Welcome to the lute shop

Hello everyone, and welcome to my lute making workshop in Vancouver.  I'm not exactly sure where to begin, so maybe I'll show you around the workshop a little--then we can have a look at the work in progress.

First, the building at 8696 Barnard Street.  Kind of an unassuming place, but there's a lot going on here.  At least three lute makers have work spaces in the building, and I would think that such a concentration of lute making energy hasn't occurred too many times, and in too many places, since Magno Tieffenbrucher and company were churning them out way back when.  There are also many other craftspeople and artists in the building, as well as carpenters, cabinetmakers, and a masonry company.  In all, it's a good mix of people and occupations, there's a good vibe in the place, and I could not be happier going to make lutes there every day.

I'm in 207, a rather...compact space on the south side.  Come on in!

Here's my main work bench (at the moment I'm preparing sets of soundboard bars for the lutes under construction)....

Sharpening station....
  

And the drafting table--along with the current crop of lutes.  I'll introduce you to each of them next time.















As you can see, it's a sunny little place, a nice spot to get some work done.  Most of the time I have no problem motivating myself, but should I ever linger a bit too long over lunch, or leafing through the latest Lute Society Quarterly, I have a gentle reminder to keep me in line: