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I've been trying to estimate how much the various tools and jigs will cost me so I thought I'd see what the group's experience was. It would be very helpful if you listed the items and cost of your shop over $50. I already have a number of woodworking tools so I hope it isn't as bad as I think :)

I've never sat down and figured out what my shop cost but if I were to put a
very very approximate value on just the tool not any materials I would guess
somewhere around $20,000 in tools alone. No way could I list every tool
that cost more than $50 as a single good chisel can cost more than that. If
we add in materials and wood......fahgadabouit...

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

Ohhhh, you don't want to go there.....There's gonna be people needing counseling.

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

It's only been a year and a half for me and i'm over $6-7000 in spending on wood and tools and other materials, not to discourage you, mind you, but if you can do like me and scrounge, it will help you a great deal!

Well, start with $800/mon. rent, $350/mon. or so for gas and elect., insurance, tele., etc. i am a most persistent bargain hunter, but tools etc. would probably run out over $30000. then there is the wood room...... ummmm, guess it's time to call my insurance agent and review my coverage, again!

Well
Do you count EVERYTHING...Including the stuff your wife didn't know you
bought!!!! Luckily she hates Home Depot and never wants to walk into any
hardware store!!!

Then there are the UPS deliveries.....
Honey...its just parts for a guitar that was commissioned......

When she starts asking me who the Zootman is I might get concerned!!!!!azimmer139048.3840393519

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

I refuse to but that in print. My wife may see it

But seriously if I was to but a $ guess I would say I have a bout 5k invested in power tools, and high end hand tools an about 2k in miscellaneous gadgets and task specific jigs and scales and about $600 in clamps and vices

Costs in the States are cheaper than over here in the UK for the major tools, so my prices wouldn't be all that helpful. What I will say is that you can build with very few tools. (Joshua does it with just a knife, a cooking pot and a pile of fish skins, oh and a *~'#~* POWER BUFFER!)

To me the essentials, and I'll probably miss a few are:

* 10" table saw, my own cost about $400 and does everything I ask of it, put a good diablo or thin kerf CMT in and, if you set it up well, it will do.

* Big drill press. My most used tool, I have a 16 gear (to 4000rev) with a wide throat, used for Wagner, sanding disc, and spindle sanding as well as drilling. Cost about $400.

* Good laminate trimmer, PC, De walt, Bosch, Hitachi etc. I like the type with the separate guide wheel attached so that Downcut bits can be used. $150.

* Bandsaw, If you want to resaw then a 14"+ will be needed with, to my mind at least 2hp motor, if not a smaller machine will do, quality over quantity though. I have a small 12" 1hp machine for most work and a bigger, 20" 5hp for resawing. $350 and $3000 respectively.

* Belt sander, I just have a small 4" model with a 6" disc sander attached but it does all I need. $100.

My other main power tool is my table router, 1.5hp Bosch in a home made insert in my work bench.

For planes, chisels etc your choice get LN stuff or get old Stanley/Record planes and refurbish them and I also prefer vintage Sheffield steel chisels, which can be had really cheaply.

So I guess for major power tools (assuming no resawing) you could get away with a couple of thousand dollars at UK prices. This is for the hobby builder, who isn't in a hurry to get a job done but is happy doing the job for it's own sake. Don't forget to factor in dust collection, probably your most important investment.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

$16,000 USD. That's the building, all of which I built except for having the slab poured, the tools which have been aquired over the last 12 years and 99% of the little stuff that I could never account for...at least that's the figure my accountant has....

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

My shop (building only) cost me $4500 canadian and it's only 185 square feet. And a couple of cases of beer and a couple more dinners.

