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  #1  
Old 02-18-2019, 12:41 PM
pjbelsch pjbelsch is offline
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Default StewMac kits

Hi Everyone!
I am looking to buy a kit from stewmac and I actually received an email about it today. It mentioned in the email “these are the tools your need” and it had a link to as set. Anyone have any experience with these kits? If so what tools are really necessary? Just treat me like i am 10 years old and have never built and have no tools.
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  #2  
Old 02-18-2019, 12:58 PM
JonWint JonWint is offline
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Only you can decide what tools you need to build a guitar. Study the StewMac build instructions and the many threads on this forum and come up with how you will actually build one. Expect to spend at least 5 or 10 hours in front-end study to do this.

My tools cost many times more than a kit costs, but I have a low barrier to justifying tool purchases.

And BTW, Martin kits are cheaper than StewMac kits if you want to build a D or 000.

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...archid=7856642

https://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/i-5295/i-5295.pdf
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Old 02-18-2019, 02:09 PM
pjbelsch pjbelsch is offline
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I should have specified as well, i am starting with a ukulele kit first.
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Old 02-18-2019, 04:08 PM
Skarsaune Skarsaune is online now
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I wouldn’t buy a preselected batch of tools.
Study the StewMac instructions linked and decide what you need (clamps, mostly).
+1 on the Martin kits - I’m on my 2nd one.
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Old 02-18-2019, 04:14 PM
charles Tauber charles Tauber is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skarsaune View Post
I wouldn’t buy a preselected batch of tools.

I wouldn't buy a set of preselected tools, particularly from a place who's business it is to sell tools: they are biased towards the more tools the better, rather than the minimum set required to do the job.

After about four decades of making and repairing guitars, I still don't have - or have a need for - many of the tools they sell in their kits.

Looking through the kit instructions is a good place to start on what tools you'll want of need. Beyond that, you'll need to decide if you are building just the one kit, or it is a stepping stone to building more/other instruments. That is, the tools you need to build the one kit might not be those you need to build, say, from scratch. Start off with what you need for the current task, the current kit. Many of those tools can be purchased from local suppliers/box stores considerably cheaper.
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Old 02-18-2019, 04:25 PM
Big Band Guitar Big Band Guitar is offline
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Buy your tools as needed, borrow if you can.
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Old 02-18-2019, 05:47 PM
ruby50 ruby50 is offline
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My daughter did a ukulele camp for 10-13 year old girls in Brooklyn this past summer using StewMac kits. I think the only needed tools were some clamps (rubber bands work for some things) and a drill and bit to drill for the dowels that mount the neck in the body. A hammer and file to fret. I put together 8 chisels out of the extras box , but ended up not using them. Sandpaper on a block did a lot of work that might have been easier with a small plane or a chisel, but not necessary.

Ed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=q_yaSjYZqH8

Last edited by ruby50; 02-18-2019 at 07:32 PM.
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Old 02-18-2019, 07:25 PM
ruby50 ruby50 is offline
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Duplicate - sorry
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Old 02-22-2019, 05:13 PM
Neil K Walk Neil K Walk is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Band Guitar View Post
Buy your tools as needed, borrow if you can.
^ This, I buy "starter" tools from Harbor Freight but don't skimp out on chisels. Cheap blades tend to bite their owners; they don't sharpen as well and get hung up on material during use.

...and make your own jigs too. It's actually more fun than building the guitar; if you screw up a jig you can try again, but if you screw up the guitar you have to buy replacement parts which aren't always cheap.

For example, for Valentine's Day I made a wine rack for my wife. I noticed that the circle cutouts were ideal for making spool clamps.

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Old 02-22-2019, 07:08 PM
BT55 BT55 is offline
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Default StewMac kits

Neil K Walk makes some good points and clamps. I’m a top of the line tools guy. But for tools that are not required for heavy duty work Harbor Freight has some good bargains. For example, they sell very useful “U” clamps for bridge or belly repairs at cheap prices. You can’t cheat on chisels, they’re essential and good quality is essential. You can also find tools on eBay. Buy the better quality ones and you’ll be good to go.
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