Recommeded Hand Tools for Guitar Making
A certain amount of hand tools are essential in guitar making. When buying luthier tools it always pays in the long run to buy the best. This doesn't always mean the most expensive. Some older tools such as saws, chisels, and planes are made of superior steel than the tools being manufactured today and really good buys can be had a local flea markets and estate sales. Old saw blades for instance are generally too thick for our purposes but the steel in the blade will make a great scraper and other cutting tools
Making some of your own luthier tools can be very rewarding. Not only will you get a genuine feeling of accomplishment but you can end up with a very fine tool. The first project at the College of the Redwoods fine woodworking program is making your own hand plane. While at the school I made a number of planes which I still use to this day including a couple of round bottom planes, and a compass plane. J.S. Bogdanovich Guitars has produced a plane making video and ebook which will soon be offered on the web site.
If for you are more comfortable with another tool for any particular task, and you are able to get the necessary results, by all means use it. Everyone must seek their own level of comfort and have confidence when using tools. But do not dismiss something without having tried it on a piece of scrap first. You never learn anything if you won’t try something new.
Recommended Hand Tools
Below is a list of hand tools recommended for guitar making. Whenever purchasing tools it is always wise to buy only top quality tools. With regular use lesser quality tools often do not work as well and will at some point probably need to be replaced. There is a usually a good reason the better tools are more expensive. It is difficult to produce quality work with inferior tools.
Measuring and Marking Tools
- A long flexible ruler at least 700mm long in mm and inches
- 36" Rigid ruler
- 24" straight edge
- 12" ruler in mm and inches
- Small 6" ruler
- 3" adjustable T-square
- 12" adjustable T-square
- Bevel gauge
- 4" or 6" calipers in mm and inches
- Exacto knife
- Flat edged Japanese marking knife
- Flat chip carving knife
- Silver colored pencil
- Compass
Saws
I prefer Japanese hand saws to western hand saws because they cut on the pull stroke and this feels more natural to me providing greater confidence in every cut. They also make a very narrow saw kerf making greater accuracy possible.
- A long flexible ruler at least 700mm long in mm and inches
- Thin blade dozuki saw (blade thickness .026")
- Smoothing plane
- Thin blade Ryobi saw
Planing and Scraping Tools
- Low angle block plane
- Shoulder plane
- Compass plane
- Smoothing plane
- Spoke shave
- A Selection of Curved and straight cabinet scrapers
Chisels & Carving Tools
- Good set of chisels including 1/8", 1/4", 1/2", and 3/4" chisels
- Carving tools such as a large 30mm #1, 3 and 5 gouges, 12 mm skew, and a 12mm #7 gouge
- Small knives for carving
Filing Tools
- #50 Pattern makers rasp
- 8" Half round mill bastard file
- 8" Rat tail smoothing file
- 8" and 6" Mill bastard file
- Small 6" ruler
- 3/8" Round file
- A couple of small rifler files
- Set of needle files
Sanding Tools
- Foam and shaped sanding pads
- 180, 220, 320, 400 and 600 grit sandpaper sheets
- 120, 180, 220 and 320 grit sandpaper discs
- 80 grit adhesive backed sandpaper
- Micro mesh sanding sheets in 1800, 2400, 3200, 3600 and 4000 grits
Fretting Tools
- Fret leveling kit
- Fret hammer
- Diagonal cutting pliers
- End cutting pliers
- Long nose pliers
- Small triangular file
- Fret beveling file
Set Up Tools
- A set of nut files
- An awl
- String winder crank
- An chromatic electronic tuner
Miscellaneous Luthier Tools
- Small roller for applying glue (found in most art supply stores)
- Glue brushes
- 15-minute Kitchen timer
- Scissors
- An artist brush
- Double sided tape
- 3M blue masking tape: high and medium adhesion
- 0000# Steel wool
- Hygrometer