Tools, I'd say I'm about $1500-$2000, but I've made so many jigs and some tools and I've been given some tools as well.

edit

I guess you asked for a break down

-10" delta unisaw - got it from a neighbor for $400
-5"x24" thickness sander, made this for a case of beer and $30 worth of material.
-14" Delta bandsaw - got this as a gift for housing a friend and his family for 2 months.
-4" Rockwell beaver jointer - $80 pawn shop buy, needed a bit of setup work
generally I ask for tools for christmas and birthdays so, I tend to get lots of tools as gifts.
Other than this, everything else is mostly under $50. I don't buy expensive chisle or planes (actually I only have one plane, a stanly jack plane, also a gift) as I don't see the need for such luxury, I'd rather spend my money on wood and guitar parts. I'm rather cheep, or frugal so it can be done for a lower cost than some others.

What I've got gets the job done. Would I like some of the higher end hand tools, probably, but I've never used them before so I don't really know what I'm missing .

All Canadian money

Rod True39048.4417476852

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My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

I'm just guessing, but my power tools ran in the neighborhood of $7500. Then add a couple thousand for walls & wiring and I'm probably looking at 10K. That doesn't include all the specialty hand tools and things from StewMac and LMI, nor the basic handtools, drills etc.

Then the wood...well, several thousand there too.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

The tools are well over $50,000. not including wood and the building.Brad Goodman39048.4981597222

Well,

It is hard to say. I am just completing a little studio, about 330 sq ft converted from my carport taht is under our covered deck. I probably have about $2 or 3,000 into it once it is done. I have a lot of used materials around that has helped keep the costs down. BUT, on the wood working side, I have been at it for a quite a few years and have accumulated a lot of stuff. I estimate taht I am at $60,000 in tools or so. I bought my re-saw, a 20 inch plane and a double drum thickness sander when I started the tonewood business and that was $12K. I have since added about $1.5K in mods to the saw. I also have a $2,500 table saw, a $3,000 jointer and two other band saws, one taht is about $2,200. I also have 2 chopsaws, three compressors, a $2,200 wood lathe, two drill presses, a scroll saw and a small bench belt sander, a grinder and special knife grinder......the list goes one!! And the portable tools....I can't even list! Imight need help!!

Having said this, this is twenty years of purchases of quality tooling. I have seen spectacular guitars with a whole lot less. I am continually amzed at the quaility of instruments that are produced with "home workshop grade" tools. Mine are more than are needed.

Shane

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Canada

Do you guy realize some of our wifes do read the post in this forum?? What are you guys thinking about when posting something like this? Suicide??
Come on now....

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

Hmmm, well my first mandolin cost about ?7000 - but in mitigation I shan't need much more than hardware and neck stock for the foreseeablr future

Steve

Yep, I've only built one guitar, and I'm with Serge...I probably have $5-7K in mine total...that's upfitting, tools, materials, etc. And I'm still missing some significant pieces of equipment too!

Somebody once said "For the cost of tooling up to build your first guitar, you could commission a very, very nice one-off from a first rate luthier". That was an astute individual.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Im trying to build as many tools as I can to reduce costs, {planes thickness sander etc} but still have over 6,000 in already and plan on spending at least another 10,000 to 15,000 even with all the homebuilt gear.
Cheers
Charliewood

[QUOTE=Brad Goodman] The tools are well over $50,000. not including wood and the building.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, but not everyone buys all Festool stuff! That can account for the 50K easily!

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

I had the shop already there (my 25 x 25 garage). It was easy enough using a corner to start my little guitar shop.

If I count the propane furnace I had installed last year, I'm well over the 7K figure... But that is with a few sets of zoot for future projects. Still missing is the bandsaw and a thickness sander...

And I though it would be cheaper to make my own than comission one... Well, maybe not, but it sure was a lot more fun and I get so much more pleasure from it!

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

I have been doing woodworking for over 30 years, imported and sold machinery and tools for 15+ years and imported exotic hardwoods in addition to owning a sawmill in South America.

Over the years I found that I have become more and more dependent on jigs and power tools as they can be faster and often more accurate, which is why they were so easy to justify.

