Official Luthiers Forum!

Over the years my shop has become home to a bunch of tools that never appear on anybody's shop list. I think many of you have these in your shop but don't notice them anymore because they were so cheap and you probably borrowed them and never returned them. Here are some of the items in my shop.

• Measuring cups and spoons
• waxed paper
• plastic drinking straws
• bamboo skewers
• amber pill bottles
• plastic peanut butter jars
• aluminum foil
• stapler
• sharpie
• rubber bands
• candy thermometer
• post-it notes
• old credit cards

What kind of unexpected tools do you all have?
Mike Mahar38761.7210185185

butter tub lids and ballons for sound hole covers, the lids are also good for glue and epoxy mixing
assortment of hard wood dowels and square shapes
Old linen
paper towels
hardwood or wood inpregnated resin door case shimms (I use a lot of these)
Oh and don't forget Beer it is a good source of urea MichaelP38761.7286689815

Hey, good topic! My list includes:

Erasers
salt and pepper shakers
sharp scissors
all kinds of tape
tap and die set
.5mm mechanical pencils (consistant lines)
dental pic
radio/cd player
jeweler's loupe (10x magnification)
bright light on a swivel arm

John

Benchrest rifle forearm rest(leather bag full of shot).
Electricians step drill 1/8" to 1/2" in 12 steps all on the same drill bit.
15 amp variac 0-120 vac at 15 amps-great for temp control on sidebenders.

to-go Salsa cups from the local taqueria
My wife's hijacked Ipod
brad nail-gun

Stir sticks from Starbuck's
Salsa cups from Maui Taco
Cake frosting spatula from my wife's high-school home-ec days! (She hasn't missed it yet, and I needed to remove a back!).
Life-sized cardboard stand-up of Homer Simpson, my ever-watchful quality control guy!

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Oh, and about a thousand hotel key-cards...the only "perk" left in the airline business!

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

the most used tool in my shop is my pocket knife. . .

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Cheers,

Frank Ford

FRETS.COM
HomeShopTech
FRETS.NET

Tons of toothpicks.
Rubber spatulas (great for mixing epoxy).
Rubber o-ring removing picks (like dental picks but heftier. Leftover from my car-parts-dealer days.)
Plastic boxes from fishing tackle boxes- movable dividers, snap closures on the lids- best thing around for organizing small parts. Replaced all my egg cartons.
Anything Frank Ford ever mentioned.   

[QUOTE=Cogges]Anything Frank Ford ever mentioned.    [/QUOTE]

Now ain't that the truth.

Thanks Frank for all that you do and have done for the rest of us.

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"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

Not an unusual item, but unusual quantity: a box of 500 sharpened
pencils. I, by George, am not going to search for 15 minutes looking for
where I left that dang pencil. Once you get enough out of the box,
they're laying just about everywhere you'd need one!

I've also got...

Mason jars
Baling wire
kite string
wire coat hangers
kitchen scissors
poster board
scientific calculator
whittlin' knife

...and several of the items already listed.ecklesweb38761.8585648148

Slight hijack- so true with Frank F. When I was working on the pickguard cracks in my D-12-28 1976 he took the time to help me by sending a rubbing of his D-28 pickguard caul so that I had a good start at the brace clearances. Heck, I'm a nobody and he cared enough to take that time and effort. As for this forum, I have the genuine feeling that any one of you would have done the same had I asked.

Oh, yes- snap lid plastic bottles for diabetic testing strips(one-handed open and close) and flat gunsmith's scrapers from Brownell's-round,flat angled and "hex"-they are about 7 inches long and are double ended-control like a single edge razor blade.I'll look around for other crossover stuff.

   I always have a load of elastic ponytail bands hanging on any of several hooks along the edges of my main benches. They are very strong, fabric covered so they don't mark a finish at all and can be doubled to provide a tighter grip if it's needed. I use them instead of rubber bands....and my daughter never runs out since she knows shae can always sneak a few without me noticing.

