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The Proxxon table saw, it's properly scaled for guitar making.
I have a large table saw that I only use when needed and of course a band saw (10") for curves.
Everything else pretty much on the Proxxon (with their carbide blade).

I used to think 10" three wheeled bandsaw was enough... until I was dulling blades after 2 weeks of moderate use...

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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

Table saw....!!!
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

AH yes...a good workbench must be strong like bull and dumb like street car.

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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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@Todd Stock, Sound like you know a lot about hand saws. Not something I really know much about so I copied your post and am going to do some research. I do have some old saws that were my grandfathers that I have had sharpened but I can't use them for very long because of my shoulder but I do use them when I have a small job to do and it is quicker to grab a hand saw than it is to set up my table saw.



Those are words of wisdom... I have always stood by that.

My first shop teacher said about a table saw "Only raise the blade as deep as you want to cut yourself". I never forgot that and every time I set my saw up that is what I think about.

@David LaPlante


That is an interesting little saw. It appears it would be quite handy for a lot of things. The only thing I would question is the 3" blade's lifespan. But it would be great for braces, bridges and a host of other small parts. That is what scares me the most about my 10" saw is trying to feed small wood into it.

@the Padma,



How many fingers do you have left?

My go to grunt saw for rough work is a craftsman 12 in BS with 1/2in blade . For those who want a quicker faster handsaw Nothing beats the ECE or primus german bow saws in 28 ,20in, an 16in lengths from highland hardware , tradional ww. and a few other sources . They come in 9 pt for finer cuts and 5 pt for rip cuts . Easier to sharpen than english/american saws with a triangular file from HD regular for 5 pt. or x slim for the 9 pt

Why are they easier to sharpen, same western tooth configuration surely. Thinner blade?

The german ece /primus bow saw blades are made by putsch . A. the blade is thin ,so IMHO tracks better /faster than the traditional us/english saws. I have both, including the euro type bow saw. It/s easier to sharpen ,I/m guessing here as I/m not a machinest, because the few times I/ve had to sharpen the blade it was vy easy to do. Stays sharper for a long time. Blades are cheap and easily replaced. here in the usa. The best exponent of these saws is anthony guidice . who wrote a book singing the praises of these bow saws, as well as japanese saws. Hope this answers your question.

For me its my band saw, hand saw and table saw in that order.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Curves on a table saw aren't so hard...at least not coves. Not my pic but have done it plenty of times. Applying a cove moulding to a guitar, however, is something I would love to see SOMEONE ELSE attempt

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Doug

Don't let fear or common sense stop you from trying to build something

I did have the blade that ernie refers to - the 5 TPI Rip blade. I intended to make a large frame saw but the project never took off and I ended up giving the blade to someone. Apparently they cut a kerf of 1.2 mm.
You can also buy a Japanese style 'universal' blade for the ECE frame saw - cuts a 1 mm kerf but it is quite a bit more expensive.
There are also the Mujingfang Frame saws that are quite a bit smaller than the ECE - 430 mm's against the longer 600 mm's of the ECE. I've no experience of either saws. I do have the more common turn type saw, sometimes called a bow saw.

Thanks michael didn t know about the Chinese saw sounds like the 16in 9 pt bowsaw which is. A excellent saw for joints quicker than the traditional dovetail saw

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Michael .I encourage you to have a go at making your own bow/.frame saw .They are easy to make and the cost of the blade is cheap.I/ve made several of my own including the 5 pt one , but with a wider kerf to rip/x cut softwoods. The narrow kerf ones are for hdwd only . I don/t know who the suppliers are in UK or germany gunther dick ?? but alternately I made 2 for cutting curves one 16in using a recycled 1/4in carbon steel bandsaw blade. which works vy well, all the wood was recycled pine stile and oak handle. And another 3/8in by 28in blades are putsch, made from oak handles/poplar stile abt 3 -4 tpi cost was $5.Can be used as as a go to BS. cheers ernie.

Ha... And Padma said this was useless information...

