Newbie here, wanted to say hi. Also, question about ideas for a work bench.

[Craig Denney]

I came across this forum and thought it would be a great place to learn, especially after I read some threads. 

I've always been interested in guitar repair, been doing my own minor repairs for years.  But now I'm really getting into it and would like to tackle some more difficult tasks: fret work, nut making.  I usually just install my own pickups and do my own setups.

I became increasingly interested in doing fret work after a HORRIBLE fret job done in my home town by a so called "luthier."  I didn't know any better at the time, as it was the first guitar (Fender American Tele) I've ever had refretted.  The guy cut the tangs back too far, and some of the ends are sprung up.  I had jumbo frets installed, which was a big mistake.  After buying a Gretsch a few months back I came to realize that I like medium jumbo, or something of the like.  The jumbo frets are just too tall and wide for me.  I figured this would give me a good opportunity to do my own fret job.  I have a second Fender Tele neck that needs some fret leveling and recrowning, so I thought maybe I would start there and get some practice with the level, recrown. 

I'm having trouble finding something suitable for a good work bench at home.  Nothing seems big enough, or it's too big.  I live in a condo, and I was planning on putting it in the finished basement, so it can't be all that big.  Any suggestions, links, websites would be great. 

Looking forward to learning all I can.

[Ned Knepp]

Gregg,

Why not do that here? It might make a good discussion.

 

[Mike Kolb]

Gotta concur with and reinforce a couple of comments....

(1). too big of a workbench has a tendency to become a defacto storage space. It's far too tempting to stack stuff in a corner of it and, voila', that becomes 'home' for it. 

(2). I'm with Paul (or, Frank?) on the handy qualities of a table saw. It's strong as the dickens and generally dead-flat, which is a real plus for this type of work. Need a saw?... raise the the blade and there ya' go. Great idea, by the way, on the "turret table" for your sanders.

(3). Hurray for lazy susans. Putting a heavy one under my go-bar deck increased the ease of use by 200%

[Dave Fox]

Hey Frank,

 

   Nice idea.....a wood shop owner about a mile up the road from me has a variation of this.  He mounted a set of machines that he uses most on a lazy susan in the corner.  He turns it around to get the tool he needs and drops a dowel down a  couple holes for indexing/locking in place while using.

 

Dave Fox