Regards,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Gallagher

single-edge razor blades
dental scraper and pick tools
magnifying glass when I turned 50
toothpicks
burlap
posterboard for quick templates
small flashlight
"natural" light bulbs for the gooseneck lamp over the bench

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Lots of good sugestions here and I already use many of them.

Heat gun - comes in handy for drying anything with water in it.

Josh

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Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
http://www.canadianluthiersupply.com
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House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
http://www.houseguitars.com

rawhide mallets-2 sizes-1 1/2" &2" head dia.-$40.00 Dozuki,replacable blade type, LMI's is close to .023 kerf-sheets of 1/4 and 3/8 plexi/acrylic and same in phenolic-industrial strength double stick tape- Mario's and Hoffman's and Matsushita's sites on my desktop- and OT?- My 4 year old springer/sheepdog mix and my eight week old longhaired chihuahua pup(see Mario and Kathy's sites for their shop foremen/women)PC And remote speaker to my blues collection on the 400 disc player--Robert Johnson, Muddy,B.B.,EC,Buddy Guy,Keb Mo,Mem Shannon,John Hurt,John How's demo,SRV,Dr. John, Bonnie Raitt, The Band: ad infinitum-the best inspiration there is and a reminder of just "How dang good I got it, 'least fo today"-And, finally a very good 0-1" vernier(.0001) micrometer and the best feeler gauges $ can buy.Oh heck- transfer punches 3/32 to 5/8- and I live by my pocket knife too. I was raised in a generation in which every young man of practical value and good upbringin" carried one and knew how to keep it scary sharp(a crazy hunting buddy and I used that phrase over 30 years ago)on a "stone" stone-for the best folding carving knife you can own go to "Tools for working Wood" and buy the OAR folder-D2 my all time favorite knife blade steel-you can feel that it is worth every penny of the price and if you respect it it will never need more than a good diamond steel for honing.Miketobey38762.0086458333

The old electric skillet that`s always in the way under the counter for quick steam source, clip type clothes pins, candy thermometer, lances for checking blood sugar (they make excellent splinter diggers!), the pc that was going to the trash and needed some work, the old telephone. Oh yeah, distilled and bottled water.

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Give me 50 cents worth of regular.
Check my oil too, if you don`t mind,,,

Wife: the extra pair of hands often comes in handy!

Colin

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

Hmmm...let's see.

- drinking straws (glue cleanup/epoxy placement)
- scalpel and box of blades (upside to being a med student)
- latex gloves
- various syringes/needles
- Large roll of drawing paper
- gel pens (marking dark woods)

It was Frank Ford's use of salad tongs in another thread that got me thinking about all the non-traditional tools I have in my shop. Thanks Frank for thinking outside the box.

Here are some other items that I didn't mention in the first post.

Double sided carpet tape. - I use this all the time to clamp things together such as when I cut out patterns.

Aluminum tape - I used this to line my Fox bender back when I used light bulbs and found that I use it for all sorts of things.

Epoxy putty. - I use this to make form fitting cauls and as a wood filler such as when I have to move the holes for my bolt on neck.

cork sheet - I use this on my jigs at the points where they may come into contact with the guitar.

Plastic drafting triangles - for layout and whenever you need a light weight, accurate square.

Drafting eraser shield - for fretwork. It fits right over the fret and keeps the file from marring the fingerboard.

(Yes, I'm an architect (this is actually a pretty good portrait of me).)

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

rope light
nitrile gloves
magnifier
respirator
pippettes (group buy?)
plastic apple juice jars, baby juice jars

optivisor

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

my wife ( she helped me a couple of days ago gluing laminate bindings on a 69 D-28) and in NYC we have Metrocards. Thin non-compressible plastic which can make shims etc... they are free as people just drop them on the floor in the subway system. In NY we used to use tokens, way too thick for guitar repair
Love this Macguyver type thread!
Evan

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