Essential & useful machinery for guitar building.

octatonic

Now I am on the way to get my workshop space I need to think about what machinery I need to buy to build guitars.

I'm building acoustics and electrics.

My short list is as follows:

Bandsaw

Drill press

Planer/Thicknesser

Drum sander (or drill press attachment).

Some sort of dust extraction

1/4" and 1/2" routers

Dremel (already have this)

Router table

Kettle.

Does that just about cover the basics?

Anything else people can suggest would be helpful.

I have a pretty decent selection of planes/spokeshaves/chisels etc

Was going to sort out (probably make) a fox bending jig as well- maybe 2.

I'll update this as other suggestions are made.

Sporky

Instead of a dedicated drum sander you could use sanding drums on the drill press. The inflatable ones from Rutlands are quite good for more freehand work.

A router table (or an insert plate recessed into your workbench) is very useful.

randomhandclaps

Great idea for a thread.  Didn't see a kettle on that list though! :-/

Sporky

On the dust extraction front remember that the routing of the ducting is critical to having it work right - mine isn't nearly as effective as it should be because I didn't plan it properly. At some point it'll be coming out and being reinstalled betterer.

fatherjack

If you're going to be buying your timber from suppliers rather than finding the odd unused lump of wood and thinking it would be great in a guitar, you may be able to get away without the planer/thicknesser (a thoroughly evil machine which Mark Bailey wouldn't let anyone else use).

Sporky

True, but unplaned timber is generally a fair bit less expensive. One well known supplier charges £45 for a poplar body blank - I can get two bodies out of £13 of unplaned poplar from my local timber place. That will need jointing and gluing, of course, so £45 isn't unreasonable for someone else doing it for you, but £13 and a few pence of glue is a lot less money.

octatonic

randomhandclaps said:

Great idea for a thread.  Didn't see a kettle on that list though! :-/

:-)

I'll add it now.

Sporky said:

On the dust extraction front remember that the routing of the ducting is critical to having it work right - mine isn't nearly as effective as it should be because I didn't plan it properly. At some point it'll be coming out and being reinstalled betterer.

I might be asking you to explain this further at some stage.

My plan is to have a clean room and a dirty room with the heavy machinery in the dirty room.

fatherjack said:

If you're going to be buying your timber from suppliers rather than finding the odd unused lump of wood and thinking it would be great in a guitar, you may be able to get away without the planer/thicknesser (a thoroughly evil machine which Mark Bailey wouldn't let anyone else use).

Oh yes they can be deadly- I've used one a couple of times at London Met- definitely handle with care.

I plan on having a proper wood store and want to get milling my own wood if I have the space.

I'm going to have a decent bit of space- two rooms that are around 16x9 each plus another 8x8 outbuilding.

I'd like to reclaim/upcycle as much as I can as well.

octatonic

Sporky said:

True, but unplaned timber is generally a fair bit less expensive. One well known supplier charges £45 for a poplar body blank - I can get two bodies out of £13 of unplaned poplar from my local timber place. That will need jointing and gluing, of course, so £45 isn't unreasonable for someone else doing it for you, but £13 and a few pence of glue is a lot less money.

Agree- I don't have any problem using body blanks etc but I'd much rather be as self sufficient as I can be.

Sporky

octatonic said:

Sporky said:

On the dust extraction front remember that the routing of the ducting is critical to having it work right - mine isn't nearly as effective as it should be because I didn't plan it properly. At some point it'll be coming out and being reinstalled betterer.

I might be asking you to explain this further at some stage.

My plan is to have a clean room and a dirty room with the heavy machinery in the dirty room.

It's basically pretty simple - build a central spine, and the machines then connect on angled "ribs". I've got a guide somewhere - I'll look it up.

A source of music is very important in my view - especially when you're sanding or profiling a neck.

TTony

Sporky said:

A source of music is very important in my view - especially when you're sanding or profiling a neck.

I was just about to suggest that.

I've got an old boom-box thing in my shedshop, and an old iPod playing through it.  They've both survived a good few years of getting covered in dust ...

Sporky

I have a little Android MP3 player with an old amp and some half decent rescued speakers.

Come to think of it, having the ability to browse the inferweb can be useful in case you need to look something up.

octatonic

Sporky said:

I have a little Android MP3 player with an old amp and some half decent rescued speakers.

Come to think of it, having the ability to browse the inferweb can be useful in case you need to look something up.

iPad for internet I think.

I have some cheap powered speakers and an Apple TV which has no moving parts so dust won't be much of an issue.

The Apple TV works great as a cloud music player- you don't need a screen for it- just control it from iPad or iPhone and they are only £99 new.

Sporky

That sounds like a decent plan!

OilCityPickups

I like the availability of a plunge router as well as a routing table ... might just be me ... but I've had both available for so long I'd be lost without being able to have a good plunge when I need one.

octatonic

TheGuitarWeasel said:

I like the availability of a plunge router as well as a routing table ... might just be me ... but I've had both available for so long I'd be lost without being able to have a good plunge when I need one.

Do you have 1/2" and 1/4" routers or do you use one that takes both?

I was thinking of getting the Bosch Colt router which I think is 1/4" as a lot of the Stew Mac bits and pieces fit it without modification but I also want a good quality 1/2" router as I reckon I will be using it a lot.

I was thinking of Festool or Trend.

DiscoStu

Most definitely a plunge router. 

It's my main power tool for electric building.

Sporky

TheGuitarWeasel said:

I like the availability of a plunge router as well as a routing table ... might just be me ... but I've had both available for so long I'd be lost without being able to have a good plunge when I need one.

Yup - I didn't mean just a router table, a plunge router is pretty much essential.

octatonic said:

Do you have 1/2" and 1/4" routers or do you use one that takes both?

I was thinking of getting the Bosch Colt router which I think is 1/4" as a lot of the Stew Mac bits and pieces fit it without modification but I also want a good quality 1/2" router as I reckon I will be using it a lot.

I was thinking of Festool or Trend.

I have the Bosch GFM1400CE, which has both fixed and plunge bases and comes with 1/2" and 1/4" collets (which I replaced with the Precise Bits ones - 1/8", 1/4", 8mm and 1/2"). Iv'e also got the UK version of the Colt, and they've just released a plunge base for that too. That's a very handy little tool - surprisingly capable.

dean2371

Very handy thread as I'm in the same position as octatonic. Lots of useful tips as I move on from assembly to building.

octatonic

Is anyone running 110v tools in their workshop?

I know that building sites do it for safety.

Sporky

The router on the CNC machine is 110v (also a Bosch GMF but the US version) and my tablesaw is 110v. Not really a deliberate choice; the CNC machine came that way and the 230v tablesaw was out of stock.

I don't think there's a very convincing safety argument - on site, maybe. In a workshop? Probably not.

OilCityPickups

I have three routers ...  one years old 1/4 collet ... one new 1/4 and 1/2 ... and one 1/2 permanently mounted in a table I built. I have the old 1/4 router set up for fine work like prototyping pickup flatwork ... because the base is small and the whole machine very light. My big grunter 1600w plunge machine gets used almost exclusively for control cavity work with 1/2 bits  ... and my 'table' router for 'scratch' woodwork like bodies ... that I sadly do less of now as I spend all my time making pickups!
Oh ... you gots to have one of these too