers and a bottom shelf. Oh, and my dilemma regarding the vice is solved because it has one of those too, complete with holes in the top and the seller had the 4 dogs to go with it. SCORE!
Its a Harbor Freight bench that I just picked up used on the local OfferUp for $60. It's 60"x20" and 34" tall, has 4 nice lined drawers and a bottom shelf. Oh, and my dilemma regarding the vice is solved because it has one of those too, complete with holes in the top and the seller had the 4 dogs to go with it. SCORE!
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I’d definitely give $60 for that and I don’t even have room for another bench!
Finally got my Jazz Bass Special fixed up with the Epic Custom Shop PJ1 set! I made kind of a hash of the electronics and I am going to have to redo them some day, but it all works. It sounds real good and at this point I think the JBS looks about as close to stock as I'm likely to get it without actually getting stock parts.
The size of the pickups on the JBS, as I've mentioned before, is a real headache - the routs seem to be a bit smaller than any currently available pickup, so anything new you put in them is likely to need some minor surgery. I had to shave the walls of the P covers down to paper thin and reduce the size of the ears, and I had to sand down the corners of the J cover to increase the radius a bit.
I guess now I have to actually get back to playing and not just messing around on the workbench!
The size of the pickups on the JBS, as I've mentioned before, is a real headache - the routs seem to be a bit smaller than any currently available pickup, so anything new you put in them is likely to need some minor surgery. I had to shave the walls of the P covers down to paper thin and reduce the size of the ears, and I had to sand down the corners of the J cover to increase the radius a bit.
I guess now I have to actually get back to playing and not just messing around on the workbench!
Lots of progress on my shop revamp this weekend thanks to my workbench. Built stands for my compound miter saw, drill press and fenceless router table. Some rearranging and it's really looking like a shop again. Plenty more needed but it's coming together.
So, the rumor is that my brother-in-law will be dropping off a small lathe at some point this week. He ended up with two lathes from his grandfather's shop and all the tools and whatnot. It's all been in storage for a few years, so I asked him if I could borrow the small one. My goal is to learn to turn my own knobs. So now I need to start looking into instructional videos on getting started in wood turning. Those of you who have experience turning your own knobs, feel free t point me in the right direction. Pics of said lathe once it arrives, I hear it is in his trunk and he'll stop by this week when it all works out. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow, maybe Friday, we'll see. I'm in no rush.
Deep down inside I also find it fascinating watching guys turn bowls too, so there's that. But man it seems like a waste of a LOT of material when they carve out the inside of those bowls!
Deep down inside I also find it fascinating watching guys turn bowls too, so there's that. But man it seems like a waste of a LOT of material when they carve out the inside of those bowls!
Oh!....Sorry....Didn't realize that you didn't BBQ....
When I first started I took a pen turning class from Woodcraft. It was $50 or $75. Not everything directly correlates to knobs but it was a decent introduction for a newb. Past that, YouTube videos. I don’t recall the specific channels but search turning wooden guitar knobs and some videos will come up. If you don’t want to use strictly setscrews I hen check out Bitterroot Guitars. They have inserts for 6mm splined shafts you can insert in the knobs. Maybe start a thread with questions. It might be good to have some varied input and see everyone’s process.
Another tip....Don't send any to me.....
Awww... but what if we want them all glowy like?
