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Hello all I have a few questions I hope a few you could provide answers to...

Binding
I have been planning 4 designs for my first four builds. One thing that they will all have in common due to my distaste for any form of plastic on my guitars, is wood bindings. But I would still like to use a white binding and I am thinking quilted maple would look awesome on several of my designs. But I'm not sure how difficult a material it is to use, especially for a novice like myself.

Inlay
Several Asian companies offer MOP and Abalone inlay much much cheaper than I have found in browsing elsewhere. I'm just wondering if the quality is reliable and consistent.

#1 Good Deal? (I would build copies later)
http://cgi.ebay.com/Martin-guitar-Luthi ... 19ba73db90

#2 Good Deal?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT

#1 You can build those for 1/2 the price.

#2 i know nothng about these specic planes burt if they are well maufactured and have good quaility steel knifes then it looks like usfull planes. That ssaid the old addage youget what you pay for is always true when dealling with planes. Typically a great price means poor quaility or that you will need to invest time, labor and material into making the planes rready to work.

Joey,

Maple is great for bindings. I'd probably try to use a flamed figure rather than a quilt. It stands out nicely on a detail the size of a binding strip.

Build your own forms for much less money. Buy a plan you want to build a form for, rather than the form, and build up a set of body outline and bracing templates, and forms, from your plan. The Stewart-MacDonald Dread plan is good, and there are others.

_________________
Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Holly also makes a great light wood binding. Kim is right . Don't use quilted figure. The grain runout will deal you fits when scarping flush plus you reall wont have a wide enough section to get much quilt affect showing anyway

Joey-
I don't want to curb your enthusiasm, but I get a sense of déjà vu reading your post. 'Been there, done that' as they say nowadays, and for years I had a box of unused parts for guitar projects to prove it.
My advice is to get your first build done before you get too involved with the fine detail planning for later builds. You will learn a lot of things on the first that will change your ideas about #2,3,4, and on. Maybe you will find that you hate-or love- working with inlay and MOP, bending difficult woods, working with cheap- or expensive- materials, etc....
All this is not to say that (like most of us) you can't be indulging your 'desire to accumulate stuff' as you work on that first guitar.
You are gonna love this hobby! Welcome!

Cheers
John

John makes a really great point. Build one, use the minimum amount of "bling", and learn the process. Most things, that aren't wood, are harder to work than wood, or present difficult challenges that require extra effort. Learning who the reliable suppliers are, is also a valuable learning experience. I know I ordered some bone nuts and saddles from a supplier in VietNam, and I still have them all. They look clean and fine, but the stuff is really soft, and now, as I continue building, I don't like the look of the highly bleached bone. As you are building your first, there's nothing wrong with contemplating your next build or two, and if you see a bargain set of wood or something, you might buy it and hold for the future, but I wouldn't stock up on a bunch of little stuff that's easy to get.

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Hi Joey, Welcome to the addiction

As for the maple - take the other guys advice for what type, but for bending it, you can bend it on a hot iron or pipe easily IF you use a supportive bending strip - I use a worn out hacksaw blade to help ease breaking pressure. It works just fine.

As for the planes on Ebay - DONT BUT MADE IN CHINA PLANES unless you want to spend HOURS tuning them up so they work. You will most definitely be more pleased with restoring Pre WW2 era Stanley planes or buying new ones from the sponsors here or Veritas and Lie Nielson.

It sounds like you are interested in building multiple guitars - You don't want to kick yourself for cheep tools on every build.

Those eBay planes look more like curved bottom planes you'd use for carving a violin or archtop soundboard/back anyway.
There are lots of threads here and on the 'other' guitar building forums about planes - more opinions than you can 'shake a stick at', as they say.
A couple of good planes will be enough to build flat-top acoustics. I usually reach for the LeeValley/Veritas 'Apron plane' for most jobs. It would be a good start for your collection.
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=46791&cat=1,230,41182,41189

Cheers
John

What John said......

Good advice all around.

I'm not really worried about accumulating wood. I don't spend very much on B & S sets and I have my own supply of Adirondack tops in my parents back yard. I already know I will love building guitars for a couple reasons. First being I am an artist (oil painter), second being I am a musician and I have always wanted to build my own guitars since I was a kid. Lastly I have worked with wood before and I have always enjoyed it.

