Should I or shouldn't I build a guitar from a kit?

[Fathand]

Originally Posted by phavriluk

I think that the bandsaw mentioned is off the deep end if all a builder wants to do is profile the sides before bending them and trim the back and soundboard. A 14-inch(!) saw would be just the tool to resaw backs and sides from billets, but that's hardcore building. Seeing as OP was considering building in his dining room, I think such a saw just doesn't fit the need.

This was my point, that without space and large tools like the large bandsaw as an example, a kit was a reasonable idea. I did see one youtube video with a bandsaw in the kitchen though.

[Fathand]

Originally Posted by redir

Coping saw.

I think we are talking about two different things. I was talking about sawing backs out of rough lumber as opposed to buying precut ones which are essentially part of a kit, like neck and fretboard blanks. Nothing really wrong with going that way but it's expensive.

[redir]

Originally Posted by Fathand

I think we are talking about two different things. I was talking about sawing backs out of rough lumber as opposed to buying precut ones which are essentially part of a kit, like neck and fretboard blanks. Nothing really wrong with going that way but it's expensive.

A bigger coping saw

There was guy on Youtube that does all wood working with hand tools, can't remember his name, he had what was essentially a very large coping saw, maybe called a frame saw, and would very accurately, and even somewhat quickly, resaw boards. He must have arm muscles like Popeye.

When I built my first guitar I had my local hard wood supplier resaw and thickness the boards for me. But you can very easily by all the wood you need for a guitar without having to resaw rough lumber from luthier suppliers.

[phavriluk]

Redir, indeed so. And the upcharges from a wood vendor to thickness-sand wood will never, ever, approach the price of a woodworker-serious bandsaw.

[Fathand]

Originally Posted by redir

A bigger coping saw

There was guy on Youtube that does all wood working with hand tools, can't remember his name, he had what was essentially a very large coping saw, maybe called a frame saw, and would very accurately, and even somewhat quickly, resaw boards. He must have arm muscles like Popeye.

When I built my first guitar I had my local hard wood supplier resaw and thickness the boards for me. But you can very easily by all the wood you need for a guitar without having to resaw rough lumber from luthier suppliers.

I think I call that a bow saw but frame saw would be an appropriate term.

[ras1500]

Check out the YouTube channel of Gabriele Reti. It looks like she builds guitars from scratch in her dining room. It does appear that she has some power tools in the garage though.

[printer2]

My Romantic era styled guitar.











Exacto blade to cut out the sound hole.

Cut slots a little outside the profile area and them them with a hammer to break them off. I would think a person would have to rig themselves a portable vice of some kind to hold the material for some operations.





A razor saw to slot the fret slots, widened it with the coping saw blade. Just happened to fit my fret wires. Needle files for the nut, frets. Some other interesting pictures (in my opinion) but nothing that has not been covered elsewhere. On joining the back and sides/top, I use a router and have the joined area just hanging over the bit on either side (clamped down) and I run the router against a carpenter straight edge. Gives me perfect joins. I did the above guitar without it as I wanted to do all I could without major tools, I used a drill press though. A trim router would do this just as well.



I thought of if I moved into an apartment, with a small drill press, trim router, small drum sander, (vacuum cleaner) I could do all my building with raw wood with the remaining using hand tools.

[redir]

Originally Posted by phavriluk

Redir, indeed so. And the upcharges from a wood vendor to thickness-sand wood will never, ever, approach the price of a woodworker-serious bandsaw.

In most cases yes that is certainly true. I did however get a very good resaw used for $700 bucks. It's been about 5 years and I still have probably not gotten a return on that but I have not sold any of the wood I cut too which would help.

But I like it because when things like this happen I have the tools.

https://www.tiktok.com/@piusone/vide...49438547445253

[BreedloveRDMH]

Just to clear some things up. I've got my chisels, hammers, mallets, some clamps, sanders, hand plane, mini block plane, router, circular saw.

I thought I'd go kit, because I don't think I could easily bend the wood indoors and have my marriage survive. I used to bend redwood for circular deck band boards in my youth......I'm mostly limited in space

I thought kit because it would be fast enough that my grand kids could watch me put it together and see how you follow plans without them getting too easily bored. I'd imagine that I could get it together in just a few weeks.

I thought it would be a nice project to highlight some skills in assembly and detail and to practice patience while expressing myself in the guitars finish.

I'm expecting it to sound reasonably good and hope to pass it on to my one of my grandchildren.

Thanks for all of the great comments and suggestions

[redir]

When I at University my roomate built one in our kitchen but he would bend the wood and make saw dust on the back porch.

It is sounding more and more like a kit might be a good choice for you.

[Fathand]

Originally Posted by printer2

My Romantic era styled guitar.











Exacto blade to cut out the sound hole.

Cut slots a little outside the profile area and them them with a hammer to break them off. I would think a person would have to rig themselves a portable vice of some kind to hold the material for some operations.





A razor saw to slot the fret slots, widened it with the coping saw blade. Just happened to fit my fret wires. Needle files for the nut, frets. Some other interesting pictures (in my opinion) but nothing that has not been covered elsewhere. On joining the back and sides/top, I use a router and have the joined area just hanging over the bit on either side (clamped down) and I run the router against a carpenter straight edge. Gives me perfect joins. I did the above guitar without it as I wanted to do all I could without major tools, I used a drill press though. A trim router would do this just as well.



