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You get what you pay for


LGM Guitars

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Well, you guys have a point, $ depends on quite a few things, and each person has to make their own decsion based on their own needs and funding

But i thouroughly enjoyed your post LGM, you make some good points, ironically i had the same thing break on my craftsman router, everything else is ok, for now.....

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I had always heard that Craftsman tools were great and I have had some good ones - a bandsaw etc. However, when I got into building guitars I wanted a better router and bought one of the "Professional" models. I went through about 4 of them - 2 HP, variable speed with 1/4 & 1/2 collets. Something bad happened to each of them. I bought a Milwaukee and have used it a lot with no problems.

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I've heard alot about Craftsmans routers sucking. I have never had any problems with mine, the 3.5HP monster.

I just picked up a DeWalt 2 1/4HP Plunge/Fixed Base router today. I wanted something smaller and lighter for free hand routing, so the Craftsman can stay in my router table. While I was deciding between the Proter Cable equivalent or the DeWalt, I noticed play, or movement/wobbling in the PC, when you locked the plunge. For $379CDN you think that wouldn't happen...

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  3)most important of all...how do i justify the cost to my wife

  i don't have a business so when i buy a tool it BETTER not be the most expensive one or else i will be hearing for the next ten years about the time i spent $300 on a  router when she wanted a new pair of shoes.

and that is not a joke....anyone else who is married knows what i mean

business expenses are easy to justify to the wife...hobby expenses are just considered toys

Wes,

I know what you mean. But my wife has been very agreeable thus far. I justify things by using them to build stuff for our daughter. :D After all, I did get her a guitar which I had to fix. B)

For those of you who are not married: If you can afford it, buy the tools now. It is much easier.

Guitar Ed

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When I went to buy the paints to paint my nephew's helmets a guy called into the shop and I heard one end of the discussion.

"No, I wouldn't buy that....The cheapest gun I think you could get away with for that is one of the cheaper SATAs...Yeah, about $200"

Which, of course, made me feel cheap for having bought a $75 gun from Home Depot, my logic being "I'm only trying this out to see if I'm any good at it/if I like it.

Oh well

I think the flip side of this is to remember that exspensive isn't the same as quality and inexpensive isn't the same as cheap. Your best bet before buying ANYTHING is to do as much research as you can stand. If a company has a reputation for good products then even their inexspensive products will probably be good (just probably, you know, not as good as their exspensive product).

But that's just my opinion, your mileage may vary

Well, it's kinda like guitars... you don't drop the scratch for a Jem or a Gibson when you're starting, but when you get serious about it, you (generally) don't spend too much time looking at GRX's.

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I agree with Jeremy to a certain point,he uses his tools for a bussiness and has to have good quality otherwise his customers will be asking why he wants xyz amount of money for the work he has done and it looks bad,also I believe he could write that off on his tax return as stuff he needed to keep his shop running.

Not every person has the money to buy the higher priced tools and I really think that some ppl with cheapo tools could do a good job(some ppl are wood workers and others are talented in other areas)

3)most important of all...how do i justify the cost to my wife ,hobby expenses are just considered toys (sums up the last 12 years of my life) Wes I feel ya!!

So where is the "what I have been doing lately "thread from LGM GUITARS with all

the photo and so on?

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Gotta feel for all the married guys, I'll be in the same boat soon.

I've found that you can get most handtools secondhand. Generally if they're old and look like they've been used a fair bit, then someone's been using it a fair bit and it must work B) . Often the tools are great if the sharp bits are renewed or sharpened.

I've also got some mini clamps that came from the pound shop and cost 1 pound for 4 of them. They're wicked and I'm more than happy. I'm sure that a clamp that cost 5 times as much would be better but it's all about weighing up the pros and cons.

As for power tools.............I'm staying out of it, I just steel mine off my mates :D

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I'm going to see if I can build a guitar without buying ANY tools. :D

If I'm lucky, one of the various schools I work at (I'm a supply teacher) will not mind if I do some work in their shop during certain hours.

But when it comes time to buy some stuff, I'll certainly keep what LGM said in mind. I find that it's the same with almost anything-- it's not the money (LGM would agree with that, I'm sure) but the shrewdness of the consumer. Before committing to a sequencer package for home studio recording, I researched for about 3 months. In the end, I got Tracktion for $80, instead of Cubase SX 2.0 for $1,000.

On the other hand, when I went on a bike trip last summer, I spent $1,500 on a bike and panniers, rather than thinking that a $300 CCM bike would hack it. By the end of the trip, one of my travelmates' bikes had crapped out entirely, and it wasn't even lowest-of-the-line, but it was meant for city commuting, you know?

I know I'm just repeating what's already been said, but it's all about researching, investigating, and being smart about purchases.

Someone mentioned tools being tax-deductible... if I'm not mistaken, I can set myself up as a business in Canada and get tax deductions for any equipment I buy, as long as I honestly have the intention of turning it into some sort of business venture. Hey, I'll sell some guitars if I get good enough at it...! :D In the mean time, I just might be able to get some use out of the guitars I build as part of refining my craft.... B)

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