Ikea in guitarbuilding? Thinking of making a Breim/Vuku spraybooth

[Matthew Lau]

Hey MIMFers,

I'll be moving on Saturday, as my parents will be remodeling for the next two months.
I've since been looking a lot at IKEA for possible short term furniture.

The VUKU wardrobe and Breim wardrobe look like they'd be great as spraybooths.

Also, I found the Raskog carts to be super useful in my workshop.
I mount some magnetic bars and magnetic spice containers to the sides, and it's a rolling inventory.


How about you guys?

[Bob Hammond]

Well, they don't look expensive to try out. How would you deal with fumes and overspray? I would be hesitant to use a fan due to possibility of explosion even if it were a brushless DC muffin fan.

[Arnt Rian]

Off topic: Vuku, Breim? I had to look this up when I saw the thread title. Vuku and Breim are a couple of really small communities in this country (Norway), Vuku is not far from my home town of Trondheim, but I doubt even most folks here know where it is, it is that remote. Apparently IKEA are naming all new beds, wardrobes and hallway after places in Norway. It is a Swedish company, but I guess they must have run out of Swedish names, Råskog that you mention seem to be just a couple of houses in a farm field in southern Sweden. Funny!

I have no experience using their warderobes as spray booths, but I you are asking about IKEA furniture in the shop in general, sure. Most of my bench tops are 40 mm solid beech IKEA counter tops, they are wonderful, I'm sure they will outlast me and most of my tools by far. I also have a stack of their "Moppe" mini chest of drawers, (perfect for storing small parts and tools), and probably a few of their lamps etc. They sell a lot of junk, but some good stuff as well.

[Clay Schaeffer]

I would hesitate to use cloth type enclosures for spraybooths unless you are using non flammable materials. Eventually the overspray will build up on the surfaces. I think corrugated cardboard might be a better choice, and can be tossed when it becomes too saturated with material.
For someone who needs lightweight easily moved and setup storage they look pretty serviceable.

[Barry Daniels]

You really don't need a booth. The main thing is to have an exhaust fan to remove the overspray and vapors to the outside. And a shield like Clay's cardboard to protect the area directly behind the object being sprayed.

[Halgeir Wold]

Unfortunately Ikea has discontinued those massive beech countertops that were perfect for workbenches..... There are some 38mm - presumably oak...

[Randolph Rhett]

Traditionally IKEA names their product line after the designer who designs it. Perhaps the designer who worked on that wardrobe was from that town and has it as a surname? Of course, there is no law that IKEA follow any naming convention. Perhaps they are picking obscure little town in Norway.

[Matthew Lau]

Last night, I got a call from my parents.
We went to the rental where we'll be staying...and I'll definitely be staying in the living room.

I stopped by Ikea and picked up a Vuku wardrobe.
The thing is cheap! $13! It's sorta flimsy like a tent, and pretty perfect for a cheap spray booth IMHO.
It's got just the right height for a guitar or bass, plenty of space all around, and folds up extremely compactly.

But yeah....I missed out on the Ikea countertops.
When they were available, I was too broke for them.

For now, I'm thinking of rigging some portable workbenches to work off of outside my dental office.
I was thinking of making a wooden dock for a luthier's vise to sit on the brick fence out back.

Is there a big difference between the parrot vise with inserts (which I have) and the Stew Mac Luthier's vise?

[Clay Schaeffer]

If you have a workmate you can bolt your vise to a "T" shaped plywood base and secure it to the workmate's top (using the workmate's vise) when you need it. Quick to install, easily removed.

[Bob Hammond]

Matthew - the parrot (aka Versa-vise) vise should serve you well. The Stew-Mac 'luthier ' vise is an old design that was favored by gunsmiths, and I suspect it became an 'essential' tool after it appeared in Cumpiano & Natelson's book. You don't need it.

As Clay suggested, a portable work bench/table such as the Workmate (aka workmutt) can support a vise, and it would be a better buy than the S-M vise. Nowadays, there are a variety of such portable benches and some are very overpriced. Around here, used old heavy-duty Workmate 400 seriess are easy to find cheap, and I have a matched pair for outdoor work in good weather. I bridge them together with a plank or plywood to form a benchtop, and I can mount a couple of different vises or fixtures as needed.

[Matthew Lau]

I have a japanese floor bench that was made from a discarded coffee table.
I'm thinking of screwing the "legs" to hug onto a large brick enclosure just in front of my office.
If it's a tight, passive fit, I'd hope the retention holds the worksurface well.

-Matt

ps. Otherwise, I'll look into one of those newfangled portable workbenches.