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Will this do all I need it to for building guitars? I see that the new ones like this go for $200, if this is sufficient, I'll grab it up.

Thanks

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No link or picture my friend

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Hi Jason,

Your YouTube playing is the bees knees! Nice!! Go check him out guys....

The subject says jointer, but as Rod says, there's no link or picture.

I'm not sure a jointer would be the first power tool I would get, if indeed that's what you are planning on doing here. I only use my jointer for a couple of operations in guitar making, both of which could be done at much less expense using a good tuned-up plane with a homemade shooting board on a bench. I use it for getting the joint down the middle of backs and soundboards perfect and for flattening the top surface of a neck prior to all other neck making operations. Oh, and sometimes I use it to flatten the back of a fingerboard prior to thicknessing it with my drum sander also, but that too could be done manually with a plane.

If I were you, I'd buy a bandsaw first, then a drill stand with a luthier's friend sanding thingy, then a drum sander, then, well the list is huge, but jointer would be way down my list. Do a search on the archives for "essential tool list" and things like that. There's tons of previous threads on the subject.

Cheers,
Dave F.

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Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"

I like Todd's list.... I sure love my jointer, and I could do without it for luthiery, but I'm glad I have it when the time comes to use it.

Greg

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Gwaltney Guitars

Sounds like a good list Todd has there but I would add dust collector right near the beginning.

http://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/tls/1673108213.html

My apologies.. don't know what happened. I went to bed right after I posted it.. looks like I should have went to bed first, LOL

I refer to Todd's tool list often, someone referred me to it a while back. My way of thinking was get as many tools for the money as I can right now, so that means inexpensive tools first. I've been on craigslist a lot lately and I'm looking at an older table-saw, drill press, a router table and a jointer. All of those together would cost me under $100. I may be doing it backwards, but I cant find an inexpensive jack plane or a small block plane. I know good planes aren't cheap. So maybe I'm going about it wrong. In your opinion then, for a guy with very limited funds (at least for right now) what few tools should I get to get me building.
Thanks!

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Good used hand planes are quite common on eBay.

Beds look rusty, not a good start.
To be honest, I have a similar 6" jointer bought new, and often this type has no adjustment to level the beds (to get it planing true), and is at best a rough tool, and no real use for lutherie.
Mine, 6", but similar type of planer, is not supposed to be adjustable according to the manual, but actually was after neccessity made me look inside it. Even then, beds are not perfectly flat, and that is a good quality one of its type (current cost abut $360). I only use it to more or less flatten fingerboard and neck stock to save time.

For machinery, see Todd's list, good suggestions with a dust collector.

Guitars have been buit for a longtime with hand tools.
One of the best, Ervin Somogyi, still only uses hand tools, saying he finds it just as quick.
Me, I would find it really hard to part with my bandsaw, drill press and routing stuff (for rosettes, binding ledges). The rest I could do with hand tools (if I had to!) and home-made stuff mostly.
It's good to buy quality handtools, but for example inexpensive planes can work well with some fine tuning (the plane I joint with and my trusty block plane are Footprint) and chisels, even if not the best, will do a good job if the back is flattened and you keep them sharp. Scrapers can be made, just learn to sharpen and use.

"A hundred bucks .. for an older table-saw, drill press, a router table and a jointer"
I'd think you would have to pay most of that for a decent drill press or useable bandsaw S/H, and the rest I don't think are necessities for starting lutherie.
I would encourage you to start small, work smarter.

Really nice pickin' by the way!!

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Don't waste your money on that old thing, jointers can be a bear to set up and get the knives right, and when they are off, they are almost useless and can be a source of great frustration. As others have said, you don't need it for lutherie, especially since a router table with an offset fence and a straight bit is a jointer. Shim the outfeed fence out, keeping it parallel to the infeed, use a top bearing bit, bearing will not touch the wood, just for set up, align the outfeed with the bearing and you have a jointer. Another trick is to mark the wood on opposite sides and keep the mark either up or down, then if the set up is off 90, the error cancels and you are on your way. Lay out both sticks the way you want them glued, put an x on the top of the left one, bottom of the right, run both x side up.
Rob

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I can assure you that this is false.

To the OP: if your budget is that limited, I suggest you find a junior college that has a shop and sign up for a class to gain access.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

I have something similar and it collects dust, I do better with a shooting board and plane. As stated above, a good bandsaw and for me my thickness sander are invaluable. You have one good idea looking for good used tools my thickness sander came from Detroit Craigs list and my band saw from the local paper.

By the way good picking on youtube, do you attend any of the Michigan Fingerstyle concerts WWW.fingerstyle.org

Fred

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My apologies for that error, I'm not sure where I thought I picked that up from...

