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pedestal grinder that can also be used as a buf-
Planning Ahead fer. Sure, your shop is relatively bare at the mo-
ment, but you have high hopes of expanding it
into the shop shown in Figure 7. Later on, a
The beginning gunsmithing student or hobbyist metal-turning lathe could be placed in back of
will probably start out with the very minimum the operator, opposite the bench containing the
of tools, but you should remember to start out drill press, bench vise, etc. Eventually you will
first with a solid workbench and bench vise; have an excellent setup for performing nearly all
more tools can be added as the need arises. For phases of gunsmithing on a small scale.
example, the workshop shown in Figure 5 is a If you are planning to expand into a part-time
good shop for the beginning gunsmith or hob-
or full-time business, your planning should
byist, and is about the minimum that one can extend even further. Again, let’s deal with the
get by with to perform even basic work on guns.
one-person shop layout shown in Figure 7 and
Still, you are looking at about a $5,000 or more see how it can be expanded. This shop could be
investment. But if you concentrate only on the
one room in the basement of your home or in
bench tops themselves (without drawers), or just a two-car garage. While designing your shop
one “wing” of the bench, and add the bench vise
layout, assuming that you do have plans for ex-
along with your basic hand tools and toolbox, you pansion, you should give careful consideration
could probably get by for around $500, especially
to the first room’s location so it may be logically
if you are handy with woodworking tools and you tied in with future expansion, as in the layout
can get a hold of some scrap lumber.
shown in Figure 8. This shop layout illustrates
At the first opportunity, you would probably machine placement and organization of various
want to purchase a drill press and a bench or shop functions. Close proximity of associated
Figure 7: Excellent shop layout for the beginning professional. A metal-turning lathe and milling machine can be added later.
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