Cheers,
Bob

I have used a frame saw to cut out parts for windsor chairs. It is a lot of work and you still need to dress the surface. The only places I can think of that a bow or frame saw would be helpful in guitars would be in cutting the length of the neck blank or the rough shape of top, back, and sides. The neck blank would be easier with a western or japanese ripsaw and the shapes would be just as easy with a compass saw or a coping saw.

If you are considering cutting back and sides, look at the pictures below - it is best down with a special saw and fixture and 2 people to ensure you are not wasting any of a potentially very valuable piece of wood

Also, I have a Marples bow saw New-In-Box and an unused Ulmia frame saw if any one wants to give it a shot

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/s ... 394654763/

Ed Minch
Stay warm

ed check your Pm am interested in the ULMIA

Ernie I have made a frame saw - the typical 12" turn saw:



Actually this was made because the saw that I bought around 1980 developed distorted limbs. It was very elegant, light in weight and very well made. It obviously had some age to it even when I acquired it. Around 10 years ago I decided to retire it and make myself a replacement. I made the members a little thicker than the original, from SA Boxwood that I had.
It didn't work all that well. I'd turned the handles myself and used threaded bolts for the blade hardware. That was fine except that the blade had a tendency to twist making cutting very difficult to control. It wasn't really the blade that was twisting but the whole blade/handle combination. Looking at my original old bow saw handles I noticed that the handle rods were actually tapered - going into tapered holes drilled into each of the limbs. That method clearly helped to lock the blade/handle combination whilst allowing some turning adjustment when needed. I decided to use the original handles complete with their tapered rods. I had a Violin reamer and surprisingly the taper was a very close match. I reamed the holes and the bow saw worked fine. The blade was bought as a spare, back in the days when you could buy replacement blades for these types of saw. I think I bought the very last two blades in the shop. I remember the guy saying that no one else had bought such a blade in the 10 years that he had worked there! That was back in around 1982. I've resharpened the blades many times but I think their working days are drawing to a close. I have some dull thin 1/4" kerf bandsaw blades that I can employ if I reshape the teeth. I'll also make an extended cross piece so that I can use a much longer 16" blade length. Again I have a thin kerf 1/2" bandsaw blade that I can employ. That will make it more suitable for longer rip or straight cross cuts.

Table saw for me! Great question! No matter how much something is discussed, there is always something to glean from it. Or somebody reading it for the first time.

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Nice one michael my 18in turning/bow saw is very simple and basic. It does the job cutting the heel curve ON a CL gtr. Very elegant bow saw. you made . I blew out a bi-metal BS blade so it has now been repurposed for that 18in bowsaw. Guess everyone must find their own tool path. that works for them.

Do those of you who have replied that your band saw is your go-to, do you think a 9" is big enough for steel string guitar making?

I've only used a large expensive band saw in school, and don't really know all that much about the different sizes. I'm worried that a 9" would be too small for making dreadnought sized guitars, but I don't know if that's true.


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Yes for acoustic building I think it would be okay. Now if you were cutting out electric bodies it may be a little underpowered but if you took it slow it would probably work....Mike

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Another day, another dollar.

I built a bunch of guitars with only a 9" saw but sure appreciated it when I upgraded to a 14" Rikon Deluxe.

These days the 9" is relegated with it's now 20 tpi blade to cutting bone and very small accent parts, heel caps, butt wedges, and once in a while my lunch too...

The 9" did struggle with brace billets but it can be done.

the blade for those 9" saws also goes dull in minutes...

_________________
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

Thanks guys. I don't own a band saw or a table saw at this point, and had seen 9"-10" band saws that were in a price range I could afford.


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Hi Justin,
My suggestion would be to find a used 12 inch craftsman two wheel bandsaw. The 80 inch blades are commonly available and with different tooth configurations for cutting wood, metal or plastics. You can even find sanding belts to fit them. The saws are pretty light weight (plastic covers) and could be mounted on a board if you need them to be a "table top" saw. Being a consumer grade Sears product there are a fair number of them around on the used market. Used prices around $50-100 in my area.
My first bandsaw was a three wheel Dunlap. It was a PITA to find blades and keep it tracking.