Outfitting your shop with the right tools for the job helps you work better, easier and produce higher quality instruments. Our reviews will help you navigate your way towards the right tools for the right jobs.
Hot on the heels of our review for the Triton TSPS450 oscillating spindle sander, we're taking a look at its cousin which "offers" similar capabilities "in addition" to belt sanding....
It's undeniable that Festool produce machines designed and built to some of the highest standards of safety, quality and performance. Those minor points aside, what type of batshit insane do you need to be in order to spend half a grand on a hand sander....?
Spindle sanders have several valuable uses around a guitar-maker's shop: anything from refining a router template to working on the instrument itself. This benchtop unit from Triton sits firmly in the DIY tool price range; does it return cheap DIY toy results or does it provide a worthwhile investment?
Precision fret slotting miter boxes have been commonplace for many years now. This fully-featured and tool from Portugal-based Guitars & Woods possesses all of the features plus a capacity no other box on the market can match....
Compact palm routers/trimmers find their way into a huge variety of workshop tasks. This tidy Makita unit is a great buy with a high reputation that follows the name. Regular site contributors Andrew Knight and Carl Maltby give us a full rundown on this little workhorse with real-world use and modifications useful to luthiers....
Accurate and repeatable nut slot height setups are a crucial set in setting up a new or existing instrument. Doing so on a one-off basis is not too difficult, however being able to carry the operation out quickly, accurately and with repeatability takes setups completely to the next level.
The task of routing perfect binding and purfling channels is one that benefits from precise uncomplicated tools. An additional hurdle is working with the non-flat surfaces found on acoustics, carved tops or simple arm contours. Let's compare the home-made and commercial options available, including the very comprehensive kit from LMI....
The plate joining jig from LMI is a purpose-built jig for glueing soundboards/backs for acoustics or even tops for solidbodies without tying up valuable workbench space. How does it work in practice and is it a good investment for your workshop?
In part three of this in-depth product review series, contributors Andrew Knight and Carl Maltby give us a full rundown on this little workhorse with real-world use and observational commentary....
Perfect fretwork can only be built upon a perfectly-shaped fingerboard. G&W's precision radius sanding beams are built to last, produce exceptional results with little effort at a price that doesn't break the bank.
3M's thin-film double-coated adhesive tapes have been a mainstay product in a luthier's workshop for as long as we can remember....and probably longer. Anything from attaching router template to adhering pickguards onto acoustics, its versatility ensures that a smart luthier will always find new tricks and uses for it.
When you spend hours in the workshop marking out hundreds of accurate measurements, you develop a reliance on whatever you use to do your marking. The last few years using these inexpensive trouble-free pencils has been unexpectedly satisfying....
Heritage-quality handmade rasps are universally acknowledged as the peak of excellence in wood shaping and refinement. Rasps from the celebrated Liogier workshop in France are no exception; however, how well do they provide returns from their significant cost of investment?
The Triton MOF001 dual-mode plunge router is a very attractive package; a well-featured plunge router that doubles as its own router lift. Coupled with a price point that undercuts the majority of competition, it seems like a real game-changer for the financially-wise luthier. Forum regular Andrew Knight (@KnightroExpress) takes us through his first impressions and reasoning for buying this tempting piece of machinery....
Following up directly on our review of the disappointing decline of the Colt TwinLand drill bits, we set our sights far higher onto Colt's fantastic HSS-M2 FCE ("first clean exit") drills bits. In spite of being a slightly pricier investment, do these produce the sublime results we previously saw from the original TwinLands from yesteryear?
While high-precision and feature-laden power tools are often our first choice for use in lutherie, there are times when a gentler, hands-on approach is called for, and we reach for the handplane or chisels to finely shape our creations. As we all know, the blades of these carving and cutting tools will from time to time require some TLC to ensure that they always remain in peak condition, and a honing guide can help achieve this goal.
When the TwinLand design was first introduced many years ago, I replaced all of my main bits with them; almost a decade later the ones I still have are producing exceptional results. Unfortunately, the TwinLands falling off the shelves these days are not as they used to be....
The Festool CTL SYS is designed for basic waste extraction needs in a compact and reasonably affordable package, making it a candidate for low-volume extraction in shops where space is at a premium. Does the extractor meet the muster, or does it fall afoul of the "priced as high as the market will support" problem that often comes with the Festool brand?
The quality of our marking up defines how accurate a workpiece will be and ensures that we keep introduced tolerances to a minimum. Are our tools following accurate tight markings left in correct locations? INCRA's range of precision marking rules are certainly the best out there for this.
