The essential tools

I want to start building some instruments and do some other general wood working.

However, I don't own any wood working tools.

I have a jigsaw and circular saw and other such power tools but no chiseles or anything that isn't electrical which is used for shaving or planing wood.

could yall give me a list of essential tools that I'd need to get started?

Go to my youtube channel. There is some stuff there that may help. It is way down the page - about 15 months old I think...

The three most essential tools are # 1 ..A "thickness sander" #2... A better thickness sander #3...the best thickness sander you can afford to buy "or make".

Timbuck said:

The three most essential tools are # 1 ..A "thickness sander" #2... A better thickness sander #3...the best thickness sander you can afford to buy "or make".

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I agree since I don't have 1,2 or 3 Getting the wood to thickness is the bane of my existence. I can deal with mahogany, but koa is a nightmare.

You lot are a bunch of woooses! I managed for years without a thickness sander...

You can have my chisel. I'll find something else to open my lacquer cans with.

Here's a page from Hana Lima's site about tools you could use. http://www.hanalima.com/tooltips.shtml

There's a thread or three here, also http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/archive/index.php?f-30.html

A bottle of good whiskey

A good book, a set of plans and Youtube.

It really depends. Since I mill for a good portion of my day, my first answer would be a 12" jointer, 10" tablesaw, and 10" sliding compound miter saw. If I really think about it, I do everything on a custom build and I would hate to do it without any of my tools. To start, you can't go wrong with a jointer and bandsaw. Having a tablesaw helps for accurate linear cuts, but you can get by without one. Next, I would definitely pick up a thickness sander. While my preference is a wide belt, we do have a couple drum sanders as well. Routers are not that expensive and can be very useful for reproduction, if you have good jigs set up. A good set of files and scrapers will also come in very handy during the later stages of a build. A lot of it is preference, as tools are only as useful as your skill and ingenuity in using them. Having said that, the right tools for the right job...

Before I start I have to say this. Before you plug one of these tools in, the very first item you'll need to aquire is RESPECT. Respect each of these tools and they will respect you. I made a foolish mistake early on when I brought home a used 10 inch Delta direct drive table saw. I've labored most of my life and I thought I knew a thing or two about tools. Well I plugged it in and gleefully went about crosscutting a huge chunk of zebrawood. Let's just say things could have gone a lot worse than they did. I knew about kickback but never experienced it until that night. Before you use any tool it's not enough to read the frigging manual, there are safety procedures on the web for every tool, do a google and learn all of the safety procedures on every tool you use. Respect, not fear, if you're afraid of the tool then that's worse than lack of respect.

I built my first cigar box uke with a circular saw, jig saw, hand held Skil belt sander ( 10 bucks used on ebay, workhorse cheapy ), a 30 dollar drill press from harbor freight ( on sale ), a wagner safe-t-planer, a set of nut files, razor blades, exacto knife set with different blades, clamps ( many many clamps ), and for the fretboard and bridge you could probably buy them from a parts dealer like Hana Lima and save yourself some grief.

To get serious you'll want: Bandsaw (12 inch or better... best you can afford and you WILL want a bigger one later on), table saw ( you could live without this if you have an ulcer or a heart condition) , jointer, scrapers, digital micrometer, finger plane, benchtop belt sander, trim router, router and router table, fret crowning file, more clamps, an assortment of rasps and files, at least one good chisel for shaping braces and to trim binding ( don't skimp ), and last but not least... the holy grail of the stringed instrument builder's tool shed... wait for it... wait for it... the Thickness Sander ander... ander... ander... OK and a dust collector.
I'm sure I'm forgetting something cause I've been driving for 10 hours and I'm just 3 into a 12, but this will get you started.

Vic D said:

Before I start I have to say this. Before you plug one of these tools in, the very first item you'll need to aquire is RESPECT. Respect each of these tools and they will respect you...

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Can't agree more... when I was about 5 years old my dad was really into carpentry. Well, before work one day he was trying to rush a few cuts on the tablesaw...encountered a good kickback... and saw a trail of blood on the floor. Following the trail, he found his pinky finger at the end of it. Luckily, he didn't pass out and was able to call 911 and get instructions on how to preserve the finger till EMS arrived. Also a little more luckily, they were able to attach it back on since it was such a clean cut! can't bend it completely anymore, but hey, still has his finger!!

