Work Areas

[Don101]

this is the view from the outside door as you can see i have a sink in the middle to the left i have my oiling section, to the right i have my dyeing section, and a long the right hand side a long work area with power tools you will see a beter pic from another angle

in this picture you can see my stitching horse and to the left my main work area table with stamps cutters and other leatherworking tools, buckles are also hanging on the wall, i also have three movable lamps so i dont have any shadows on my work when i am stamping, i also have central heating and a small gas heater if im only in the workshop for a small period in winter

from this view you can see the main table and another entry point from the garage which also leads in to the house, and again more tools on the walls and storage, in the draws i have buckles and rivets and thread glue and alsorts of small items

this view is standing in the door next to the table, as you can see i use this work area for the dirty jobs like sanding and burnishing i also have a on the right where i store my rivits in the blue box and in the middle i store my large hammers for the havy duty work, underneath is also alot of storage

Edited June 15, 2007 by Don101

[Go2Tex]

leathershop.pdf

....... I have two 4X 8 cutting tables with polyethylene butcher block cutting sssurface. I love that stuff, but after awhile it gets pretty chewed up. I heard once you can kind of re surface it by melting the surface with a blow torch, that sounds like a potential disaster to me. .........

Yeah, like all cutting surfaces, eventually you either have to replace it or refinish it. I guess that's why plain old wood is so popular. I tried sanding the poly board to knock down the ridges but the best solution is to just flip it over and use the other side until it's all chewed up, then, move that piece to a less critical station and replace your cutting surface with new. It's really not that expensive and, after all, it's tax deductible.

I've attached, (hopefully), a PDF file of my dream shop floorplan. Let me know what ya'll think of it.

leathershop.pdf

[steve mason]

Howdy Barra,

I also have a small shop, 12'X19'. My shop is packed pretty tight with a 7' X 30" workbench, 4'X8' cutting bench, 6' X 24" drill press/vice/storage bench, stamping bench, piss tank, anvil, two sewing machines, a couple storage shelves, spare saddle stand and a beer fridge. So I must use space very wisely, I have all my patterns hanging on the wall, all my skirting, latigo, harness stores under my cutting bench, my chap, mule hide and gigantic Australian field mouse (kangaroo) goes in my storage shelves, my hardware is kept in small shelving units under my workbench, which has two shelves under it, my oil/glue/dyes etc go under my 6'X24'bench.

A few tips I could give for shop layout are:

- make your workspace small so you don't have to waste steps picking up tools etc

-make sure all the tools you use regularly are very handy to grab so you don't have to waste time looking for them, it will become muscle memory to grab a tool of the bench

-once you are done with a tool put it back where it lives

-have your saddle stand in the centre of your work area, so everything is just a step on either side of your saddle

-keep your patterns handy to get at, again don't have the patterns in another room or stored in a hard to get at area or time is wasted looking for them

-use your spare shop space to your advantage, in my shop you can barely see the walls since I have something or other hanging on them, under every bench I have a shelf or two, I even have a shelf hanging form the roof.

-you can hang a couple saddle stands high on the wall to store spare tree, a repair saddle etc

-make sure everything in the shop has a home and is always put back when you are done with it

-keep the shop very organized, if you know exactly where every tool, pattern lives you will not have to waste time looking for anything

- a few tips on your workbench,

-if you move ofter due to outside work, put the bench together with screws and mark/number the pieces so reassemble is easy

-make a very sturdy bench, that has no movement or bounce in it

-hang your tools on the back of the bench so they are is easy reach of you

-put shelves under your bench

-if it does not interfere with your lighting put a shelf above your bench

-put a stick on measuring tape on the front of the bench so you never have to look for one

-something that I see in a lot of other makers benches is that they are all made to low, in my opinion when you are at work on you bench you should not be bent over, you should be able to stand up straight while you do your work, I am 6' and my workbench is 43.5" high, it could be an inch higher if I was to build a new bench.

-your shop does not need to be spotless clean at all times, just well organized with everything in its place, if your shop is spotless clean at all time I envy you.

-another very important shop rule is, make sure the beer fridge is always loaded with a few cool ones.

when I get time I will post a few pics of my shop.

Steve

[Go2Tex]

Steve,

What are your thoughts on stamping/carving benches? You must have tried and seen a lot of different arrangements, what has worked out the best for you?

With all the granite countertops rage these days, I'm thinking it would be fairly easy to pick up some seconds from a local installer, builder, etc. Any thoughts on using granite for a carving surface?

Hey K-man, where do you get your dummy guns? I make a few custom holsters and my biggest problem is obtaining the right model to use for a mold if the customer isn't local.

[steve mason]

Steve,

What are your thoughts on stamping/carving benches? You must have tried and seen a lot of different arrangements, what has worked out the best for you?

With all the granite counter tops rage these days, I'm thinking it would be fairly easy to pick up some seconds from a local installer, builder, etc. Any thoughts on using granite for a carving surface?

