Woodworking Information

To make a guitar some amount of woodworking proficiency is necessary. Before making a guitar I had an extensive woodworking background and that first guitar was still the most difficult woodworking project I had attempted to that point. The photo on the right is the last piece of furniture I made while at the College of the Redwoods with James Krenov. The piece is a serpentine front buffet cabinet. It is an adaptation of a Barnsley piece. The photo does not do reveal the in and out curves of the front doors and drawers. This piece was a real challenge to construct. To make it many different woodworking techniques were employed. For example, the drawer fronts, door panels, and door rails were laminated on forms. The small trim around the cabinet just under the drawers was steam bent, and the entire base including the legs were carved. My first guitar was built shortly after this piece was finished.

Making a guitar will push the limits of your woodworking skills regardless of your current level of proficiency. Making a guitar also utilizes many techniques in a single project. For every task at hand there are many ways to get it done. The more methods you can choose from the more likely you will be to find one that suits you best. The trick to successful woodworking is finding a technique that you are comfortable with. If you do, chances are you will get good results. And after all, its results we are looking for. Making a guitar is long and tedious process. There is nothing more disappointing than going through all that work only to find yourself unhappy with the results.

The intention of this section of the site is to help improve your woodworking skills and provide useful information about woodworking which can be applied to guitar making. Any skills gained here will have a profound effect on your guitar making efforts. I hope to regularly add topics and projects to help sharpen your skills so your guitar making experience will be a good one. A good step in that direction is the plane making project described below. Making a hand plane was the first thing we had to do at the woodworking school. It is an easy project and when completed you will have a great tool for guitar making or any woodworking project.

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Improve your Woodworking Skills - Make a Hand Plane

The plane making dvd is now available on this web site. Along with the instructional DVD plane kits are available. THe plane kits contain all you need to construct either plane demonstrated in the video.

Click here for more information on Plane Kits...

Viewers can expect the same high quality production and professional instruction in this video release as in the award winning guitar making dvd box set. The entire video was shot with 2 cameras to show the entire process in great detail. Helpful graphics highlight important topics.

This video demonstrates the construction of a bench plane and a compass plane, The compass plane is a curved bottom plane used in guitar making for the construction of the solera, back workboard, and the radiused sanding discs. This plane can also be used to scoop out a chair seat, a sitting bench, or a large tray or bowl. This plane can be used for any woodworking project that requires a concave surface.

The bench plane is the most commonly used woodworking hand plane. It is considered a general purpose hand plane which is typically used to perform tasks such as joinery, thicknessing and smoothing.

Plans for both planes will be included on the disc. Instructions for accessing the drawings are on the disc.

Making a plane is a fun woodworking project and can be completed in weekend. This video release in on one DVD. Complete plane kits are also be available for both planes and include a high quality blade and breaker assembly, plus all the wood necessary for the plane.

Click here to watch a preview of the new plane making DVD....