Quoting Ervin Somogyi's own words- I have power tools for doing my work, of course, but I do an awful lot of my work with hand tools even this late in my career"

BTW - Sound advice on taking a class if possible.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Fred:
I've been to an Andy Mckee, and Antoine Dufour concert through them. I might be going to the Guitar Republic one in a couple weeks, and Andy McKee is coming back in July.. Fingerstyle.org is a great organization. Ty for the compliment!

Howard:
My budget is only that limited at the moment, this is a temporary situation and will soon be remedied. I'm only impatient, I just want to start doing something.. its hard going into my shop, seeing neck blanks and stuff just waiting to be used. Taking a class might be a possibility, but I would think that would be costly too..? Unless any of you local folks want to make an arrangement.. maybe make a few bucks? Not sure what the protocol is there though, so forgive me if I'm out of line on that point.

Ebay seems to have a lot of old Stanley planes ATM. Maybe that's where I'll start.

Thanks Folks!

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Can't speak for you in the USA, but here in the UK guitar making classes are rare (and usually 4-5 hours from where I live which I can't do due to work) and expensive. However, the value of learning to do things properly, efficiently and safely is great. I wish I could take classes, but the closest course to me is as I said a long drive and I am in a job which means I can get called in with a moments notice. The course though offers discounts if you provide the materials (as they charge more than you could get from a supplier) which is probably the same over the pond.

There is nothing like learning something from a professional, or a seasoned amateur, trust me I am doing it the hard way, which is doable, but be prepared to put in some serious hours, with some serious headaches, oh and though in some serious frustration .

Get a basic hand plane and learn how to sharpen - with a cheaper plane you will need to sharpen more often, probably- and plane by hand. It only takes a few minutes to do a neck blank, and that's about the only place I use my jointer in a typical guitar build.

My advice: Don't buy a bunch of those undersized junk power tools (and that would include a lot of the 'portable table saws' as well). Get a decent (used) drill press and perhaps a Wagner safe-T planer with your $100 and do the rest with hand tools for now.

Look on craigslist or similar for an older (8" or so) cast-iron saw - these often go for $25-50 and are good for 'luthierie' and don't take up your whole shop, especially if you take off the extension tables.
Cheers
John

http://cgi.ebay.com/ANTIQUE-STANLEY-NO- ... 20b02f6357

How does this look to you guys.. Not sure what to look for.. what to avoid, what years are best or how to even tell.


and this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/wood-plane-tool-STA ... 2eac206414

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Lots of plane info (esp Stanley) is at:
http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan0a.html

If you search here at OLF you will get many recommendations (often conflicting, some quite expensive) on what plane(s) to buy. You could use a decent block plane for just about any guitar job, though it's always nice to have a drawer-full of sharp planes.

If buying at eBay, be sure to take the 'risk factor' as well as shipping costs into account.
Use the eBay Advanced Search to search on completed auctions to get an idea of the 'going rate'.
Sometimes a 'working' tool (rather than 'collectible') from a used tool dealer might be a better bet.

Cheers
John

Community colleges/ junior colleges usually are free. I'm not talking about a guitar making class. The idea is to sign up for any old woodworking class in order to get access to the machines. Tell the instructor what you are there for; they usually are very supportive. You can do the hand work at home.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Jason,

Those would both be good planes to start with. They would likely need some tuning, but you'd have two very decent tools. I use my 60 1/2 and my #5 the most. My 65 is another favorite. Generally it's best to look for the older ones, as they often have heavier, more accurate castings and have better steel in the irons (blades). Plus, the wood knobs and totes are Brazilian rosewood.

Pat

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I missed out on the planes.. my ebay usage skills are a bit rusty. There are a bunch on there tho.. i doubt I'll have trouble finding similar ones having seen a bunch on there already. I did find this on craigslist though, do you think this will be big enough for lutherie for a while at least? I don't plan on cutting out my own bs sets or anything right now.
http://www.dbkeighley.co.uk/masters/delta28185.htm

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Woodnet forums are a safer bet for used planes, I think, than ebay. A lot of those might be more well-tuned and you've typically got more knowledgeable sellers. Some will even offer up fully tuned planes. Higher price, but less chance of a dud.

Also you don't need that many different hand planes for lutherie. A good #5 jack plane and a small block plane will give you lots and lots of utility.

I think the most economical way to acquire tools is to buy them as the need arises. Otherwise, you'll end up spending a lot of time/effort/money/space on tools you don't actually need.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

I process quite a bit of rough and I mean rough wood, so definitely love my jointer (and bandsaw) for getting a flat plane to work from.