Hey K-man, where do you get your dummy guns? I make a few custom holsters and my biggest problem is obtaining the right model to use for a mold if the customer isn't local.

howdy Go2tex;

I have used some different style of benches over the years, I now like a stamping bench that is separate from my main workbench, mainly so I can leave my stamping tools set up and ready to go, when I used a bench where the stamping and main workbench were one and the same, I would always have to roll up my stamping tools when I was done tooling. the combination stamping/main bench was nice because the rock had a polished surface to it so I could use it to skive leather on. The rock was level with the rest of the bench surface as it was countersunk. Now I have a large piece of 3/8 glass to skive on. A bench where the rock surface is countersunk to the rest of the bench surface is nice to work on, if I had one thing to change on my current stamping bench that would be it.

The rock I now use is an honest to goodness used gravestone, I am friends with the local funeral home owners, this rock was returned after the husband died, the wife did not like the rock so she traded it in for a new one. before I could take the rock home I had to grind his name off the rock( that side is turned down on my bench) I then has to smooth the bottom surface so I could stamp on it. It is too rough to skive on, but it is very flat and true to stamp on. The gravestone is 4" thick and 36"X16". I do very much prefer a thick rock and a very strong sturdy stamping bench. I use this bench not only for stamping but for all my riveting and all my drive punches., it sure is nice to rivet and not have my steel bouncing all over the place. The bench is made with 4"X4" corner posts and two layers of 3/4" plywood. there is no movement or bounce at all with this bench. I have heard of a few guys who put a thin piece of cork under their rock to lessen the bounce. but if you get a rock as heavy as mine she won't bounce at all. I am not sure if a counter top would be strong enough to work on, I would be worried about using big set stamps or your maker marker, I have a seen a number of guys rocks crack, even rocks up to 2" thick. personally I would think that 3" would be a minimum thickness for me, although I know that many stampers use rocks that are much thinner. Buying a new rock that thick will cost you some $$, but in the end you will need one anyways, I have already talked to the local funeral home about it, When my time comes I already own my gravestone, I figure as much time as I have spent over this rock, that it should spend the rest of time over me when I'm gone.

here are some pics of my shop.

my stamping bench, all my inventory( I am a mainly a custom order shop so I have very little inventory on hand), my pattern wall and saddle stands,

Edited June 17, 2007 by steve mason

[steve mason]

Here are a few more shop pics,

my 4'X8' cutting/leather storage/sewing machine bench, my main work bench(notice the sign in the top left corner "rush job policy, if you want it bad you will get it bad, the worse you want it the Worse you will get it") and a view of the whole shop.

I sure would like to see some photos of your shops, I think we all could learn something about shop layout from each other, and a picture says a thousand words.

[bruce johnson]

A view from around my shop. I have reconfigured it a couple times, but this layout seems to be working the best. The first picture is the cutting table. It is a large metal desk (had a "free" sign on it along a driveway). I put pipe over the legs to raise it up, and use particle board for the roooler knife, and plastic for the round or straight knives, To the right of that all the cutting tools hang on a pegboard rack.

Second pic is the bench top tools - the sannder for trueing up edges, one drill press has one of Norm Lynds's burnishing wheels. The other drill press has a punch chucked into it for holes in leather, or drill for removing rivets. The scrap bins live below. It is handy to have them right by the cutting table, and closer than the rolled sides. I am more inclined to look in the scrap bins first that way. The pliers and hammers live above this bench. An open area is there to put cased leather under the fan to speed dry it when needed.

Third pic is pretty basic - hand tools on the back, using chemicals above. There is not a buckstitched belt on the bench. It is a figment of your imagination, I don't buckstitch belts, unless I quote a ridiculous price and they say "yes" because nobody else will even do them.

Fourth pic shows the hardware. Saddle riggings and large buckles above. The parts drawers hold rivets, nails, screws, and buckles and rings under 1-1/2". The bench to the right ahs the handmachines. The two splitters, the handcrank skiver, and the rein rounder. The are set so none interfers with use of the others. The three tiered rack holds works in progress ort repairs. The shelving behind that holds trees and things like ropecans, and bins below hold stirrups. The sides are sorted and rolled up on the shelf next to that.

The opposite wall has the two sewing machines. I keep the different feet, guides, and throat plates in the drawers, the thread is sorted on the pegboard. Bobbons are sorted by thread size, color is obvious. The stamping bench is covered with a 4" headstone fragment. Like Steve, mine has a name (and a picture) on the bottom. Stamps are kept in plastic cups on the pegboard above. The parts drawers to the left have silver. The drawers directly by the stamping bench have tapoffs. There is a roll around drawer thing for miscellaneous stuff, and then the skiving machine to the right of that.

Bruce Johnson

Edited June 17, 2007 by bruce johnson

[Go2Tex]

Thanks for all the pics, guys.

Steve, I notice your drawdown has wheels on it. I considered doing that too but wondered about keeping it steady when carving a groundseat, etc, even with the locking type wheels or casters. Does your stand move around on you much?

[Go2Tex]

OK, here's a couple pics that I took previously that show a bit of my shop. I already tore my shop down pursuant to my move so I can't dazzle ya with a complete layout.

[K-Man]

Hey K-man, where do you get your dummy guns? I make a few custom holsters and my biggest problem is obtaining the right model to use for a mold if the customer isn't local.

For the occasional gun, I'd recommend Ring's Blue Guns. They manufacture the blue training guns. Their website is: www.blueguns.com. Another source for blue guns is this place: www.miragetechnologies.net.

If you need something aside from what you can find there, let me know and I can give you a couple of other places that might have what you're looking for.