Official Luthiers Forum!

My workload at my job slowed down so its time to get back into the basement I cleaned out for a work space. I have done some woodworking back in high school so i have some experience but i could use assistance from the people using these tools on an everyday basis.

So far I have two drill presses so I don't need any more of those. I also have a random assortment of hand tools my grandfather left me. I need a band saw, router, and a few other hand tools so i can get started. I'm here for advice on what brands i should be shopping for. I do not have the means to get top of the line equipment but I do understand you get what you pay for, what brands give you the best bang for your buck? i have been researching and looking at a lot of items and brands and I am just curious to see what luthiers favor. or maybe you could recommend the perfect tools to get started on. my build focus will be solid body electrics building up to semi hollow and soon to follow full hollow electrics. I have put a lot of time and effort this winter into researching all that is electric guitar construction and also finding woodworking supply websites such as rockler, lmii, stew mac, among many others which i visit from day to day reading reviews and coming up with ideas. Buying these big ticket items is daunting and i would really appreciate your advice.

I chose the general guitar building forum mainly because i plan to build full hollows and it seems like for the most part the tools are universal from acoustics to electrics building aside from maybe a really good planner, drum sander, side bending tools, go bar decks, and radius dishes.... ok maybe i picked the wrong location. i am just hoping the electric builders check this forum more often than the acoustic builder check the electric forums haha.

Thanks,
mike

p.s. I got my hands on a one piece solid mahogany body blank that somehow got out of ovation guitars when they moved and my friend gave it to me for my first build. That I already have drawn up in CAD along with the next guitar after that.

I just got started building my drum sander this evening. I am using this design: http://sutherdyne.com/drumsander/
I used a 4" hole saw to cut the MDF discs. A little tip that I learned is to let the hole saw hang over the edge just enough to get the complete circle on the inside with no flat spot. Having the outside edge of the saw on the outer edge of the MDF gives the sawdust a place to go and eases cutting.

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Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from poor judgement.

Sorry, I just reread your post and it seems that you are not intersted in a drum sander. Still, there are lots of tools and jigs that you can make yourself by seaching this forum and YouTube. Chris Paulick has several great jig videos on YouTube.

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Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from poor judgement.

If on a limited budget sell the power tools you don/t want on craigslist or e- bay and invest in a good quality 14in or larger bandsaw. Which will get a lot of use . Be careful though most used bandsaws need more repairs and work than they are worth. If possible try to get a pre 70/s hvy duty cast iron bandsaw that will give many years of service . Many small power tools and woodworking tools , can be picked up at yard sales, garage sales , flea markets , estate sales, antique stores. It all depends which part of the us you are in. I never found many tools out west, but here in Mo. I have found good deals at yard sales , estate sales , an antique stores. Good luck

If your focus is electrics you cant go wrong with a good band saw. I have a 14" delta from Lowes that was $450 I think a few years ago. It is upgradable to a higher depth of cut with a kit from Delta so in the future if you get into making acoustics or sawing your own drop tops for electrics you'll be able to do it yourself. Plus, a bandsaw is nice to have for the hundreds of quick little cuts you'll be doing and its always standing there ready to do the job.

For acoustic guitars I use my table saw and thickness planer more than anything else. I fillet my boards on the table saw by cutting through both ends to the maximum depth then sawing the center portion with a hand saw. Then I take them to the planer to clean them up and thickness them.

For my first electric I used a jig-saw to cut the shape of the guitar body, you can get one of those cheap and start building until you get a chance to buy the more expensive tools. It will leave you sanding alot more than a nice bandsaw, but it will get the job done. Good luck!

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http://www.sixgunguitars.com

For the money, I think the Bosch Colt is a great little router. 1HP, soft start... I'm thinking they're not too expensive if you can find one used. Check the reviews, I think they score highly, if not no.1 on most.

You'll also need good scrapers, regardless of the type of guitar you're building.

If I were you, I'd try to get my hands on a table saw as well. You can get a good one for cheap if you buy used. The great thing about table saws is that if the bearing is good, they're all about set-up. (bring a blade with you when inspecting, in case there's none on the saw. Just try working the blade up and down and side to side and see if there's play there. There should be none). You can build carrier trays/fences for them and it will make your life way easier. Just cut the fret slots for one guitar by hand, and you'll quickly appreciate the speed and accuracy of a table saw. Which brings me to my next point.

I would also recommend getting a good fret kerf cutting blade. Shane from Highmountain has the best one, IMHO. It's .025 instead of the regular .023 and it makes fretting a bit easier and it reduced back-bow too. With a good carrier tray and a template, you can slot a FB perfectly in a matter of minutes, as apposed to doing a middling job in 20 times the amount of time.

Also, with a table saw, you can easily cut the taper on your finger board too, or cut the angle for a scarf joint, or just rip stock.

Food for thought. I hope this helps.

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