What is your shop?

K

kieserk

Joined
Apr 16, 2014
Messages
6
So I think a shop as a dedicated room in a house or even a dedicated shed. But the questions I have are:

If your a hobbyist, what setup do you have.

If your a knifemaker, what setup do you have.

If you have a shed, how do you bring in power.

and the question of the day THE COST! How much did you spend on your shop?

PLEASE, PICTURES ARE ENCOURAGED!!!!

Regards, Mason.

PS. I'm a knife collector, but I've never made a knife, and I'm curious if I have the time, and funds to get into the hobby
 
For my shop ?
I already spend in 1 month about 11.000$ to make new proffesional shop... ( and need next 9.000$ )
And I going to be a full-time knifemaker...

Now making dustproof doors, and dust collector system for grinders etc... >.>
 
For a "KnifeMaker" you need to start out with about twice the room you think you will need>>> Why? Glad you asked, as your skill progresses so will the amount of tools.
Expect around a $5-6K to get started
Note: If you go cheap you will spend alot more money later replacing machines your skill level has surpassed. Buy the best to start off with that way if you decide "This is not for me" you can get your money back! Ask me how I know this :)
Do yourself a HUGE favor keep the Dirty part Grinder, saw and powered sanding equipment Etc sectioned off. Get Great lighting and an awesome dust collector.
Try a few kits before spending money on equipment. Hope that helps
 
Like Hankins saind, keep dust producing tools in separate room.

I have my two belt grinders , band saw and sanding cabin in dirty room. Mill, press, worktable, drill etc in clean room.
Now I looking for a good old polish lathe called TSB-20 ( and then I will totally upgrade this litte guy to a whole new level [new Siemens engine, Siemens Simatronic V20 power inverter etc]) ant this stuff will be in clean room. (Probably I will upgrade at the end of month a mill and lathe to CNC )
 
I am a hobby/amateur maker. My "shop" is split between my detached garage and my basement. As a "hobby" maker I have over $20K invested in equipment, materials and supplies. That doesn't include over $5k in upgrading the electrical service to my house and garage. I have only been doing this for a couple of years so far. As others have suggested, dip your feet in the pool at the shallow end first. Build a kit. Make a simple knife with files and sandpaper. See if you like it. See if you have the attention and patience for it. I think most people are not prepared for how hard it is to make a good knife. You have to be able to work through very frustrating times and persist even when you want to throw the damned thing at the wall. If you decide to spend real money to get a shop up and running follow these guys' suggestions. Lots of room, separate dirty and clean areas, good dust collection, quality tools and equipment, lots of general and local lighting. I would add, take a class from a known maker in your area. It will take months or years off your learning curve. And read, read, read, read, read, read, read, read, read, read, read, read, read everything on the subject. This rabbit hole goes as deep as you are prepared to go.
 
I'm a hobbyist and my "Shop" consists of a rather narrow area of my garage that has my bandsaw, drill press, and two work benches. One of which has my little Craftsman 2x42 belt grinder bolted to it and my vise (which still isn't bolted down). I still do a lot of my work with files and sandpaper. I use the grinder to grind the bevels on my knives and only go up to about 220 grit on it when I do it. Then everything goes to hand sanding from there.

My cost was pretty minimal. The one bench I bought from Home Depot, it's a wooden fold out bench for like 70 bucks. The grinder was a birthday gift, my bandsaw was about $180 I think from harbor freight, files were a gift, drill press I got along with a bunch of other stuff (Mitutoyo height gauge, Starrett calipers, drill bits, etc) from a guy who was selling off stuff from his dad machine shop and he or his father never used the stuff anymore for less than I think $120 . Not counting sandpaper and belts I'd be surprised if I spent over $500 on actual "knife making" equipment
 
I used to work in the tiny single-car garage of the duplex I lived in. It was cramped, blazing hot or freezing cold by the seasons, all my electricity came from a 100' extension cord that I plugged into my kitchen.



Here it is cleaned out after I moved.



Our new place has a nice two car garage that feels luxurious.



We moved six weeks ago and are still getting settled in so the mess levels look similar.
I've been acquiring tools for almost ten years, I used to work on cars and motorcycles a lot, I do ceramic sculpture and bronze casting along with steel fabrication. A lot of my equipment is low-buck, scrounged from Craigslist or homemade, my forge was almost free because I had squirreled away must of the materials while I worked for a ceramics company. My grizzly 2x72 was the most expensive single told tool I've ever bought. Do as others have recommended: try a kit or other small project first. The investment can be huge.
 
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I lost track of how much I have into this obsession way too long ago. I Know it is well into the upper $50k range ++. But then I have been collecting for 23+ years now. You can do cheap, files sandpaper and a clamp on the kitchen table. Usually only lasts one or 2 times till the SO sees the mess. Or you can dive in like Dennis Paish did, (wow I wish my shop looked like that.) Or somewhere in between. Don't have to do it all at once either. Move at a comfortable pace for you.
 
Oh forgot to describe my shop. Well I started out in 1/2 of a 6x12' garden shed. Then took over half of a 1 car garage. This slowly grew to most of the garage and a 10x20 pad out back. When I was out back forging I had a 100 foot 6gauge extension cord hooked to a 30a service. Now I have 2 bays in a 3 bay garage. Put walls up to have a Clean room and Forging and grinding room. Now if I could just keep the clean room clean:foot:.. Oh the wife got the one bay for her car. Part of the deal when we moved here. have to keep the Mrs happy.
 
Dennis, What a great shop. The engraving machine is really cool. I really like the grinder that you built too. I would like to see some more video on your surface grinder and the enclosure you made. Thanks, Larry Lehman
 
My current shop is in my garage. My "future shop" is 1000sqft that was used for a different purpose before. I am cleaning it out and have been looking closely at different shops for the layout. Coming to the southern Alberta hammer in has been worth every penny as I can see how the shop is set up, and the demonstrations are just that much more informative than the WIPs. To see how much force the smith is using tells a lot more than a picture does. Speaking with Kevin Cashen for hours has been the high lite of my weekend. I have answers shown on the microscopic level for many of the metallurgical discussions we have had since I've been on bladeforums. I have well over 10,000 invested in my tools at this point. It's just going to go up as the projects get more complex.
 
I started in garage.
Now I making my workshop in the basement...
Walls etc... about 25cm of reinforced concrete :P ( Bunker :P )
Maybe sometime I'll make photos of my shop ;) ( when will be 100% ready :P )
 
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