Official Luthiers Forum!

I hope to be retired completely within 7 months. As such I am trying to make sure I have the tools I need to build guitars. have been a wood carver for 30 plus years but have never built a guitar. I have the following power tools: band saw, drum sander 16x32, belt sander, hand drills, palm sander, portable circular saw, and router. I don't know if I need more power tools or not but if you think I do please let me know. I'm thinking a drill press may be needed but don't know for sure.

As for hand tools I have a number 6 surfacing plane, a low angle block plane, scrapers, many carving gauges, an accurate 24 inch straight edge, fractional calipers, 3 and 6 inch squares accurate to .001, an LMI tool to make the cut outs for the rosette, straight chisels and skew chisels. I know I will need files for doing the nut and bits with bearing to do the purfling, but I am sure there are many other tools I need and just don't know yet what they are.

Therefore, I would appreciate folks suggesting what additional tools I need, power or hand, so I can get started with the right tools and not end up buying things I don't need and missing what I do need.

Thank you for your suggestions,
Chuck

Congrats on your looming retirement!

You can build a guitar with the tools you have, if you're willing to buy certain parts that are pre-machined. For example, you'll either need to be your fret boards pre-slotted or buy some tools that will allow you to cut fret slots.

I would suggest that you pick up a book like the Cumpiano book. You'll get a good sense of what tools you want to invest in from that. You can build a guitar with the tools you already have. But if you're going to build more than one, you'll certainly be buying more tools.

Andy Birko made a nice list of the tasks/tools that was so nice that it should be mentioned. It's here:

viewtopic.php?p=483054#p483054

cheers

There are a lot of ways to do everything. Andy's list is about right. Sounds like you're mostly set. I wouldn't worry about getting things you might need in the future. Instead get them as you need them. There are a ton of videos on youtube that walk you through most of the steps. You can see lots of tools and options there.

Since you're here, I assume your main interest is acoustic guitars? Steel strings?

Looking at your tools, some things to start shopping for or building include

1 Neck shaping - rasps and or spoke shave
2 Side bending - bending machine or bending iron
3 Clamping kerfed linings - binder clips usually work well
4 radius dishes for profiling the sides and clamping the braces - though there are alternatives in both process and design
5 Binding channel - there are a lot of ways to do that. Start looking into them so you know what you want when you get there.
6 Patience
7 Little planes like those made by Steven Booth or if you can't get those, the Ibex - not needed but make brace shaving so much easier.
8 If you're looking for an excuse to buy more power tools, I keep wanting a big edge sander. Maybe you need one too.
9 Dust collection - don't skimp here.
10 Certainly not required for guitars, but I can't do anything without firing up the tablesaw once or twice. They make cutting fret slots easy, but there are perfectly good hand tool jigs that work well too.
11 I find good quality nut slotting files are shockingly expensive and totally worth it.
12 Safety goggles.
13 Go bar deck and bars - very useful

Drill press - I use it some for guitars, but they're just so useful all the time, everyone should have one. Preferably with a better chuck than I have.

Welcome to the hobby. Lots of help here for the asking.

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Mike Lindstrom

Looking at what you have to say I have to add that I have the following already:
a side bender than I have already built
Jet dust collection system
Safety glasses
Spoke shave
Inner and outer molds for L-00 that I have built (I know that is probably not the correct terms but as I said I am just learning)
I also have a 6 inch planer

I also have the Cumpiano Natelson book Guitarmaking Tradition and Technology. I will look at the tools they recommend and also will add to the list the information from the other posts above.

How do you use a table saw for making the fretboard? Wouldn't the kerf be way to wide for the fret wire or is it used to cut the sides to the right dimensions ?

Any other suggestions?

I am planning on building a steel string L-00 as my first guitar.

Thanks for the responses,
Chuck

There are special thin blades for fretboard slotting. Sounds like you're in good shape. Now just start hoarding wood.

Oh! What about humidity control? Not absolutely needed, but sure helps avoid problems.

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Mike Lindstrom

To some degree, the tools you need depend on your building technique.
What I mean is there are usually several techniques for any task, and some of those techniques are tool dependent.
Go with what you have until you need something better, you'll know when you need something better.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

What hand and power tools do I need?

All of em!

Sorry, couldnt resist.
The many unique and specialized jigs, try making your own.
B

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My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

I live in the Northwest close to Seattle so my humidity is frequently around 45-50 percent in the house all winter. I can leave out a guitar or two sitting on a stand, no kids no dogs no cats, and not have to worry about cracks or problems with splitting. At least the rain is good for something.
Chuck

Got enough clamps?

Whatever answer you just gave - the fact is that you can never have enough clamps.

But you do have a lot of great stuff, so just jump in and make a guitar!

cheers

Mark

There's two ways to identify a luthier.
1. They don't have enough wood.
2. They don't have enough clamps.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

A drill press is awfully useful for the headstock tuner holes, and drilling the pin holes for the bridge.

A spokeshave for carving the neck is something I couldn't do without.

And +1, you can't have too many clamps...

A precision straight edge comes in handy for fretboard work.
I could not do without my nut slot files.
A loving wife that lets you commandeer the entire garage is essential.

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

Were I live, that garage is useful for guitar making for about 4 months in the summer - the rest of the year it is good for monkeys with brass cojones....

How True!!!

Chisel or two (or more) I assume you have some

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