Next Step Recommendations

[scamp]

Built my first guitar from a kit and now planning my next guitar build.
I would like to challenge myself with this next build and take it up a notch as I enjoy the learning experience.
Hence, I was thinking of building something more from scratch vs a kit.

Thinking of buying a good 14 inch bandsaw and a good router which would help a lot it seems and I'm sure I could use these tools for many other wood projects etc. Not sure, however, I want to get into purchasing expensive drum sanders, side bending machines etc. at this point.

Given that, I think I could probably do a lot with some cheaper tool solutions like a simple free form bending iron ( to hand bend the sides ), a good plane for thicknessing the front/back/sides etc.

Given I'm still very new to this, I would appreciate any input, thoughts, recommendations about how to proceed to the next level. I'm a bit concerned that doing some of these tasks by hand without direct supervision by an expert may be too much. I'm asking for input on this forum as I'm sure many of you more experienced in this have faced these issues before.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Scamp

[carld05]

A good 14" bandsaw is great for all sorts of things, like building the bending machine and resawing too if its opening is tall enough. Since I came at this from cabinet making and construction I had lots of the basics already so I'll let others give their recommendations.

[scamp]

A good 14" bandsaw is great for all sorts of things, like building the bending machine and resawing too if its opening is tall enough. Since I came at this from cabinet making and construction I had lots of the basics already so I'll let others give their recommendations.

Thanks. I have an opportunity to buy a 14 inch Grizzly G0555 for $500 (used). Seems like a nice machine but it has cast aluminum wheels which I hear is not recommended ( vs cast iron). Can resaw up to 6 inches but I think you can add a riser and get what you need for re-saving backs and tops. A little underpowered for this ( 1 HP ) but maybe enough. Not ideal but maybe good enough.

[MaineGeezer]

I found that after I built it, i used my homemade thickness sander far more than I ever expected to, and It's only 9" wide so I can't sand full-width tops or backs. I have to do each half separately. You can plane a top or back to thickness, but goIng the last few hundredths, from 0.125" to 0.100" ot 0.090" gets a bit nerve-wracking.

I would also like a bandsaw, for sure, but could never quite afford one.
A GOOD plane or two (or 3 or 4...) and a couple of GOOD chisels. You can get used Stanley/Bailey/Sargent/etc. planes and chisels for reasonable prices if you avoid people selling to collectors. Lee Valley sells a line of miniature planes that are cute as a bug's ear and work very well.
You can try hot pipe bending; I never got very good at it. You may also want to try a heat gun. The Wagner 750 is a good one. I've used mine for bending binding and purfling.
Have you thought about a binding machine? It makes life so much easier. Unfortunately, they tend to be expensive, although there are some designs available that aren't too outrageous. And It's possible to build one. I built a copy of the Fleishman machine (like John sells) and it turned out very wrll.

After having done free hand bending, and manual top thicknessing, and radiusibg and slotting a fingerboard, and cutting binding and purfiling grooves by hand with a gramil, I decided that I'd proved I could do it and I didn't need to do it again. For a reasonable price you can pay to get stuff like that done for you, or you can buy the equipment and do it all in a few minutes instead of several days. Your choice.
Although a guy I knew once said, "It's a hobby. It's *supposed* to take a long time."

[phavriluk]

A 14" bandsaw? What on earth for? Those things are huge, heavy, and expensive. The only use I could imagine for one is to resaw wood from billets. A whole lot of builders have spent decades building instruments without resawing anything.

OP, you said you've assembled one guitar kit. I think these are early days to be buying big-buck tools.

[scamp]

After having done free hand bending, and manual top thicknessing, and radiusibg and slotting a fingerboard, and cutting binding and purfiling grooves by hand with a gramil, I decided that I'd proved I could do it and I didn't need to do it again. For a reasonable price you can pay to get stuff like that done for you, or you can buy the equipment and do it all in a few minutes instead of several days. Your choice.
Although a guy I knew once said, "It's a hobby. It's *supposed* to take a long time."

Thanks for your thoughts. They were helpful. It seems like you really need to come to terms with what you like doing and don't like doing. Part of me wants to build as much from scratch to prove I can do it as well as learn from the experience but part of me just wants to focus more on putting my efforts into things that make the guitar more unique ( inlay design etc. ) vs just an imitation of a guitar off the shelf. I'm afraid that I could put a lot of effort and money into bending sides, thicknessing sides and backs etc and as you did just go back to buying this part of the build already done as it is relatively cheap and I'm not getting much out of it. Definitely food for thought.

[scamp]

A 14" bandsaw? What on earth for? Those things are huge, heavy, and expensive. The only use I could imagine for one is to resaw wood from billets. A whole lot of builders have spent decades building instruments without resawing anything.

OP, you said you've assembled one guitar kit. I think these are early days to be buying big-buck tools.

Thanks. After thinking about it I may be coming to the same conclusion. I suspect I can do most anything ( except re-sawing ) without a bandsaw.

[phavriluk]

I found my lowest-common-denominator 10" Rikon (Craftsman branded) bandsaw to be an immensely useful shop tool; it was inexpensive and it's easy to use and maintain, just no resawing. To paraphrase George Orwell, 'little bandsaw good, big bandsaw not-so-good'.

[Stray Feathers]

There are as many opinions as people, I guess. I'm a firm believer in scouting for used tools. It takes time, yes, but if you are diligent you can do well. I have an older Delta 14" bandsaw I bought for $400 CAD, with riser, fence and base (all of which cost extra). (I eventually replaced the fence with a Kreg). I cut 5 good tops from a $50 billet, and seven ukelele tops from a free billet, and also have milled a backyard sweet cherry for necks, and ukulele backs, so that's quite a saving towards paying for the bandsaw. I also found a Delta 18-36 thickness sander which is a wonder, also $400 CAD. And one of the best things is, you can sell this stuff when you're done with it, for nearer what you paid than if you buy new. And you can exchange favours; a luthier friend has given me some fine tonewood in exchange for doing some sanding. Better tools also allow you to make your own jigs etc, like moulds and a Fox-style bender, which I've done. I don't have a lot of space or money, but I've made it work. But you're smart to consider the thoughts of others; something will fit for you. Bruce W.

[scamp]

There are as many opinions as people, I guess. I'm a firm believer in scouting for used tools. It takes time, yes, but if you are diligent you can do well. I have an older Delta 14" bandsaw I bought for $400 CAD, with riser, fence and base (all of which cost extra). (I eventually replaced the fence with a Kreg). I cut 5 good tops from a $50 billet, and seven ukelele tops from a free billet, and also have milled a backyard sweet cherry for necks, and ukulele backs, so that's quite a saving towards paying for the bandsaw. I also found a Delta 18-36 thickness sander which is a wonder, also $400 CAD. And one of the best things is, you can sell this stuff when you're done with it, for nearer what you paid than if you buy new. And you can exchange favours; a luthier friend has given me some fine tonewood in exchange for doing some sanding. Better tools also allow you to make your own jigs etc, like moulds and a Fox-style bender, which I've done. I don't have a lot of space or money, but I've made it work. But you're smart to consider the thoughts of others; something will fit for you. Bruce W.

Thanks for the input. Seems like if you get a bandsaw it makes sense to either get a small inexpensive one for miscellaneous tasks that don’t require much precision or go big and make sure it is big enough to handle re-saw for back and tops. I definitely agree that second hand is the way to go if yo do buy a saw. Seems like a quality one can be sold for close to what you pay for it. Much to think about.