Not trying to scare you or anything, but this is also a lesson that my dad tought me about power tools(table saws specifically!) Never let your guard down, give complete attention, and always respect the tool.

Funny thing about band saws and thickness sanders is you can probably buy the band saw and build the thickness sander as cheaply as you can buy good hand tools to do the same thing. I know that soon after I watched that video from Colonial Williamsburg on resawing by hand, I set about looking for a few good hand saws to do it. While I was looking, I found a 12" Craftsman band saw on Craigslist for $75, so I brought it home. I still have to clear out a better spot for it in my tiny workshop, but that is a different problem. With the saw problem solved, I set about pricing some good hand planes to augment by measly collection. It turns out I have an old washing machine motor, with belts and pulleys I used to power an old lathe. I also have several sets of pillow blocks from my tricycle building days. Bottom line is I can probably build a powered thickness sander for less than $50. I like the lack of noise and laid back feel of hand tools, but you really have to like them to pay more for them than power tools.

SweetWaterBlue said:

Funny thing about band saws and thickness sanders is you can probably buy the band saw and build the thickness sander as cheaply as you can buy good hand tools to do the same thing. I know that soon after I watched that video from Colonial Williamsburg on resawing by hand, I set about looking for a few good hand saws to do it. While I was looking, I found a 12" Craftsman band saw on Craigslist for $75, so I brought it home. I still have to clear out a better spot for it in my tiny workshop, but that is a different problem. With the saw problem solved, I set about pricing some good hand planes to augment by measly collection. It turns out I have an old washing machine motor, with belts and pulleys I used to power an old lathe. I also have several sets of pillow blocks from my tricycle building days. Bottom line is I can probably build a powered thickness sander for less than $50. I like the lack of noise and laid back feel of hand tools, but you really have to like them to pay more for them than good hand tools.

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I'm hip. I watch the fellas on youtube thinning a top or bottom with a high quality plane or taking a serious chisel and relieving a dovetail joint and it looks easy enough, but I know it takes a lot of learned skill. There are also a lot of top notch homemade thickness sanders on the web. One day I might aquire enough old school tools to do some real hand made builds, but till then I'm gonna compensate my noobie skils with those big power thingies.

Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:

You can have my chisel. I'll find something else to open my lacquer cans with.

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IF it is still availble... would you mind autographing it for me?

I'm talking about handheld elbow grease tools. nothing electrical. like planers and wood rasps and other such oldschool tools.

Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:

You can have my chisel. I'll find something else to open my lacquer cans with.

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Chuck, if you give away your chisels, what will you use for lawn darts??

berylbite said:

I'm talking about handheld elbow grease tools. nothing electrical. like planers and wood rasps and other such oldschool tools.

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There's a rasp at Lowe's... it's about 7 or 8 inches long and doesn't have a handle. it has course and fine in round and flat... And I love the thing for my necks. If there was one tool I would have to replace immediately if lost or stolen it's that one. Old school... next on the list but I don't have one is a spoke shave. Ebay has them fairly cheap but you get what you pay for. The old home built shaves seem to be favorites for many. Scrapers... if you use a good set of scrapers you'll never give them up.. perfect for taking out glue and smoothing out the rough spots. Coping saw, if you don't have a band saw a good coping saw makes quick acurate work of stuff... and a really nice chisel. I'd like to hear the vets' thoughts on good planes myself.
A japanese flush cut saw... preferrably the size of your fret slots. Ball ping hammer with blue painters tape on the flat end for driving in frets. That's what I use and it works great after you mess about 10 of them up and get the feel for it.

Just remember this when you're putting your frets in... you want the fret arched a bit so that the tang fits into the slot on each end with the center raised a hair.. push the tang in straight with your thumb on one end while keeping the fret lined up and puhed into the slot on the other end with your other hand, then give the far end a good tap with the hammer to secure that end, then give the end closer to you a good tap to secure that end, then kinda give a few blows up the center to drive it all home, the arch in the fretwire pushes the fret in and out slightly, creating a nice tight seat. Hope that makes sense.

berylbite said:

I'm talking about handheld elbow grease tools. nothing electrical. like planers and wood rasps and other such oldschool tools.

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Don't forget to get some wet stones and guides to keep all those old school tools good and sharp!

berylbite said:

I'm talking about handheld elbow grease tools. nothing electrical. like planers and wood rasps and other such oldschool tools.

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Check out the Hana Lima link that Steve posted.