When I got here I started buying several guitars since I like to play in multiple alternate tunings and I also just like having a bunch of guitars around. I have sold a bunch of them to other soldiers because there is no other source for guitars here unless you wait a month for one to arrive in the mail, but then you risk heat damage. I shipped all of mine in the winter. Selling them also gave me an excuse to upgrade. Last week I had 9 guitars in my CHU. But today I am down to 7. I miss those other 2 but I'm getting off track.

Anyways, one thing I have always wanted is a fan fret guitar. And I was seriously considering spending the $5,000.00 to get one. But then it dawned on me...Most of the tools that I would need that I don't have in order to build guitars would cost about that much. Plus I could stop buying guitars and start building my own (gotta love that rationale, now I just need a small factory and a lumber yard!!!). Anyways, my eventual goal is to build a fan fret guitar and I fully intend to accomplish that goal.

My build plan is simple. Like you say, build one and finish it first without inlay or any of the bling. I plan on skipping the rosette as well and just building my first few in this way to get the process down before I start decorating. I don't plan on doing much decorating anyways. Just simple designs from quality materials that bring out the best in each other, like an Ebony fretboard and Block MOP inlay. I'm skipping the tree of life up the neck. But I have been looking around for sources anyways, so that when I am ready to buy, I can just buy and know that I am buying from a reliable, quality source. Even when I do buy inlay ect. I am still going to be mostly concerned with sound, similar to the build philosophy of Seagull Guitars, although they are obviously mass produced. I am extremely patient when it comes to my craftsmanship and very perfectionist. One thing I have never lacked in terms of my creative work, is follow through. Just as an example, I spent about 4 months painting this 11x17 Jan Van Eyck study...


That being said, I am going to hold off on the power tools until I finish a few builds. In the meantime I can use the tools on base once I get back home. But I still need the basic hand tools and such in order to build the first few. I just have no idea where to get some of this stuff and what is considered normal pricing. I don't want to have to run back and forth from the hardware store once I get started. Most of all, I don't want to overpay.

thanks, those just look nice. But they sure aren't cheap!!! What about carving the neck though?

I have a different perspective on one of the points made. True that you'll make some course changes, as you learn from the first, and second, and third guitar. And getting through the process is really the most important goal. You'll learn so much from the early ones, that incremental improvement, and accelerating that improvement is really the challenge. That's where I am - only on #5 - and learning faster is my goal.

But I don't agree with the "above all, keep it simple" adage. I think that really depends on your personality and what it takes to keep you jazzed about the process. I think it's useful to add as much "bling" on the first and second guitar as you want, if it helps you to get through the process. Inlay is hard to do well, and practice is the only way to do it. So why defer learning about one more process until later guitars? If you're first guitar has evidence of the learning process, in fit, finish, design, and execution of "bling" as well, I say no harm done. I know that if I'd stayed with a pure copy of a very simple guitar on my first, I don't think I'd have gotten it done. I got a certain amount of payback from being creative on some things that gave me the energy to get through it.

you may want to start by picking up the Cumpiano book. This will let you know what tools you need. It is far less that $5000 in tools to build a guitar. Most of it can be done with hand tools, just like Martin did and Torres.

_________________
It's this new idea from recent decades that everyone gets a participation award. - MUX

For carving necks, a Nicholson (#49 or #50) rasp is one of the best tools. A small block plane (like that LV apron plane) is handy for keeping things straight. And, if you have a drill press, a Safe-T planer is a very useful tool which among many things can be used to thickness the neck and headstock.
You don't need a bunch of spokeshaves and curved bottom planes for making necks- it's actually a fairly easy process of establishing a couple of cross-sections (1st and 9/10th fret) and then joining them up with straight lines.

Cheers
John

Actually $197 for 7 planes (if well tuned and good steel) would be pretty dang cheap! Less than $30 a plane. That is about half the price of A new Slone flat bottom 25mm body with 8mm blade ($60 for one). A Slone 47mm body with 18mm blade will cost you over $70. I know $197 is a wad of dollar bills but 7 planes for $197. that told me right off the bat that they are not top notch and will likely need some work and have softer high carbon steel blades.

Generally you get what you pay for these days, which is why I didn't order those planes for $197. However, there is an exception...Ebay. I don't mind putting a little work into sharpening planes. But as you say, I want higher quality steel. I've found several old American made planes that could use a couple rounds with some steel wool, an air compressor and a whetstone or two. Plus I like the look of the old ones better.

What is the name of the plane with the rabbit ears that you can grab with two hands? I'm looking for some deals on "vintage" used American made tools. Anyone gone this route?