I have had a number of workshops over the years, and I always find it interesting to visit other people’s spaces. Here are some shots of my tools and shops from the past few years.
Shop and Tools
Good jigs, fixtures and dust collection are critical for a drumsmith. A spouse with a great job helps immensely.
My current shop is small but cozy, and is surprisingly comfortable to work in (when I keep it clean).
The heart of my workshop is a restored 1949 Wadkin RS10 woodlathe from the UK. 2,000 pounds of cast iron...
...with the capacity to turn a bass drum almost 8 feet long (not that I am about to try that).
How do you get a machine this big into the shop? With a 70 foot boom crane and a bunch of buddies of course.
I have a Delta wide belt sander for flattening segmented rings.
My old Rockwell table saw cuts great polished miters - of course, each blade is worth more than I paid for the saw.
I also have a Vega bowl lathe which comes in handy for turning hoops and buffing.
A good solid bench, a radio, and plenty of hardware and tool storage is key...
... along with space to store lots of wood and allow it to season.
The pull-out panels provide a lot of flat space for parts to dry when I am gluing.
Every shop should have its own resident moose.
For the duration of the Pro-Mark project I rented space at a local acoustic guitar plant...
...where they have mind-blowing equipment like this...
...or this big fellow. Of course - with no resident moose, how could I stay?