Official Luthiers Forum!

I have a drum sander, but I use a hand plane for thicknessing soundboards. Before the drum sander, I did everything by hand plane which is fine as long as the woods are cooperative, not always so much fun with the heavily figured stuff. Learning how to use and tune a hand plane is always good, tho.

Must have power tools: Drill press, disk / belt sander, band saw, table saw. And routers, of course.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

I put the jointer right up there with shoes, overhead lighting, and opposing thumbs. If mine dissappeared, I'd probably be brought to a halt within about 2 hours.

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John Watkins
CNC Guitar Parts

I find the bandsaw and drum sander the most useful power tools I have, followed by the tablesaw. Finding a used Delta 14" saw is good advice. I have the Performax 16-32 drum sander, but you could easily get by with the smaller 10-20 model. And Grizzly recently introduced a small drum sander that I would look at closely. At least one small router is very handy for binding/purfling, but figure in the cost for the bits- they add up fast.

For hand tools, 3 good planes are very handy- first a small palm plane like an Ibex for thinning braces, a good block plane (I like the Lie-Nielsen low angle one, but there are good ones that are less expensive), and a medium size plane for edge shooting or thinning. A good scraper and sharpener are essential- sandpaper could replace scrapers, I guess, but for the money scrapers are tremendously useful. And a set of chisels- one thin, about 3/16", one medium, and one about 3/4". And finally, a good Japanese pull saw, and a good strongbacked fretsaw.

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Gene

Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason- Mark Twain

I use my joiner all the time--I join my tops and backs on it as well. I have never had an issue--it always makes perfect joints. Maybe becuse its new, sharp and set-up?

You have to have a drill press. If you could have only one stationary machine, that is it.

My next two machines would be band saw and belt and disc combination sander. I've been using the table saw a lot more since I got hip to those thin Diablo blades. It is way better than the band saw for many things, but it doesn't cut curves.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.