Basic Tool Setup....

[grsnovi]

What are you going tostart with?

For example, if you were going to purchase a kit from say: Stew-Mac, the neck and neck block already have the dove tail cut and the top/back are "carved", the fingerboard is cut for frets. Putting one of their kits together is mostly assembly and finishing work.

If you're heading out to the forest to cut your own trees, you're going to need a lot more tools.

What are your plans and what do you already have? Have you ever built anything out of wood before?

[jimini_pickit]

So far in my project the tool I'm lacking the most (and needing the most) is a band saw. I'm having to spend more time sanding and refinishing crooked cuts from other saws that could have been avoided had I had a straight cutting band saw.
Later on I may chime back in and say I needed a scroll saw too, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it...

Jim

[crawdad]

When I started, I had a band saw, some clamps and a 12v drill and a table saw. I added the following in the last 4 months:

drill press--a bunch of bits and a sanding drum assortment, plus 5" sanding attachment
thickness planer
scroll saw
orbital sander
bench grinder
cabinet scraper set and burnishing jig
various chisels
japanese water stone
stropping block
a ton of clamps
a wood vice
several files
jigs--a mold, a side bending jig, a binding jig and a neck cutting jig
a router table
more blades--for coping saw, scroll saw, x-acto knives and bandsaw
a huge assortment of sandpapers
sanding blocks--home made

things I had that I used:

Fret crowning file
nut file set
reamer tool
Dremel tool and assorted bits--bought a Stew Mac base, which I like
fretting hammer
custom ground nippers
fret tang cutter tool
digital micrometer--made into a thickness guage
another digital micrometer for measurements
small metal ruler divided into 64ths
large flat metal ruler


then, there are plans, specialty books, finishing materials etc.

Every tool I bought seemed to solve a problem I had. I'd still like to get some finger planes and a good jointer, but I was able top get through with the above. I've probably forgot a few things, but this is the major stuff.

[crawdad]

Oh yeah--I bought fingerboards pre-slotted from Stew mac. I just didn't want to deal with the fine measurements of a mandolin fingerboard. Well worth it for the money. Better than I could have done by hand.

[Rob Powell]

I've been reading this thread with some interest because I too would like to know what tools I absolutely need.

All this begs the question (and I know someone has the answer) how did our luthier forefathers build anything without the benefit of all of these tools?

Obviously some of these tools have been around hundreds of years but I'm pretty sure that digital this and that as well as motorized power tools are relatively new to the equation.

I'm not knockin' technology one bit but what do you think? Are the instruments we build today any better than those built without the benefit of Dremel?

Maybe we just build 'em faster and more consistent but I'm not sure that makes them any more playable, better looking or better sounding....

Any thoughts?

[Yonkle]

Standard tools
Chisel (invest in a high quality tool)
Razor knife
Sloane finger plane #0697 (#0331 optional)
Small bent gouge (FlexCut)
Hand plane, small
Wooden cam clamps (3 large, 3 small) #3721, 3723
Spool clamps, small #0683 (12-18 required)
Coping saw
Fret saw or dovetail saw
Electric drill, 3/8"
Feeler gauge set #1811
Dremel tool #0399 (or equivalent)
Binding router bit #4562 (for F5) or #4561 (A5)
Fret slot cleaner #4870
Heat gun (a hair dryer might work)
Fretting hammer #4895
Fret-end dressing file #1175
Nut slotting files #0823, 0827, 0830, 0833 (.013", .016", .028", .040")
File assortment (we recommend our #0842)


Additional tools
Thickness caliper #0327 (or make your own)
Radius gauges #0244
Scraper blades #0628, 0654, 0655
Precision straightedge
Adjustable binding router guide #5248
Carbide-tip binding router bit #4032 (5/16" dia.)
Micro chisels #1628
Fret cutters #0619
Brad-point drill bit, 1/4" (see #0339)
Awl
Luthier’s digital caliper #5212 or equivalent
Binding laminating jig #4197
Fret tang nipper #1626
Fret press system #4483
Fret leveler #0862 (6")
Nut seating file #5055 (1/8")
Violin reamer, small #0344
Archtop bridge-fitting jig #5046
Vise #1813 or equivalent

Supplies
Titebond wood glue #0620 (or use the traditional ground hide glue #0669 and glue pot #0668)
Rubber bands, small
Rubber binding bands #1274 (40" long)
Clothespins, spring-type

MIND BOGGLING IS'NT IT!

[crawdad]

Thank you crawdad, I don't recognize some of the tools, so maybe you could help.

1)japanese waterstone? Is it a different type of sharpening stone?

yes...its finer and gets things pretty darn sharp. Uses water instead of oil as a lubricant. There is also the Scary Sharp system--do a search. basically, its a plate of glass and a range of sandpapers. Its all a matter of personal preference.

2)stropping block? are these homemade? if so do you have a plan for one? I bought mine--I think its made by Flexcut. Its some compound and varous shapes and leather, etc. You can get a mirror finish on your chisels and gouges. Important when dealing with things like hard maple. Having really sharp tools makes the work so much more enjoyable.

3)jigs--a mold, a side bending jig, a binding jig and a neck cutting jig? Are these bought or made? If made,are there plans for these?

These are made. Check out the Dudenbostel pages on the net:
http://www.thefishnet.com/makemandolin/newmake.htm

You'll see his mold, side bending setup and binding channel jig. Roger Siminoff sells a mold for about $200, but you can easily make your own.

There are various ways to cut the dovetail--several have been mentioned here. Search for dovetail joint or dovetail jig.

4)reamer tool? Can you be more specific, please?

A reamer is a hand tool that cuts a tapered hole. Its about 5 inches long and comes to a point--a thin circular cone shaped thing. Good for doing your end pin hole and for enlarging holes for tuner bushings. The hole gets thinner as it goes in, if that makes sense, rather than maintaining the same diameter, like a drill bit would.

5)custom ground nippers? Are you talking about air nippers,or customizing hand nippers? If hand, what do I do to my nippers?

Hand nippers. When you buy them, the place where they cut is recessed a bit. If you grind them down on a grinder or sanding belt, you can get them to cut right at the poiint of contact. Its nice for trimming fret ends before final filing, and finishing.

Thanks..................Reid http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
I'll answer the best I can: