Great list if you have a big wallet and somewhere to put the machines ... If you're just getting started I'd say the minimum power tools would be jigsaw, router (with high quality bits and appropriate templates), and drill. Neck & body shaping can be done with a Shinto saw rasp, buy a pre-slotted & radiused fretboard, and hand sand the finish. It will take far longer than with the machines but you'll still get there.
I'd add to the list: a fret cutting saw, snips for cutting the ends of frets, files and stones for levelling frets, and nut slotting files. You can't make a guitar without good fretting tools. The bandsaw, router and drill press are excellent suggestions. I would add to them good nos. 4 and 7 hand planes. If you can use a hand plane, then you don't need a jointer, thickness planer, or drum sander. You might not even need a ROS. And a rasp can replace a spindle sander, which you're going to need to carve the neck anyway. (If I was wanting to build A LOT of guitars, then yes, machine tools. Building one or two guitars, you don't need them.)
Yes. But cheap spindle sander is not that expensive, about 150 euros. Bandsaw on the other hand, if you need to resaw 20 cm (8 inches), you have to spend minimum 800-1000 euros using shop vac as a option for dust collection.
@@Ramplcro you don't have to resaw anything, not if you don't want to. You can buy tops and fingerboards, and just get a smaller bench top bandsaw for less deep cuts. My 14" bandsaw can resaw fingerboards no problem, even without using a rip specific blade. I'd bet a smaller saw could manage that as well. I got it because cutting fingerboards by hand stopped being fun halfway through cutting my first one! (And then proceeded to cut two more by hand before I got a shed to even put a bandsaw in.)
Thank you for correctly describing the uses, limitations and interdependence of jointers and planers. So many just don't seem to get that. This is a very helpful presentation.
I was just about to say an overhead pin router but you said it at the end, they are really handy for all types of jobs, I purchased some custom neck profiling router bits from this guy in Australia and a guy in Japan and in conjunction with a few custom sleds I can easily use my pin router to put any style shape into a neck, only the very center of the bottom of the neck is left and I take care of that in about 3 minutes with a spoke shave! I also use it for binding fingerboards and bodies, surfacing and planing blanks and sometimes body cavities! I would have to say for me the 2 most important machines in a guitar shop would be a bandsaw and a drill press, after that a router table and drum sander! Pretty much as you describe in the video!
I’m building my own table sled as so versatile & cheap enough to build!! Plus can build them for any size project & won’t damage any thickness timber. I would add hand orbital sander too. What about chisels to cut out where drilling round holes to make them square corners?
Good recommendations for tool. Now If I only had a shop I could get some of them. Hopefully by the middle of 2024 I might have a shop. I did cut out a LP style Mahogany body blank with a Jigsaw and as long as went slow and was careful the sides stayed pretty straight and true in the vertical plane. so in a Pinch a Jig saw will work just have to be mindful use a good sharp blade and make sure it is 90 degrees to the sole of the saw.
I think that with this machines you can really quickly get up to finishing touches. Problem is that thay cost a lot of money, probably from 8000 - 10000 euros and up. With a router, a jigsaw(not ideal), handheld drill with guides and a cheap spindle sander you can get a lot done. Around 500 euros minimum with a whole a lot of hand tools (costing probably double if not more) . One would have to make a lot of jigs for the router, probably the most versatile tool on the list.
Hi Sean, thank you for your nice and informative videos 😊 Since I can't afford a band saw due to my workshop being in the flat I live in, I am looking for low noise options to cut the body out of one of the last sold crimson blank body kits. Would the stop cut technique work on a body blank that already has a flamed top glued on it? I wish you a happy new year! Cheers V
A "european" frame saw with a narrow blade (wider ripsaw blade for ripsawing and resawing). About 100 euros with these 2 blades. There is a hand tool only guitar build channel on youtube, so you can see what tools he is using and how.
Definitely going to need a machine capable of connecting to the internet to watch sweet tutorials and ask your mates how to dig yourself out of trouble! 🤣
Sure, you can have a CNC machine. And a laser engraving machine. And a computer can turn out pretty much anything you can imagine using those tools. Same with using templates and a router with a pattern bit. I’m sorry, but that’s not really building anything. It’s manufacturing it. Very much like putting together a kit guitar. Building jigs and tools and forms to get the precision necessary for a musical instrument is the real challenge for amateur luthiers. And you can do that with some very basic hand tools and maybe a couple power tools.
Hmm. I was waiting for the conclusion where you added that this was only really sensible of your goal was to build guitars full time and be as efficient as possible plus you have space and cash. Yet you stuck with the 'essential tools to get into guitar building'. We both know you can use a lot less to dip your toes in a build a guitar . This gear list is not that. This really didn't seem in keeping with your far to wise for your apparent age, kinda vibe I got from 30 plus other videos that made me subscribe. Perhaps more discouraging where most vids and super inspiring. I wonder what you had when you made your first guitar? Or what you could make a guitar with that you would still consider owning or even sale worthy, at the bare minimum.
Great list if you have a big wallet and somewhere to put the machines ... If you're just getting started I'd say the minimum power tools would be jigsaw, router (with high quality bits and appropriate templates), and drill. Neck & body shaping can be done with a Shinto saw rasp, buy a pre-slotted & radiused fretboard, and hand sand the finish. It will take far longer than with the machines but you'll still get there.
