www.KitGuitarsForum.com

Hello,

I am new to Lutherie and have tons of questions. The forum doesn't seem to have many grouped sections. I have spoken with John and have decided that I would really like to build a J40 for my son. I have access to a wood shop and was wondering what would be a good list of must have Jigs and Tools for my build. The wood shop is a few miles away but I would like to do a lot of the work at home. Any help with a list of must have tools would be awesome. Thank you in advance.

you never seem to have enough clamps.
if you have to be more confined a dremel tool
go bar deck they do break down
I am a big fan of the radius disks for setting up geometry
small clamps for doing kerfed lining.

to name a few
also a decent nut file set
pillar file
mill file smooth cut

Thanks John. I was somewhat in the wrong area when I said that the forum doesn't have many groupings, it does.

Clamps a plenty for sure.

It seems my wood shop access is no longer.

John,
What is the possibility of getting your YouTube videos set up in a step by step process for the kit build? I am having trouble navigating them. That would be awesome and very helpful! Thank you!

In no particular order, things that occur to me:

A couple of really good chisels...and a way to sharpen them so they will shave hair off your arm. Say, 1/8", 3/8". 1/2", 5/8". If you are a minimalist, you could probably almost get by with just the 3/8".

A really good small block plane and a jack plane...and a way to sharpen them.

More clamps than you would believe.

A small backsaw or dovetail saw.

An 18" wide thickness sander is REALLY nice. I use a friend's when I need it. I built myself a 9" wide thickness sander which I find I use a lot, but it can't handle a glued-up top or back and that is what one wants to be able to do.

A table saw is nice to have. I have an old 8" table saw that serves the purpose, mostly.

A drill press.

A band saw is really nice. If one or the other, I'd probably get a band saw before a table saw. Except I have a table saw and no band saw.

A compact router is handy.

A straightedge about 3' long.

A small square.

A steel ruler.



Undoubtedly, more stuff. John, or somebody, mentioned a go-bar deck and radius dishes. You'll also want a body mold for the guitar design you're building.

Thank you very much MG. I have been looking at band saws and drill presses. I am somewhat of a minimalist, mostly because of funding (wife). Lol

Like most projects - it depends

If you are only building one, then you don't need much beyond a few hand tools, with a band saw and a drill press being nice to have. The more you build, the more you appreciate various jigs and tools. For one, you don't need a radius dish, just a radius beam, and you don't need a go-bar deck, just some clamps against that same radius beam. A plane, a chisel, a square, and a couple of small jigs, and off you go.

It is amazing living at the time of the inner-web - there is so much out there. There are even several people who build on their kitchen table with hand tools only - always instructive.

Good luck

Ed

John has put a great series of videos on YouTube that cover just about every aspect of building a guitar. They can give you a good idea of exactly what is involved.

ruby@magpage.com wrote:Like most projects - it depends

If you are only building one, then you don't need much beyond a few hand tools, with a band saw and a drill press being nice to have. The more you build, the more you appreciate various jigs and tools. For one, you don't need a radius dish, just a radius beam, and you don't need a go-bar deck, just some clamps against that same radius beam. A plane, a chisel, a square, and a couple of small jigs, and off you go.

It is amazing living at the time of the inner-web - there is so much out there. There are even several people who build on their kitchen table with hand tools only - always instructive.

Good luck

Ed

Thank you Ed. I may build several and I want to make my builds very high quality. I have the skills just limited resources.

MaineGeezer wrote:John has put a great series of videos on YouTube that cover just about every aspect of building a guitar. They can give you a good idea of exactly what is involved.

MG, I have watched several of Johns videos, they just aren't organized in a step by step process. It's difficult to spend an hour+ searching in between steps because you don't know the title of the next step.

Thank you for the replies fellas, I greatly appreciate your help.

the best is to use the blues creek guitar kit link
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... itars+kits

this link will take you to the kit section on you tube

tippie53 wrote:the best is to use the blues creek guitar kit link
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... itars+kits

this link will take you to the kit section on you tube

Thank you John, that is extremely helpful. And thank you for your kindness!