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Studio J Designs

Listing #1015 Listed on: 03/09/2010

WOODWEB Content Editor, Brett Hagstrom, Interviewed John Schanafelt in March 2010.

John Schanafelt has lived in Temple, Texas for close to six years, after relocating from Corpus Christi, Texas. John�s 6,600 square foot shop is located two blocks from the downtown square. He leases the shop and was able to renovate the shop before moving in which was a fortunate situation as it enabled John to establish the layout of his shop before beginning production. By completing the work himself John was able to use the shop rent free for the first two months. John�s old shop was 2,800 square feet and the extra size of the new shop is very enjoyable for John and his employees. John has half the shop dedicated to machines installed in process order instead of having the machines mismatched throughout the shop. The extra space also allows for storage of work before shipping.

Continue Reading about Studio J Designs

Company Name: Studio J Designs

Contact Name: John Schanafelt

Location: Temple, TX 76501

Year Founded: 2000

Sq. Footage: 6,600

Employees: 1

Gross Sales: N/A

Website:

Product Specialties:

Architectural Millwork - Custom Millwork
Architectural Millwork - Millwork Installer
Cabinets - Cabinet Installers
Cabinets - Commercial Cabinets
Cabinets - Custom Cabinets

Shop Equipment:

Other - Streibig Compact Plus verticle panel saw
Scmi - Sliding table saw - 10.5'
Scmi - 23 Spindle Boring Machine
Scmi - ME30HFE edgebander
Grass - Eco-Press Boring and Insertion (3ea.)
Grass - Drawer Insertion Ram
Toyota - 4000# Forklift
Other - Uhlig HP3000 Case Clamp
Busellato - V-tech verticle P+T-P w/ Router and Grooving saw

Viewer Comments:

Posted By: greg baumer [03/14/2010]
Looks like a great set up. I am not sure what you are presenting here. Are you selling the entire operation, equipment or showing what you can produce?

Posted By: Bob S. [03/26/2010]
Nice panel saw & a very neat shop. . . Did you clean it for the pic? Or do you keep it neat all the time? You know what they say about a neat desk. . . :)

Posted By: John S [03/26/2010]
Thank you Bob. The clutter was picked up before the photos. After tripping over floor debris with a cabinet in my arms and chipping a bone in my elbow, I swore I would keep a clean shop. The dust collector sure helps.

Posted By: jose gomez [04/29/2010]
Nice shop you have there John. I like the simple and clean set up. Very nice.

Posted By: frank [10/23/2015]
great shop I move next week too 8000 from 1200
where did you get the red wood carts

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Company Description Continued
All of John�s work is competitively bid within a 100 mile radius from his shop. John mentions that when bidding for a job his goal is to be within one percent of competitors. John mentions that he likes commercial work because it �makes the management of a job easier.�

John�s shop evolved different than most. Before he hired his first employee everything was in place except for his forklift and panel saw. John also mentions that his wife has been very supportive in his endeavor and he could not have made it work without her. She supported him while he put every penny he earned into the business.

John thought he had a good plan in place for making frameless and commercial cabinets, and that was the rationale for starting the shop. John operates with the 32mm and metric systems and his first machine was a Grass boring and hinging machine. He started with a Rockwell unisaw in Corpus Christi and used it for a year and a half before acquiring an edgebander, sliding table saw, and 23 spindle boring machine. John also has a Busellato V-Tech CNC machine. It functions like most other CNC's except it is vertical like a vertical panel saw instead of being flat or horizontal. It has all of the same tooling for boring the face and all edges of the panel. It also has a grooving saw and a 9HP electro spindle with an eight position tool changer for routing functions. John likes being able to load the parts at waist height without bending over the table to position them against the rear pins. A router is also used for curve and radius work. John�s dust collection system was purchased at the same time the CNC machine was purchased.

John says that his goal in business is to �create something simple, safe, and straightforward, and to make a good quality product.� He mentions that he has only one or two employees in the shop and they all know each process in the shop.

John works with and bids from architectural drawings. His work is done by contract.

John says the biggest mistake that occurs when starting a shop is being undercapitalized. He mentions that �gaining knowledge and an education in a shop-type setting and applying the experience to the job is the best situation to have.� John encourages more people to get into the business since current interest is dwindling.

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