Guitar built totally by hand without mechanical tools

[arie]

Originally Posted by jwayne

By mechanical tools you mean power tools?

Somogyi use hand tools almost exclusively

Ervin's got a ton of power tools actually.

[LouieAtienza]

Originally Posted by HHP

Making the tuners will be an adventure.

I actually considered doing that, having a 4-axis mill.

[LouieAtienza]

Filmed in 1980

[hat]

Originally Posted by Jesse Matthews

I'm starting out so i would like to start on cheap wood or scrap wood around my area...i'm going to make a lot of mistakes so at least i'll make them on inexpensive wood

Here is where I suggest your logic is flawed. when you start out with the expectation of making mistakes, you've already lowered you expectation level. Instead of taking this approach, why not buy a kit - Martin and StewMac both sell good kits for beginners. Take your time , and keep your expectations high.You don't need to make it fancy, but instead focus on the basic construction details. Use the kit as a guide to learn how things go together, what fits where, bracing methods and reasoning, etc...and have fun at it. In the end, you'll have a much better guitar, and will have had a much better time doing it.

[Otterhound]

Originally Posted by LouieAtienza

I actually considered doing that, having a 4-axis mill.

We need to talk . I have an idea for something .

[arie]

Originally Posted by hat

Here is where I suggest your logic is flawed. when you start out with the expectation of making mistakes, you've already lowered you expectation level. Instead of taking this approach, why not buy a kit - Martin and StewMac both sell good kits for beginners. Take your time , and keep your expectations high.You don't need to make it fancy, but instead focus on the basic construction details. Use the kit as a guide to learn how things go together, what fits where, bracing methods and reasoning, etc...and have fun at it. In the end, you'll have a much better guitar, and will have had a much better time doing it.

i would concur. sometimes as a beginner there is a tendency to use "alternative materials" to get a result. with that method it's often hard for the beginner to learn from the mistakes because those "alternative materials" would never had made a decent instrument in the first place so what was the cause of the error? was it you or the materials?

a kit is not a bad idea unless you have hit the books and know your way around woodworking at a pretty high level to scratch build an instrument.

[printer2]

And I disagree. When starting out you really do not know what it takes to make a good finished guitar. Darn, I didn't know I was burning the side. Those off cuts got underneath my top and dented it. My rosette channel is cut too deep. I thought my binding was glued up ok but I have gaps in places.....

It all depends on what his goals are. If you are building one guitar and whether or not it turns out it is the only one you will make by all means get a kit. I think people's first guitar should be a tenor uke, kit or not.

[LouieAtienza]

Really, for a beginner, working with "inferior" wood makes things all the harder to accomplish. This is another reason quartered wood with minimal runout is cherished - it's far easier to work than flatsawn stock. People that champion the use of "inferior" woods subsequently refer to Benedetto's framing joist guitar, or Taylor's pallet wood guitar. Really, these are examples of experience builders challenging themselves with such woods.

Fred's already pointed out that he can obtain $6 top sets. You can get non-bookmatched sets for backs and sides relatively inexpensively, even with quartered East Indian rosewood. If a person was really serious about getting their feet wet on a build, if not a kit, then at least do some research to get some of the hard work like dimensioning lumber into plates to the pros.

I'm also a member of my friend's DIY kit and builders group on Facebook, and I sometimes shake my head at the folks that buy a $199 Pango kit, then buy replica PAF humbuckers, NOS stop tail and Nashville bridge, old Rotomatics, aged pickup rings... I applaud the motivation and effort, but if you're going to put $1500 in parts on a $99 body, why not just spring another $400 or so and get something more decent than photo-flame? Same with putting so much time and effort into wood that is bound to give a great result for a master, but be challenging for many others. If one wanted to test a procedure on a piece of scrap, that's one thing.

I'm sure these views run contrary to others, but I just want to point out that while it can be fun and challenging to be resourceful, building guitars is not necessarily a contest of being as cheap as possible.

[LouieAtienza]

Originally Posted by arie

Ervin's got a ton of power tools actually.

I think I mentioned just a few of the ones Ervin has just by reading his books (which are the price of a highly figured bubinga back and side set and worth it.)

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by LouieAtienza

I'm sure these views run contrary to others...

I agree with you. Working with warped-like-a-potatoe-chip flat sawn wood is no fun and just makes the task that much more difficult. I'd suggest using materials suitable for making instruments. They don't have to be expensive or exotic.

[printer2]

No I don't mean getting crappy wood and fighting with it. Just run of the mill luthier cut wood, doesn't have to be perfect visually, off quartered will work also, John Arnold said one of his best guitars was off quartered. Painted top grade and a cheaper grade back and sides that is easy to bend. I don't know if it is easy to bend but I picked up some Khaya or African Mahogany for a very reasonable price. Just don't go spending hundreds of dollars in wood for your first guitar along with cutaway and fanned fret. Leave something for the second one. The building with compromised wood is more of a challenge for someone that has a few skills and too much time on their hands.

[emmsone]

Originally Posted by Jesse Matthews

I'm starting out so i would like to start on cheap wood or scrap wood around my area...i'm going to make a lot of mistakes so at least i'll make them on inexpensive wood...after i get better at it I'll move up to some good wood. i like the idea of wood working in theory, yet i haven't worked yet with wood apart from projects in high school for class a long time ago. yes, i mean with no power tools, no electricity needed. lets say like the first martin built he's first martin guitar .

I still haven't worked out why you want to build a guitar this way? just to say you have? or is it for budget reasons or what?

Personally I think you're coming about it from the wrong side, never would I ever consider removing all electric tools especially when first building a guitar and its mostly for the following reason. Time. The longer you work at something and it either not come together correctly, or make a big mistake, the less motivation you will have to continue with the project. Making use of power tools allows you to make something quicker and move through the project. Watching a project stall or not progress is really not a great feeling. The power tools also allow you to remake or correct mistakes quicker and thus you can move along.
i've only completed 3 guitars so far, but i'm finding i'm incorporating more and more hand tools into the work, the more you work you do with them the more feel you get, but through the process of each build i've done so far has let me know which tools would help me in the next project, both electrical tools and hand tools. I barely used a chisel in my first build, half way through the second build I acquired a good set, they were used very, very regularly in build 3. If i had just bought the chisels before build 1, i may have had the same set but I wouldn't know how they are best used, when exactly to use a chisel, even times I wouldn't have thought about/expected.

If you wanted to build a guitar with no tools starting from zero experience, go ahead, but prepared to be very frustrated. Theres a lot of specialist tools you won't have or know about and unfortunately these are all more expensive then you would hope.

Its not something I would do myself as it would drive me nuts, but if I was you, this is how I would go about it.
1) get a kit guitar and assemble it. If you get one with a pre bent sides, a pre-joined top, a mostly done neck etc you would not need so many power tools to get through it but don't be concerned about having to use any.
2) work out from the first kit guitar build what you would tools you would need to create the pre-made parts without power tools for the next guitar
3) then go ahead and try the next build with the no power tools.

David