NotYou

How is that cover plate held on?

I would make sure make those radiuses end pieces very wide. That way you don't risk cutting too deep on the sides. If you make them 8" wide, it won't be too big and it'll make the whole process easier. Personally, I working on plans for a swing arm jig right now. I think your method should work out great as long as you set it up right. Make sure to upload some pictures.

I just came across this thread. I have that same laminate trimmer too. I use for almost everything. I rarely touch my router anymore. If I remember right, it cost around $90 to $110 at Home Depot last year. Completely worth it.

People are going to post a lot of resources, but seriously, Projectguitar.com and projectguitar.ibforums.com are amazing resources. As far as book go, I love "The Luthiers Handbook," by Roger Siminoff. It's less of a "how-to" book and more of a "why-to" book. You can learn all the ins and outs on this site, but you'll gain a lot of understanding from that book. There are other books, but I'm sure everyone else here will post them. Make sure to be obsessive. It really helps.

This is just my 2 cents, but I would either go with the mahogany or Indian rosewood. Indian rosewood makes for a beautiful neck, but I don't think it'll look great with a mahogany back. Honduran mahogany is always a great bet for a neck. If you use the IR, I would do a laminate with the mahogany. That way you'll keep some consistency. The resulting sound should be great too.

Ever since I started building I've been working an adjustable bridge that won't require any metal to transfer sound. Ideally, it'll be all ebony, or ebony and bone. I think there are a lot of problems with tune-o-matics. I won't get into it much right now, but they kill a lot of sound with their structure. Also, metal and wood won't ever transfer sound the same way, so there's going to be a compromise no matter what, even if it's non-adjustable. It's more physics than I want to get into right now. I came up with a design right away, but I've been working on making it better and cleaner. I don't work on it much, only when it comes to mind and I get the itch.

I don't have to worry about others using my stuff since I have my own locked space. Everyone there seems to be pretty cool. They're all professional artists, so they take those kinds of things seriously. I'll be starting to load my stuff up tomorrow and I'll get some pics.

I just signed a lease for 300 sf space. It's in the art district here in Denver and is the most badass industrial looking building I've ever seen. I couldn't be more excited. I get my own studio, but the building is shared with metal workers, sculptors, and other industrial type artists. The owner has a load of woodworking tools, which are well taken care of, that I can use anytime I want if I need to. I also have an appointment early next week to officially register my business.

I'm getting the 15" for sure now. I talked the guy down to $325 and I'm picking it up in the morning. I just got a new shop and the owner has a HUGE Delta bandsaw in the building that I can use anytime if I need to cut anything bigger. It's been a good week.

I would go for it $350 is a good deal, unless you see any need to resaw more than a 15" bookmatch, that could be a problem for larger acoustic backs and tops other than that I see no reason it would be fine for any guitarmaking. Thanks for the quick response. I think I'd be smart to get it. Especially since I'd have to wait to be able to afford the more expensive one. The problem is that I can't wait because the money is coming from a build that I can't do without the bandsaw. That means I'd have to use credit, which I'm desperately trying to avoid. I don't plan on starting with acoustics until at least this summer(and I hate jazz, so archtops aren't an issue ). My business has been picking up a lot lately and hopefully I can resell this one and get the larger one then. I just have this part me that's telling me not to do it because I'll want the bigger one later. With my luck, someone will order something bookmatched that's 15.5" and hour after I get it to the shop.

I talked to a guy today from craigslist who has a 15" Grizzly bandsaw. He measured the cut height and says it's 7.5". That enough for a 15" bookmatch. I don't know if the wheels are cast iron, but I doubt it. It's a model they don't make anymore. He's only asking $350. Says he paid $550. He says he barely used it(I'm thinking it was a mid-life crisis purchase). Do you think I'd be wise to go for it, or will I be kicking myself later that I didn't get the more expensive one with the 10" cut height and the cast iron wheels(I can put it on craiglist later and upgrade too). The other one I'm considering is $895, so you can see my dilemma.

A had a truss rod that came from Stew mac that wasn't set up properly, so I was going to take it to the shop and see if I could fix it. I left it on top of my Jeep and didn't realize until I got there. I found it in the middle of the road getting ran over by cars. I retrieved it and it worked perfectly. Getting ran over by countless cars fixed the f***er. The PVC cover was all chewed up, so I just used it on a build for myself.