All of these are on my list primarily to build the workbench on which I can then build the guitars.
I'd add to the list: a fret cutting saw, snips for cutting the ends of frets, files and stones for levelling frets, and nut slotting files. You can't make a guitar without good fretting tools.
The bandsaw, router and drill press are excellent suggestions. I would add to them good nos. 4 and 7 hand planes. If you can use a hand plane, then you don't need a jointer, thickness planer, or drum sander. You might not even need a ROS. And a rasp can replace a spindle sander, which you're going to need to carve the neck anyway.
(If I was wanting to build A LOT of guitars, then yes, machine tools. Building one or two guitars, you don't need them.)
Yes. But cheap spindle sander is not that expensive, about 150 euros. Bandsaw on the other hand, if you need to resaw 20 cm (8 inches), you have to spend minimum 800-1000 euros using shop vac as a option for dust collection.
@@Ramplcro you don't have to resaw anything, not if you don't want to. You can buy tops and fingerboards, and just get a smaller bench top bandsaw for less deep cuts.
My 14" bandsaw can resaw fingerboards no problem, even without using a rip specific blade. I'd bet a smaller saw could manage that as well. I got it because cutting fingerboards by hand stopped being fun halfway through cutting my first one! (And then proceeded to cut two more by hand before I got a shed to even put a bandsaw in.)
Beanut flips are called snips in German, man I really want snips rn
In the sander category, the thickness sander is my favourite.
Thank you for correctly describing the uses, limitations and interdependence of jointers and planers. So many just don't seem to get that. This is a very helpful presentation.
I was just about to say an overhead pin router but you said it at the end, they are really handy for all types of jobs, I purchased some custom neck profiling router bits from this guy in Australia and a guy in Japan and in conjunction with a few custom sleds I can easily use my pin router to put any style shape into a neck, only the very center of the bottom of the neck is left and I take care of that in about 3 minutes with a spoke shave! I also use it for binding fingerboards and bodies, surfacing and planing blanks and sometimes body cavities! I would have to say for me the 2 most important machines in a guitar shop would be a bandsaw and a drill press, after that a router table and drum sander! Pretty much as you describe in the video!
I’m building my own table sled as so versatile & cheap enough to build!! Plus can build them for any size project & won’t damage any thickness timber. I would add hand orbital sander too. What about chisels to cut out where drilling round holes to make them square corners?
Good recommendations for tool. Now If I only had a shop I could get some of them. Hopefully by the middle of 2024 I might have a shop. I did cut out a LP style Mahogany body blank with a Jigsaw and as long as went slow and was careful the sides stayed pretty straight and true in the vertical plane. so in a Pinch a Jig saw will work just have to be mindful use a good sharp blade and make sure it is 90 degrees to the sole of the saw.
You'll need a wee hoover and a dust pan and brush set too.
I think that with this machines you can really quickly get up to finishing touches. Problem is that thay cost a lot of money, probably from 8000 - 10000 euros and up.
With a router, a jigsaw(not ideal), handheld drill with guides and a cheap spindle sander you can get a lot done. Around 500 euros minimum with a whole a lot of hand tools (costing probably double if not more) .
One would have to make a lot of jigs for the router, probably the most versatile tool on the list.
Hi Sean, thank you for your nice and informative videos 😊 Since I can't afford a band saw due to my workshop being in the flat I live in, I am looking for low noise options to cut the body out of one of the last sold crimson blank body kits. Would the stop cut technique work on a body blank that already has a flamed top glued on it?
I wish you a happy new year! Cheers V
A coping saw would get the job done if you think stop cuts might blow it out
A "european" frame saw with a narrow blade (wider ripsaw blade for ripsawing and resawing). About 100 euros with these 2 blades. There is a hand tool only guitar build channel on youtube, so you can see what tools he is using and how.
And there’s also the most unsexy machine in the shop: dust management.
Dust extraction!
I'm a little bit shocked that random orbital sander did not made the cut for this list :)
Definitely going to need a machine capable of connecting to the internet to watch sweet tutorials and ask your mates how to dig yourself out of trouble! 🤣
Sure, you can have a CNC machine. And a laser engraving machine. And a computer can turn out pretty much anything you can imagine using those tools. Same with using templates and a router with a pattern bit. I’m sorry, but that’s not really building anything. It’s manufacturing it. Very much like putting together a kit guitar. Building jigs and tools and forms to get the precision necessary for a musical instrument is the real challenge for amateur luthiers. And you can do that with some very basic hand tools and maybe a couple power tools.
Hmm.
I was waiting for the conclusion where you added that this was only really sensible of your goal was to build guitars full time and be as efficient as possible plus you have space and cash. Yet you stuck with the 'essential tools to get into guitar building'. We both know you can use a lot less to dip your toes in a build a guitar . This gear list is not that.
This really didn't seem in keeping with your far to wise for your apparent age, kinda vibe I got from 30 plus other videos that made me subscribe. Perhaps more discouraging where most vids and super inspiring.
I wonder what you had when you made your first guitar?
Or what you could make a guitar with that you would still consider owning or even sale worthy, at the bare minimum.