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Due to my shop space, I don't think I can keep any stationary tools at all. For sawing I can either use a jig saw, or saw by hand (and take my wood to somewhere with a table saw for material processing) but the problem lies with drilling. I know a drill press is very versatile and its hard to drill a straight hole with a hand drill. I know instruments were built before they had these things so is there any tip on drilling holes such as tuner holes with a hand drill? Or do you think there's any benefit in getting a small 8" drill press (because it would be too small for drilling bridges on electrics)

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I used all hand tools on mine and it turned out ok (so far, nearing completion)
For drilling, use a jig of some kind. I made one myself for the tuner holes, but I also freehanded some holes too. They didn't turn out super amazingly perfect, but its not too shabby.

I suppose I could get an 8" drill press and make drill jigs with that right?

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

You can purchase some drill jigs a lot cheaper than the entire drill press. Or, you could borrow or rent time on someone elses drill press.

I'll see what works... right now I found a old (slightly rusted) drill press (looks to be about 14" swing) that someone is selling for under 100 dollars US. I think it might not be such a bad deal... if that don't work out I might just get a drill guide.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I know that, I did a lot of work that required more tools using a drill press and a few attachments. The only issue is that the drill press weights a ton (ones that have enough size for most serious jobs that is), maybe not as much as a band saw or other tools but yea I got rid of my other drill press and it was probably the biggest mistake in my life. In defense of that though I got that drill press for free and it was badly rusted and I had only managed to restore it to its basic functionality... the table and its mechanism rusted shut.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I never had any stationary tools either until recently where I was at wits end by cutting everything by hand. I just bought a fairly decent second hand bandsaw and it saves so much time on silly things like cutting out the top and back. I found my jig saw too powerful to cut out my top. I tried it and it kicked out, the force of it split the top quick badly.

I don't understand your shop situation.

In another thread http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=27866 , you are talking about a (guitar-sized?) buffing wheel setup.

A drill press is more useful than a buffing wheel, IMO.

Also, can't you get inexpensive power tools in Taiwan? Until a few years ago, Taiwan was the source of all the cheaper power tools in Canada. It would be ironic (but not unusual) if they were all shipped out of the country.


John

Yes some tools are cheaper (relatively) like for example we can typically get air compressors at HF price but the quality are usually better, however it takes some work in tracking it down and it can be a daunting task if you are unfamiliar with the location or doesn't speak Chinese. Also, some (or most?) factories in Taiwan are either export-only business, where they only make products for export and won't sell it in Taiwan, or actually charges more for their products in the domestic market than the export market... some computer companies are guilty of this (like laptops). The best things however aren't found in the most obvious places...

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

They still have a bit of power tools... like the jig they use for drilling holes. I think some things are best done by hand though, like shaping the neck or bridge and planing. I don't see a particularly need for a bandsaw although it would be nice. Problem is band saws costs much more than a drill press, and while it's nice to have many of the things that requires a bandsaw could be done with a jigsaw or by hand. For resaws I would maybe get those japanese frame saws and another friend to help.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I think you just need a power drill and a drill stand to solve your problem of space and cost.
Or you can make a drill stand.

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Sen CL Goh
http://senguitar.blogspot.com

Well, I am getting a drill press... however probably nothing more than that because I need to be able to move it to another continent when the time comes... then I gotta worry about the stupid 50/60Hz thing (I can probably remove the motor and get new ones for the right voltage/frequency though). In case you were wondering about getting power tools in Europe or elsewhere... no thanks, they are more likely to be bloody expensive.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I still don't have a drill press. While I can see it would be handy perhaps in some cases, like cutting rosette channels for example, I don't find it necessary. What I do when I need to drill a very straight hole is use a spotter, my girlfriend. It works great. The other trick is to use the level from a tri-square. Place the wood in a vice and level it up with the bubble. Then use the tri-square right up against the spinning drill bit as you go in to sight a straight line. I'd never do this for precise cuts like classical tuner holes but then, there are jigs for that.

As a newbie to both wood working and guitar building( Won't call luthiery what I m doing on the first one) I bought a small band saw as my first stationary.Mainly cuz I got a hell of a deal(60$) for an almost new ryobi.Again I was just a tad too unsteady and the jigsaw just a tad too "robust". Do they have any facilities that sell used there? I ve seen good buys at pawnbrokers and thrift type stores.

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Done so much with so little for so long
Can now do anything with nothing

I built a number of instruments with nothing more than a 12" drill press and a laminant trimmer. No huge investment in tools, and it covers a lot of ground because you can use the trimmer to rout truss rod slots, classical peghead slots, binding ledges, endgrafts, back inlays, rosettes and so forth. The drill press is indispensable for drilling tuner and bridge pin holes. I'll add that an understanding girlfriend tolerant of sawdust on the sheets is also quite useful.