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Nil Satis Nisi Optimum
The advice which I work to is only buy (or make) a tool when a you need it, and then to buy something which will meet current and future needs.
First off you need a workbench. A lot of people make their own. I made one with my son in a few hours this weekend, using 2x5 rough sawn timber, and mdf top surface. He bought the mitre saw for this job. Could have cut it by hand, but the next job is a mirror frame.
Websites will list the tools which you “need” to make a guitar. What you really need depends on what you are going to do. To assemble pre-finished parts you need a screw driver and a soldering iron, and possibly a drill. An ordinary electric drill on a stand works well. If you are going to make your own bodies then you can add a saw, router, and sander. Templates to guide your router can be made our of mdf or ply. It helps here to have a pc which can print pdfs in “poster” mode, ie over several A4 sheets.
So much for theory. From a practical point of view I made my first guitar body with not much more than a jig saw, surform, hand plane, router, soldering iron, and a drill on a stand. I made a bobbin sander to fit the drill, and used a Henry vacuum cleaner outside the workshop door to collect the dust.
Since then I’ve added some machines: a pillar drill, a proper dust collector, and a palm sander. I chose a floor standing drill because I don’t have much bench space, and because it gives more headroom. The scroll saw was bought for toys, but has been used to cut out bodies. As soon as you start cutting wood you need dust and/or chip extraction. As you probably know, the problem is the small particles which you can’t see. If you can put your extractor outside your workshop then you get rid of two problems, noise and fine dust. The fine stuff which gets through the filters doesn’t last in Britain’s humid air.
Next on the list are a big band saw and bench top thicknesser, with which I can make laminated necks. The large bandsaw is for planking the tree trunks which I’m collecting, before they are left to season. It will also cut turning blanks. A small one would be fine for guitar making ... assuming that you need one at all. @Sporky once said that a rail saw meets his needs.
Nomad
Nobody loves me but my mother... and she could be jivin' too...
Naff-all use for guitar building of course.
Plenty of light, coming from all ways around the bench(es), that's a big weak point in my place. It's good from some sides and throws shadows the other.
I used to have a bench up against a wall but prefer one that goes in the middle. I like being able to get around the sides much better. More options for mounting & working on stuff, feels like I get much better access and more use out of it.
When time allows I'll mod mine to having two levels. One height's good for some stuff and another for planing or sanding where you want to bear down on it a bit. That might be just me though. Two benches even better.
For me the essentials (after routers and whatnot) would be bandsaw and pillar drill. It's not a big saw (an old Inca 260) but hasn't left me wanting really. It's always getting used for something or other.
Pillar drill for sure, a decent one with little or no run-out.
Disc sander's been pretty handy too. I'd like to make a bigger combo one with a belt too, I've a small belt/grinder thing. Router tables are dead useful but simple enough to make.
Nomad
Nobody loves me but my mother... and she could be jivin' too...