Equipment Essential for Guitar Making
Not everyone has a full blown woodworking shop but more people than ever have some woodworking equipment at home. Two essential peices of equipment for any guitar maker are a band saw, and a drill press. Additional equipment such as a table saw, jointer, portable planer and drum sander are not essential but will help reduce the amount of physical labor necessary to perform some of the tasks and may require a higher degree of woodworking skill. If a table saw is not available you can still make all these cuts with a hand saw and square the edges with a hand plane on the bench hook and shooting board, but more skill is required for equal results.
These days I am utilizing power equipment wherever possible in the guitar making process but remember all too well the days of doing almost everything by hand. Working without machinery will no doubt develop some hand skills, and allow you to work up a sweat every now and again, but ultimately how you feel about your work, and the results are what counts. Contrary to some hand tool purists there is nothing wrong with using equipment if it is available. Usually machines are used to perform the labor intensive tasks, but the final sizing and fitting is almost always done by hand.
Woodworking Equipment for Guitar Making
If I had to pick just one piece of equipment to use it would be a band saw. A band saw is very versatile and will perform any number of tasks such as cutting out patterns, resawing, and even joinery. Any 14" band saw should be adequate to the guitar making tasks. Since the wood we use in guitar making is relatively small, a 36" monster would be nice, but will not be necessary. You may have noticed in the book and dvd that I have two band saws. This is a luxury, not a necessity. One band saw is primarily used for resawing and dimension cutting, and the other for cutting patterns and plywood materials. A 14" band saw is capable of performing both of these tasks but resawing may be limited to stock under 5". The resaw band saw in my shop is a carry over from furniture making days and is very powerful (resaw up to 12" stock). This is very helpful when buying wood in as logs, billets or flitches as it will enable you to resaw for maximum yield while getting the desired grain and effects.
Another piece of guitar making equipment highly recommended for guitar making is a standing drill press. Although a bench top model will perform most tasks as well as a standing model, the extra throat depth, stroke length, and height adjustment are indispensable at times. Also, the price difference is minimal when you think of all the benefits you are getting. The drill press is also a versatile luthier tool. It can be used on metal as well as wood, and may also be used as a light duty drum sander.
There are other luthier tools and equipment which can be very useful if you have access to them. A table saw, jointer, small portable planer, shaper, and drum sander will save you lots of time if you have them. In the guitar making dvd you will notice I am using a shaper to perform some tasks. Before there was a shaper in the guitar shop I used the router table(See router table in photo). This arrangement worked as well as the shaper. The only benefit the shaper provides is easier adjustment. It is basically a standing cabinet with a fence and table insert on top. The table insert on which the router is mounted and the fence, are available at many of the woodworking supply shops some of which are listed in the resource section of the site.
Notice I did not say that any of this equipment will improve your accuracy. You can be just as accurate with a band saw and some hand tools with a little practice.
