B.o.S. may finish building a guitar eventually

[BetterOffShred]

So yeah I had mentioned a few times I had been trying to build a guitar from scratch. I haven't really made any progress since I got divorced, and my ex wife hated that I had so many hobbies. I figured I'd post some pics of my cluttered work space as I attempt to get it operational. It's in the basement and I only have shopvac for dust removal, but all my power tools have direct hookups for a vac system so I figure I'll give it a whirl. Worst case scenario I can drag stuff outside.

I have a 4.5" joiner
A 13" planer
10" table saw
Router with plunge base (no table yet)
Orbital sander
Palm sander
Shinto rasp and numerous others for shaping
Drill press
Dremel tool with associated attachments
Lots of chisel and files
Fretting saw
Lots of clamps (not all pictured)

So I may need to build a fret wire roller and purchase fretting tools at some point sooner or later. I also have plans drawn up from copying designs on the internet for a truss rod routing jig, a scarfing jig for cutting and gluing, and enough masonite and 1/2" MDF to make templates for stuff..

Hoping having a little log here of my stuff motivates me to make sawdust and move forward with my build.

[BetterOffShred]

I have a few neck blanks I made pictured above mostly maple and walnut that I got cheap to learn how to get pretty close dimensionally.

I also have 2 body blanks under the neck blanks, one is cedar, figured I'd try to make a barncaster body, and then the other is poplar for also a telecaster style guitar. I figured I'd make nearly the simplest guitar possible for my first try.

[Paul_C]

When I started out I was making guitars as well as repairing them, but it's very difficult to make a decent amount (or at least, it was for me) so I just repair stuff these days.

Any advice you'd like I'm happy to share, though there may be other suggested methods that might prove better, or easier to do with the tools you have. There are many approaches which achieve similar results, some of which use more power tools than others. Looking at you list I'm not sure you need much, if anything, in the way of other tools. I can build a guitar from scratch with a router and a few bits, a pillar drill, a rasp for neck carving and a lot of grades of sandpaper (and a bandsaw, which isn't on your list and isn't essential)

I found a Tele shape nice and easy to start off with, and the more you can prep by making MDF patterns the less likely it is that you'll make a costly mistake.

It's great fun to play something you've made yourself and I've got two basses and a guitar that have seen action

[BetterOffShred]

Yeah I am definitely not in to any of this for the money. I am just drawn to building shit. The full guitar is the next frontier.

My dad has a big bandsaw. I think it's a 12" so I can always go use that, but that's a tool that's been on my list.

And a miter saw .. had a nice one but some cracked out gentlemen helped themselves to it a few years back with a lot of other stuff out of my garage.

Thanks Paul for the insight. I'm sure I'll stumble more along the way .. but you have to take a step to stumble so I should start there

[BetterOffShred]

Any recommendations on a few good router bits to start with?

The local Windsor plywood had Alder shorts for 2.99 A board foot so I got a few wide ones for jig making purposes. It's kind of soft but good enough. Walnut is Cray Cray expensive right now so I'm going to save what I have for neck blanks and lamination strips. I did pick up a cheap slab of 4/4 maple with a bunch of birdseye in it so I'll probably be resawing it for fretboards.