Lutherie Mezanine

The major point of interest up here is the woodpile, set into one of the gables of the roof. There are 2" iron pipes sunk into the walls up here (which have been tremendously reinforced), so I can rack up a couple tons of redwood and black walnut. Some of this wood has been seasoning for at least 50 years. Some of it is about 3 years old. I'm pretty well set for wood. In fact, if I had any more, I don't know where I would put it!

The mezzanine is a perfect place for the varnishing station. It is well above the dust stirred up by my heroic efforts below, and tends to be the warmest place in the shop, due to the rising warm air. I keep the shop about 65 degrees F, and 40% relative humidity (plus or minus 5%, which is all the accurate my hygrometer is anyway). So I have all my varnishes, shellacs, brushes, and so forth here at the little bench cantilevered out over the edge of the mezzanine. I also fold and staple shipping cartons here, and in do all the packing and shipping organization here. It's a nice little compact space for doing that.

 

On the other side of the aisle, opposite the painting station, is Peghead City. Here is where I keep a stock of pegheads and tailblocks going, in various stages of being. I try to have at least a couple of pegheads complete for each model, so I can have some grain and color choice in starting a new instrument. And so I don't have to sit down a carve the peghead and tailblock before I can begin! The peghead takes about 5 or 6 hours to complete, so that would be a considerable barrier to expeditious beginnings.