This last summer I attended a guitar building workshop done by Jose Romanillos in an effect to reconnect to using handtools instead of relying on power tools. In the class we did everything but the drilling of the string holes in the bridge by hand with no power tools allowed.

The result is that now for me most of my power tools and woodworking machinery for the most part are either redundant, obsolete, or at least much less important than they once were.

Many years ago when I first started building guitars all I had was a coping saw a plane, a marking knife and a couple chisels. all of the other tools (gramil, thickness guage, rosette cutter, bending pipe) I made by hand and was able to accomplish basically the same as I do today with much more jigs, fixtures, and power tools.

It is too easy to spend time and money on tools instead of working wood...for me at least, I am on a quest to get back to the basics.

Machinery I am eliminating as a result:

1. Duplicator- bought for doing archtops, and roughing out cellos and double basses but mostly unused today.

2. 14" Rockwell Lathe- I used to build my rosettes in log form and would part them on a lathe

3. 10" Walker Turner Tablesaw- evolved into the UNisaw but has a larger cast iron table (with 52 inch Unifence) but today mostly for cutting ply into smaller sizes for forms and jigs

4. 14" Rockwell/Delta bandsaw w. height adaptor- not really needed but was always the first machine to use.

5. 16" drill press- used for Wagner safety planer, soundhole cutouts and such but these all can be done by hand as well.

6. several more machines and hand tools galore that have lost their pull on me as I can do the same by hand.

I am not mentioning this a way to sell any of these...just to point out that all of these can be done by hand so for me it is a way of simplifying how I approach building...too many tools, too many machines...I was at times starting to feel that while the quality was what I was aiming for, the process of being jig, form and tool dependent had for me started to feel like I was producing fine furniture, not guitars with a distinctive voice.

When I went to Spain the only tools I had to use are the ones I could fit into a small suitcase as I had to bring all of my wood and tools to the Romanillos class and was travelling from the US. In reality, that is all the tools that were essential, all others are nice, optional, convenient but in the end can be done without.

I am not in any way saying that woodworking machines and power tools are bad...they all have their place. I am just saying that for me at this point I am taking a step back and reconnecting to the hand technique of the craft. Note that because I was a tool and wood guy that I have much more of each than anyone could possibly need or use.

my main point is that no matter what state you are at as far as tools, machinery and the like, whatever you have is probably enough and it is the building that is more important than what tools you have in your shop.

That reminds me of when I was once hanging out at a friend's house, listening to some music. He and I both played guitar (he was much better than me) and we were sitting around talking about guitarists and stuff. A friend of his brother was there, who was a very very good guitarist. He told us that we'd both be a lot better if we simply spent more time playing than listening to records.
It also reminds me of a story I heard about guys who apply to intern with Irvin Somgyi. If I remember the story correctly, he has them make a perfect cube out of some wood with simple hand tools. No power tools. That's an intense thing even with power tools, but with hand tools, that's an entirely different matter.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

[QUOTE=peterm] Do you guy realize some of our wifes do read the post in this forum?? What are you guys thinking about when posting something like this? Suicide??
Come on now....

[/QUOTE]

Or how about the local property tax appraiser/assessor?

How much did the shop cost me? Almost a marriage on a couple of occasions. "If you don't get out of there soon, we're leaving!"

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

I've been pretty much all hand tools for 3 years until I started teaching at Red Rocks this semester. Hand tools are much cheaper, if you don't mind working decent ones into pretty nice ones. My stanley #5 cost $30, and 15 of that was a flat shipping fee! I spent a few hours getting to know it, and it does good work for me now. The hand saws are quite ridiculous for resawing (done it twice and swore not to do it three times, go figure) so a bandsaw is first on my list to purchase. After that the only other *necessary* in my mind is a drill press, and a sub-necessary would be a belt sander. I'm cheap, but still, a decent shop, even going the absolute cheapest route, is pretty expensive.