Notice lots of talk / questions about optimum shaping bays, ie: color, lighting, size, etc. For those that don’t have a warehouse or an extra garage, you can do a temporary version that works fabulously any place you can find a large enough floor area: Despite the frustrations and near impossibility with shaping in natural direct light, I try to do some of the initial shaping outside with the palm trees, fresh air, sound of seagulls, scent of flowers, etc… Inspiring but not conducive. Recently we had a very long cold and rainy period when I could not finish a board and needed a pro shaping bay in a hurry. Remedy: Went to Home Depot and bought a few inexpensive large nylon tarps which come in the perfect blue color, along with two eight foot double bulb flourescent fixtures for about $25 each (+ bulbs),some elect. wire and male sockets to wire for pluggin the lights, some clothes-line wire, a couple of 2x4s, and duct tape. Above my garage is an unfinished attic apartment in which I hung the tarps from the stretched clothesline wire (like a shower curtain since they have hole eyelets perfectly placed), taped the bottom of the tarps to the floor with a long continuous strip of duct tape (easy to sweep up next to the tarp walls), and concocted a 16’ x 10’ “bay” (longboards). With the 2x4s I built simple portable pedestal stands for the light fixtures to hook onto. I placed the stands on the outside of the blue tarp walls and hung the lights on screws which protruded through the “walls” at just the right place. To enter, simply fold back a corner seam in the tarp and close behind you. Turn on the boom-box with some sounds, plug in the lights, and get on it. It worked out so great and the lighting is sooo much better that I’m giving thought to staying inside until late spring. So, if you don’t have a bay, try a tent (ok, it took a few hours).
A photo would be the bomb Richard.
My first shaping bay was made in a similar manner - 2x2 frame and plasitc tarp. Easily to put up or take down if the space is needed for other things and was really inexpensive. I used the room for 18 years. My current room has 3 real walls and one plastic wall that hangs from the eave. The black plastic wall can be pulled up like a big curtain and gives me a open view into the rain forest (OK - its just my yard but its still nice and I feel like Im outside).
My work area is partly similar. Santa Ana winds in Southern California after the fires were blowing fine ash and dirt 2-3 feet into the garage this year, though. Spent about $10 I think on some heavy rubber garage door weatherstripping which nails to bottom of wood garage door - huge improvement in sawdust/foam dust containment within the tarp enviro, even just by eliminating random air flows in normal wind patterns.