First build. Step 1: Picking Wood?

[runamuck]

I have an old friend who once owned an exotic lumber store.

He told me that, in his experience, it really depends on the person, that any wood has the potential of getting the right person sick. That's been my experience as well although the chart linked here is a good guideline for generalities.

[Bruce Sexauer]

Every time I see the title of this thread I have the same thought: Picking the wood is not the first step! It can be, but then it dictates and limits what I think the first step should be. The first step is to decide what kind of guitar you are going to build. While you could just get big enough wood to build anything, you will pay less and have less general hassle if you use the right size wood for the guitar you want. AAA guitar tops that are only big enough for an 0 sized guitar can be less than half the price of the same quality for an OM/000, for instance. The same sort of thing happens between an OM and a Dread, though generally a little less dramatic. Wood that would be flawed on a D can often be flawless on a 00.

Also, before you cut wood, it is such a good idea to have a clear idea of the entire process in front of you, and to already know the sequence of steps. This sequence varies from builder to builder, but it is generally more similar than different. The foundation before the roof sort of thing. Many operations, if done out of order, make the process far more difficult than necessary.

Before I started, I hung out in a music store staring at guitars until I had figured it out. My figuring was close enough to work, but these days there are books, not that I think they are necessarily the way to go.

[Donald Johansso]

Originally Posted by BradHall

To me one of the most enjoyable aspects of building a guitar is bending the sides on a hot pipe. Easy to make one with black pipe, a cap and a propane torch. LMI sells practice side sets cheap. There is a learning curve and breaking a cheaper side set doesn’t sting so much. I eventually got the aluminum pipe they sell and like it a lot. Do a search on home made thickness sanders also. I made mine in a day with Scrap materials and about $125 for a shaft and blocks. Clamps! Never enough. I’m partial to cam clamps. Watch CL for deals on band saws and drill presses. A laminate trimmer type router is essential. Cabinet scrapers are your friend. A couple good chisels are a must. Learn to sharpen correctly. Lots of good videos available on YouTube for just about everything you will need to do. Enjoy the ride.

Thanks! The bending is something I have never done before, so I imagine it will be a bit of a learning curve. I have been reading Acoustic Guitar Making by Brian Forbes, and he explained one way to build a bending iron. It seemed pretty straightforward, so I might try that. I only have a full size Bosch router, so I might look into getting a laminate trimmer. They seem pretty affordable, and I’m sure it can be useful for many other types of things too.

Originally Posted by printer2

So some ideas that might be useful, wrong turns in full glory to learn from, examples of luthiers giving advice and encouragement even when "I don't know if he should be doing that." moments arise. Others have good build threads worth learning from, mine are more of a "As long as no one gets hurt." kind of variety.

Thank you for the links. Wow, that’s impressive. You are productive, and don’t seem afraid to try unusual things.

Originally Posted by Bruce Sexauer

I built electrics before acoustics. Boring, relatively.
My first ten years of building, all my wood came from the lumberyard, the forest, or salvage. That is a good to learn the important lessons, painful though it can be.
I have made 2 Chechen acoustics, and they are wonderful. Not an easy wood to work. Your boards are flat sawn, and I would not use them due to potential dimentional stability issues. Quartersawn is smarter.

Thank you. I found the pictures of your Chechen guitars on your website and they look amazing! But yes, these are definitely not quartersawn, and they look to have a very complicated grain pattern. Certainly doesn’t sound like the best choice for a beginner I did look through my stash for quarter sawn pieces, and found a few that seems useable. These are sapele, walnut and makore. At the moment I am leaning towards the sapele. It’s pretty, and I’ve used it in the past for other things, and it seems easy enough to work with. This piece has a nice even grain, and it’s more than big enough for both the back and sides.

Originally Posted by Rodger Knox

The pao ferro can also be very toxic, also the chechen. I would get the top wood from a supplier, like Alaska Specialty Woods. Brent is a nice guy. The top is the most important part of the guitar, it's better to source from a supplier until you learn what you need to look for, at least for the top.

My advice is acquire a copy of Cumpiano & Natelson's book, and read it cover to cover.

Thank you for the suggestion. I checked out their site, and they do seem to have good quality and selection. Definitely bookmarked it for future use! For my first build I want to try to cut my own pieces, even though it might be a bit foolish
That looks like an excellent book. Thank you for the recommendation. I have placed an order for it, and should get it next week. I have been reading Acoustic Guitar Making by Brian Forbes, since I could get that for free through my kindle unlimited.

[Donald Johansso]

Originally Posted by Bruce Sexauer

Every time I see the title of this thread I have the same thought: Picking the wood is not the first step! It can be, but then it dictates and limits what I think the first step should be. The first step is to decide what kind of guitar you are going to build. While you could just get big enough wood to build anything, you will pay less and have less general hassle if you use the right size wood for the guitar you want. AAA guitar tops that are only big enough for an 0 sized guitar can be less than half the price of the same quality for an OM/000, for instance. The same sort of thing happens between an OM and a Dread, though generally a little less dramatic. Wood that would be flawed on a D can often be flawless on a 00.

Also, before you cut wood, it is such a good idea to have a clear idea of the entire process in front of you, and to already know the sequence of steps. This sequence varies from builder to builder, but it is generally more similar than different. The foundation before the roof sort of thing. Many operations, if done out of order, make the process far more difficult than necessary.

Before I started, I hung out in a music store staring at guitars until I had figured it out. My figuring was close enough to work, but these days there are books, not that I think they are necessarily the way to go.

Yes, that makes sense. My thinking with the wood was that I wanted to get it so it has time to sit and acclimate while I read up on the building process a bit. I did pick out a plan that I ordered -- a 000 from Stewmac. It's a 12-fret guitar, and I think it will fit my playing style pretty well, since I play mostly classical & finger picking. That's also why I thought cedar might be a good choice for the top.
And I plan to read books and online resources to the point where I understand the process before I get started.

[Donald Johansso]

My progress so far:

-- The dehumidifier is doing a good job at keeping my garage/workshop at 45-49% RH
-- Got my plans from StewMac. They look nice and precise. I was a little surprised that all the measurements are in inches. Not sure that I had expected it to be metric, but that just seems a bit easier to use when your dealing with small, precise measurements. But it's not a big deal as I can just convert them.
-- Received the book I ordered: Guitarmaking: Tradition and Technology by Natelson and Cumpiano. Wow, this is an impressive book. I knew that it was a paperback book, and I had expected something quite a bit smaller, but this book is massive. I see now why people were referring to it as the bible of guitar making. Looks to be filled with useful information.
-- Did a test sawing and planing a piece of the cedar to see if the tools I had are adequate for that part of the process. It seems to work pretty well. It took a little bit of elbow grease to saw thee pieces apart, but not too bad. And I guess that's part of the fun anyway. This is about 3.5mm thick. It's a junk piece that has some cracks in it, so it's not usable, but it never hurts to do some practicing.



So, I will probably spend the next couple of months reading and watching videos to learn as much as I can. I might build a few tools and maybe buy some too. Then by the fall I might be ready to start working on my 1st guitar.

[redir]

I've never seen a set of plans that didn't need modification so be careful and come back here with any questions. Usually plans are overbuilt so you don't want an over built guitar.

Also with the C&N book look online for the complimentary additions and edits to the book. The neck joint in that book is overly complicated for even experienced builders and they do not do it that way them selves any more. It's a great joint just just too complicated.

The wood in the images you have above look to be QS and perfectly suited.

GOod luck!