Rocker is a woodworking store. You can just go to rockler.com and search for glycerin and you'll find it. They have a few locations. You might get lucky and there will be one near you.

Rockler sells it for like $5. I used it a few weeks ago to help with some tight wood binding (it helped a little).

They have some really nice prices! they also show what you're buying, which is great. A lot of companies don't show the actual pieces you're getting. Thanks everyone for the links. It's a big help.

I would definitely be interested in seeing a build log. I'm really just looking to build something that can cut 2D. I plan to do all of my building by hand still, but I would love to be able to make my own templates with a computer.

I have a customer that wants a neck-thru bass. It's going to be a laminate neck with a few parts, but with two wide strips of curly maple. The problem is I can't find good curly maple that long. I definitely know it's out there because Ive seen it plenty of times. Does anyone know where to look? Obviously, you don't live near me, but a website would be good. He also wants cocobolo or koa wings. I found some, but I'm trying to shop around. If anyone knows of a good dealer, I'd appreciate it. The bass also includes andaman padauk(vermillion wood), purpleheart(neck and body laminate), maple veneer, and ebony laminates. Except for the purpleheart body laminate, which I can find in larger sizes and cut down, I've found all of those locally. Thanks for any help.

A lot of guys think the wood makes no difference at all, but I don't agree with that at all. The neck wood has a lot to do with the sound, arguably more than the body (on a solidbody). The fretboard takes up a considerable portion of the neck, so it's safe to assume it makes a difference in sound. One thing to really consider is the frets connect right to the fretboard. The vibrations from the fret need to pass through the fretboard before they get to the neck (much of the vibration comes from the body to the neck, but I'm not talking about that right now), so, in theory, a more resonant wood is going transfer the vibrations better(if you've ever cut or filed ebony, you know how resonant and loud it can be).

Thicknessing with a router is never fun. I've heard of others trying it and I've attempted it myself, with horrible results. I don't have a planer myself, but I've been getting good results with a drill press and forstner bits. I got the idea when I saw another luthier using them before to remove a top for a customer on a solidbody. It leaves shallow holes in the wood, but you can get them out with a belt sander pretty easily. You just have to make sure to leave room for them. You'll still have to plane or sand the wood yourself, but this is a quick and cheap way to thickness. I had to shave off about .5" off a set of wings a couple days ago and used that process. I took pictures because I thought it looked cool:

Theft is definitely biggest concern. I also wouldn't want the last person in the shop to leave and not lock the door with multi-thousand dollar guitars lying around. I might just look around more and try to find to find a space by myself. My business has been growing fast lately, but I want to make sure it can be steady before I get in over my head with my rent.

Yeah, I can't see needing to re-saw anything bigger than that. A 12 inch re-saw capacity is nice, but a 24" wide guitar would be ridiculous.

I've been talking with a guy who's looking to rent out a NEW woodworking shop space. It's 2200 sf, which makes my current shop look like a shoe closet. The price is more than i can afford right now, so we talked and he wants to rent it out to one or two other luthiers in the area along with me. That puts it in my price range. Have any of you shared a space with others? I seen people doing it before, but I'm not sure about it myself. The landlord is even going to place a few tools in there for general use (a HUGE table saw, jointer, etc) and he built a new automobile sized spray area that we can use. If anyone has any nightmare stories or good stories about co-op workshops, I'd appreciate it. (2200 sf!!!)

I somehow looked right over that I think that's the one then. $895 for a 12" cut height, a 6" fence, 2HP, and cast iron wheels is a steal. Now I really hope this guy buys that bass. Thanks for the help. If anyone else has any input, I'd still appreciate it.

I'm really thinking about getting one of these kits, just so you know.

You make a good point about the wheels. The Rikon I linked to in my first post has cast iron wheels and has gotten great reviews. I don't know the company at all, though, and they're located in China (I just keep imagining Harbor Freight tools). The Grizzly is American made and I hear they have good service too. I think it's between these two now: http://www.grizzly.com/products/14-2-HP-Deluxe-Bandsaw/G0457 $895 http://www.grizzly.com/products/17-Bandsaw...runnion/G0513X2 $995 The one with the cast iron wheels is more than I wanted to spend, but it might be worth it in the long. $100 extra now isn't going to seem like much later. BUT, the cheaper one comes with a resaw fence. It also won some award from fine woodworking for best value.