out what tools they have, and what mix of
hand and power tools they want to work
with. I want to teach skills that you can
take home and put to use, so we work with
the combination that best suits your
inclinations.
Often, people want to invest in tools and
machines, and I'm happy to give advice on
the choices. Fortunately, guitar making can
be done quite efficiently with home shop
equipment that is not expensive.
so I've made a lot of jigs, fixtures, gadgets,
and gizmos that work in conjunction with
power tools. But, my hand tools are still
the most important ~ plane, scrapers,
chisels, rasps and files, sanding blocks ~
all of the fine work that goes into making a
beautiful instrument is done with these.
visit to my dentist, by sheer coincidence a
woodworking student of mine from long
ago. It is mounted on ¾ inch water pipe,
with one of those standard flanges. My
bench dog holes are 1-1/16 inch diameter
to accommodate "plumbers delight"
devices, like pipe clamps.
the one on the left since 1963. It's been
re-issued by Grizzly Tools as the "Parrot"
vise. It not only holds guitar parts, it holds
fixtures that hold the guitar at various
stages of construction. That's another one
on the right, on a post that goes up and
down. I've installed a pivoting jaw on it.
soundboards on a drill press using the
Wagner Safety Planer, on the right, and
smooth them with John Gilbert's precision
disc sander, on the left. I use a shop made
hold down system to keep the work flat
against the table.
the importance of sharpening. Most
woodworkers have never enjoyed using a
really sharp tool, and once you do, you
see what all the shouting's about. Since I
sharpen frequently, I want to do it fast,
accurately, and to a high degree of
sharpness. Go back to the Home page, and
have a look at Double Bevel Sharpening.
bandsaw set up on it. My 12 inch Parks
planer is in the background. I have two
other table saws, but the Shopsmith comes
in for a lot of use because of its versatility.
own spot in the shop. I sharpen scrapers
on stones as well.
I've built myself that I call a "Router Mill",
because it's like a vertical milling machine
for wood. This is the fourth one I've made,
and I use it for many production
operations. It's not a project for the faint of
heart however; it took me three months,
and cost me around $2000.
What the machine does is allow precise
control of the movement of a router in
three axes. It has straight lines, right
angles, and flat planes built into it, and any
combination of locks and stops can be
used to limit travel in any direction.
controlled by a low friction air cylinder so
that it effectively floats on a cushion of air.
By allowing the router complete freedom
of movement it can be used as a carving
duplicator.
By locking its vertical movement I use it as
a surfacing machine for tops and backs.
Since the vacuum chuck that holds the part
is faced off with the router, cancelling out
any error in its travel, the accuracy is quite
remarkable.
work holding jobs around the shop. Here it
is used, with a shop made vinyl bag, to
press the veneers of a side to the mold.
stronger, and smoother, and can be made
safely from figured side wood. I glue them
with boatbuilders epoxy, that is
formulated especially for use with wood.
It gives plenty of time for assembly, and
doesn't introduce any water that can cause
warpage.
The top of the line classic guitars made by
Ramirez, and the world class steel string
acoustics, made by Ervin Somogyi, use
laminated sides.
from appliance repair places, make good
vacuum pumps. In fact, you can set up for
laminating sides for less than the cost of
building a heated side bending machine.
traditional method with a hot pipe, and can
show you how to do it that way if you
prefer.
