I recently retired from the military and my wife has agreed to building me a workshop and some nice woodworking tools. I really want to build a playable guitar. I know there are plenty of plans out there but can anyone suggest a floor plan for the shop and the most important tools I need get first.

Thanks
Lonnie


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SpaceAceF wrote:
I recently retired from the military and my wife has agreed to building me a workshop and some nice woodworking tools. I really want to build a playable guitar. I know there are plenty of plans out there but can anyone suggest a floor plan for the shop and the most important tools I need get first.


Here's one place for starter guitar kits:


http://grizzly.com/products/searchresults.aspx?q=guitar

Not sure what tools you might need, although the tool investment for
these kits should be minimal as I wold think hand tools should be all
that is required.

AS far as shop layout is concerned, google "shop layout".. Here's one
site that will come up:

http://www.woodnet.net/tips/general-...g-shop-layout/

Good luck with a new hobby, and the wife is a keeper :-)

"SpaceAceF" wrote in message
I recently retired from the military and my wife has agreed
to building me a workshop and some nice woodworking tools.
I really want to build a playable guitar. I know there are plenty
of plans out there but can anyone suggest a floor plan for the
shop and the most important tools I need get first.

Luthier work is definitely one where it would help to have some expert
advice when it comes to tools. Since you're retired, I would seriously
consider atttending one of the many fine lutherie schools and go from there.

http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/I-8010.html

Best plan for tool purchase in any form of woodworking is to buy the tool as
the need arises, that way you get what you need for what you're going to be
doing as a woodworker.

IOW, buy the guitar plans you feel most comfortable with, then buy the tools
you need to implement the plan.

Making jigs is important in that line of woodworking, and the tools to make
the jigs I would consider a necessity.

Besides the necessary workbench, almost every luthier I've known had at
least a band saw and a drill press in the way of large power tools. Not one
had a tablesaw.

After that, lots of planes, rasps, small hand saws, and lots and lots of
specialized clamps, seem to be in order.

I would go the school route if I were retired, serious about guitar
building, and wanted to get into it quickly.

....just my tuppence.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 12/14/07
KarlC@ (the obvious)

I recently retired from the military and my wife has agreed to building
me a workshop and some nice woodworking tools. I really want to build a
playable guitar. I know there are plenty of plans out there but can
anyone suggest a floor plan for the shop and the most important tools I
need get first.


I suggest you do a Google for Luthier Forums. The forums dedicated to
string instrument making will have a lot more insight to what a shop will
need.

My guess, and this is just a raw guess, is a lot of emphasis on a
finishing room with low dust, or maybe a spray finish booth with a good
venting.

Best of luck, as Luthier takes a long hard learning curve to get it right.

Phil

Phil again wrote:
I recently retired from the military and my wife has agreed to building
me a workshop and some nice woodworking tools. I really want to build a
playable guitar. I know there are plenty of plans out there but can
anyone suggest a floor plan for the shop and the most important tools I
need get first.


I suggest you do a Google for Luthier Forums. The forums dedicated to
string instrument making will have a lot more insight to what a shop will
need.

My guess, and this is just a raw guess, is a lot of emphasis on a
finishing room with low dust, or maybe a spray finish booth with a good
venting.

Best of luck, as Luthier takes a long hard learning curve to get it right.

Phil

Can you be a decent luthier without also being a player? I'd love to
try my hand at making guitars (an electric bass is actually the first
thing I'd like to try) but I have NO idea how to play them. I can't
help but think that would be a detriment to knowing whether or not the
instruments you were making were any GOOD...

--
"Our beer goes through thousands of quality Czechs every day."
(From a Shiner Bock billboard I saw in Austin some years ago)
To reply, eat the taco.

Can you be a decent luthier without also being a player? I'd love to
try my hand at making guitars (an electric bass is actually the first
thing I'd like to try) but I have NO idea how to play them. I can't
help but think that would be a detriment to knowing whether or not the
instruments you were making were any GOOD...

No, I don't think you could be a GOOD luthier, but you could make one or
two just for your own satisfaction.

But the tools needed, as I saw a luthier on DIY cable TV make a guitar,
seemed to be a lot of special tools.

Try this site:
http://www.lmii.com/
(Luthier Mercantile International)
They sell several guitar kits at different skill levels so you can get
your feet wet with buying different quantities of tools.

