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Here's a very cool, simple setup:

It's a little downdraft vacuum station where Tom can use a router and sanders to carve the tops and backs of his instruments. Notice that there is a permanently mounted thickness gauge sticking right out from the bench. That way, Tom loses no time in gauging his progress as he carves the graduation in the top or back.


Here's a peghead, ready to receive the familiar Ribbecke logo:

Below that, a custom inlay pattern is laid out, using dyed bone and abalone pieces.

This is a simple overarm router which rides up and down on a rail:

Tom uses this work station for cutting the ledges for edge binding on the guitar bodies.



The only cluttered area is the wall behind the stairs leading up to the storage loft:


In a separate detached garage building, Tom stores the wood for future guitars:

Out here, he also has a "clean room" for spraying finishes.

While I visited, Tom shared his special technique for fitting tone bars to arched tops.

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