I thought of if I moved into an apartment, with a small drill press, trim router, small drum sander, (vacuum cleaner) I could do all my building with raw wood with the remaining using hand tools.

Thats impressive! I wouldn't have the patience or skill. If i was moving to a smaller I'd probably cut up a bunch of b&s and neck blanks before I gave up my bandsaw.

[zeeway]

I have built guitars from a kit, as well as from scratch…both acoustic and electric. I also have a fairly extensive background in hobby woodworking…some furniture, several rocking chairs, etc…so the only daunting part of guitar building that was new to me was the thin wood bending for the sides. With your background, you should be able to handle all of the steps.

If you are interested in how a guitar makes pleasing sounds (I am) a guitar building experience would be valuable to you. But in my experience, in terms of expense, you do not save any money over buying a modest prebuilt guitar, after you factor in the tools and supplies cost. But it does provide considerable satisfaction especially when you can tell your friends that you indeed did build that guitar.

You mentioned the grandchildren aspect, and I could see you getting brownie points for that. But guitar building involves some fiddly, boring bits that would not be all that interesting for more than five minutes to my grandchildren...perhaps yours are more patient.

As others have mentioned it is a good way to evaluate whether you want to build one from scratch later on.

[ProfChris]

Originally Posted by BreedloveRDMH

Just to clear some things up. I've got my chisels, hammers, mallets, some clamps, sanders, hand plane, mini block plane, router, circular saw.

I thought I'd go kit, because I don't think I could easily bend the wood indoors and have my marriage survive. I used to bend redwood for circular deck band boards in my youth......I'm mostly limited in space

I thought kit because it would be fast enough that my grand kids could watch me put it together and see how you follow plans without them getting too easily bored. I'd imagine that I could get it together in just a few weeks.

Side bending isn't at all messy. You either use a heat blanket and a form, or bend freehand around a hot iron (I've used a piece of pipe with a heat gun blowing into it).

Most of my mess is shavings, from plane, chisel and cabinet scraper, which sweep up fairly easily. Shaping the neck with a rasp is messy, and sanding is definitely an outdoor job, as is routing!

The slowest parts for me when working by hand are thicknessing the body wood, so a kit would certainly speed you up there. But if you go on to build others, the feel of the plates as you work them tells you a lot about how to construct the instrument, and produces a different result from simply drum sanding the plates to a predetermined size.

[printer2]

Originally Posted by Fathand

Thats impressive! I wouldn't have the patience or skill. If i was moving to a smaller I'd probably cut up a bunch of b&s and neck blanks before I gave up my bandsaw.

My 4x6 metal bandsaw gets used often, if I ever went that route I am sure I could come up with a small bandsaw. I cut the B&S and top and back by using a handsaw to split a board and then planed it down with a block plane. Lot of waste but the cheapest and easiest (well the hand cutting was a chore) way to get a set whittled down to size. I guess that a person doing the same could (if they had a trim router) could make up a router sled and dimension the wood to size. I have another set ready to go for when I find the time, too many other projects in line first. But it is fun building one of these. I would use CA to glue things together, much faster. Eventually I will have components down to size and just draw on them similar to having a kit with parts close to being ready to build with.

[koolimy]

I would recommend a kit from Blues Creek Guitars, because you get Mr. John Hall, which is like having a luthier on call. It will likely be very scary building your first guitar and it is so nice to have a luthier who you can talk to at any time, especially when you run into problems. Mr. Hall is super friendly and can help you walk off the plank when you run into big and small mistakes.

The kit will cost you quite a lot in terms of total costs including tools. For me, I had to start from 0 tools so the total cost came out to around $1500 for my first kit. The kit itself was just under $700, a mold around $130, and a sanding dish around $100. The mold and sanding dish are heavy so they will have significant shipping fees too. You may want to get 2 sanding dishes depending on the type of guitar you make, which will add additional costs.

Mr. Hall can also get you many different types of kits. Most other kit makers don't offer much variety outside of OMs, 000s, and dreadnoughts. Mr. Hall can provide you with many more types of body shapes and can fix you up with a custom spec if you have something more exotic in mind. I am currently building a bolt on neck classical guitar from a Blues Creek kit and I previously built a Cherry/Adirondack Martin scale J-185 from Blues Creek.

Keep in mind that Blues Creek is very old school and his website is not the best. It is better to find Mr. Hall's contact info on the website and email or call him directly to spec out your kit.

You can find the basic steps in several different forms. First would probably be getting a book, such as the one by Cumpiano, and use the steps outlined in the book. Another would be using Stew-Mac's instructions that can be found on their website. Another would be going to Blues Creek Guitar's youtube channel and piecing together the videos for demonstrations and instructions.

Good luck! I loved building my first guitar, even though it was crappy, and I am having fun building my second guitar. As an apartment dweller without power tools kits are a Godsend, even though they may be expensive. Since it is your first time I would recommend a kit just so you can have somebody to hold your hand along the way. Once you get this first one out of the way, you'll have much more experience and confidence to build a guitar from scratch.