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I'm starting my first build today, even though I told myself not to, so I have all of my doohickeys ready. I have a dremel, a belt sander, chisels, and a hand saw. I looked through a good bunch of guitar building videos, and they all had the use of bandsaws in them. I don't have a bandsaw, but I do have an adjustable speed jigsaw, so would that be a decent alternative? If I need to cut some wood in half or do something out of the jigsaw's ability, I could just make a jig to hold it in place while I use my wimpy forearms to cut it in half.

Allen

I've built two without the use of a bandsaw. If you bought your wood from a luthier supplier, it should already be roughly the right size and ready to join and thickness. If, for the neck, you're doing a scarf joint and stacked heel, you won't need one for that either.

I do need the use of a bandsaw right now to try to resaw a plank of teak I have but this is the first time I've needed one.

What wood are you using? And which guitar making book are you using?

I'm using white oak for the front, sapele for the neck, and indian rosewood for back and sides. I'm using the Cumpiano book that so many people suggested I should use. I didn't buy any of these from a luthier supply store. The white oak was a tree that collapsed in our front yard, the sapele was "free firewood" from craigslist, and I got the indian rosewood from a lumber yard downtown.

Nice! But you may need a bandsaw after all. Depends on the measurements I suppose, I'm sure others will be able to advise. I'm not qualified.

Good luck with your build!
Nick

If you don't have access to a band saw, you might be able to find a cabinetmaker that will resaw it for a small fee.
You can hand saw the wood to closer dimensions and then use a good hand plane to bring it down to what you need, but you better get a really good, sharp saw. It's not for the faint of heart. Note that I have not done this for back and side woods on acoustic guitars, but I have done it for fretboard and veneers for an electric. If my experience with that is any indicator, I'd seriously look hard for that cabinetmaker.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Yeah, resawing by hand is difficult and risky, but it is possible. You can use a sharp rip saw, if you're practiced with one. A frame saw is what was used traditionally for resawing before bandsaws, but it's not that much easier to control in my experience.

I think it's very cool to use wood from your own tree, but white oak is a pretty unique choice for a soundboard, and you can purchase a basic spruce soundboard set for less than twenty bucks. Just something to consider.

Best of luck,

Dylan

I have built guitars without a bandsaw... the only tool I had was a laminate trimmer, a cordless drill, a jigsaw (a good one), and a drill press. However I couldn't resaw anything and had to buy commercial top/back/side woods. You can do scarf joints on a jigsaw, just be really patient because a jigsaw isn't made for cutting through more than 2" at the very most. It will drift a bit.

If you do wind up buying a bandsaw get at least 14" (you know that Delta cast iron or clones) because anything smaller requires special blades that dulls by the time you get the guide adjusted... I got myself a 18" and stopped worrying about blades breaking or going dull a long time ago... even carbon steel blades lasted me a pretty long time. Just remember a 10", 14" and 18" bandsaw takes up pretty much the same amount of floor space...

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