But, the idea of an instruction school / camp does ring a true tone.

Phil

On Tue, 22 Jan 2008 10:00:52 -0600, Steve Turner
wrote:

Can you be a decent luthier without also being a player? I'd love to
try my hand at making guitars (an electric bass is actually the first
thing I'd like to try) but I have NO idea how to play them. I can't
help but think that would be a detriment to knowing whether or not the
instruments you were making were any GOOD...

Can you build a high chair if you're an adult? An Indy car if you're not a
driver?
Ok, that's a stretch, but I've known a lot of pickers and none of them had a
clue about wood working...

One of my kids was learning to play and he used a web site for tuning, using the
mic from his web cam.. ;~]
I'd guess that could also be used to test a guitar that you made.. (His WAS an
electric bass, BTW)


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Not only Grizzley has guitar kits, also Stewart Macdonald
www.stewmac.com and Martin Guitar http://www.martinguitar.com/

I have built one guitar kit from Martin. During that construction I
did a lot of research. And I found a site of an amateur luthier who
posted a list of her tools.

http://pweb.jps.net/~kmatsu/htmlpages/toolslist.html



On Tue, 22 Jan 2008 08:31:46 -0600, "SpaceAceF"
wrote:

I recently retired from the military and my wife has agreed to building me a workshop and some nice woodworking tools. I really want to build a playable guitar. I know there are plenty of plans out there but can anyone suggest a floor plan for the shop and the most important tools I need get first.

Thanks
Lonnie


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SpaceAceF wrote:
I really want to build a playable guitar.

You'll get some good discussion if you ask the same question
on another newsgroup: rec.music.makers.builders - good crowd
there, mostly guitarmakers.

I suggest you take a look in rec.music.makers.builders. We just had a
thread on this subject last week over there. Are you planning to build
electric or acoustic guitars or both?

A couple of merchants that specialize in tools and materials for luthiers:

http://www.stewmac.com
http://www.lmii.com

These are good places to start. Remember that Google is your best
friend too. I've obtained a lot of tools, wood, and other supplies from
Ebay sellers as well.

Here's a website that I found extremely useful while I was building my
first couple of acoustic guitars (I started about 3 years ago):

http://www.hoffmanguitars.com/building_a_guitar.htm

I've also put pages on my web site that document to varying degrees the
construction of several of the instruments I've built over the last six
years. Start here for an index of these projects:

http://www.cyrguitars.com/music_page.html

Hope these things help! If you have specific questions, feel free to
email me privately, or post the questions on rec.music.makers.builders.

--Steve

"SpaceAceF" wrote in message
...
I recently retired from the military and my wife has agreed to building me
a workshop and some nice woodworking tools. I really want to build a
playable guitar. I know there are plenty of plans out there but can anyone
suggest a floor plan for the shop and the most important tools I need get
first.

Thanks
Lonnie

Congratulations on your retirement.
If you are like me, retirement from the military is not a retirement as
most refer to it, simply a transition to another career.
Take a look in the area for a military base, call the MWR shop to see if
there is a woodshop there. For a few bucks an hour, you'll have a well
equipped shop, a little training and some good folks to talk to. Use this
time to figure out where you want to go.
I "retired" to the DC area. There are three woodshops in town (Andrews,
Bolling, and Belvoir).
I bought a townhouse with a two car garage that will become my shop. I
ordered my tablesaw today and it will be here in a few weeks.
Good luck

Jack

SpaceAceF skreiv:
I recently retired from the military and my wife has agreed to building me a workshop and some nice woodworking tools. I really want to build a playable guitar. I know there are plenty of plans out there but can anyone suggest a floor plan for the shop and the most important tools I need get first.

Thanks
Lonnie


A couple of informative sites he
http://frets.com/FRETSPages/first.html
http://mimf.com

On Tue, 22 Jan 2008 14:09:30 -0800, Steve wrote:


I suggest you take a look in rec.music.makers.builders. We just had a
thread on this subject last week over there. Are you planning to build
electric or acoustic guitars or both?

A couple of merchants that specialize in tools and materials for luthiers:

http://www.stewmac.com
http://www.lmii.com

Might also note that the president of Grizzly is very in to making musical
instruments and they have kits and parts..


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing