Solid body guitar questions

[Daniel Rode]

A potential upcoming project would call for making a solid guitar body. Not a working guitar, but guitar shaped. I'd also make a guitar neck shaped object.

I don't have any of the tools or any experience making instruments. I don't even have a bandsaw anymore. However, this is a one off and it's not an instrument. It's a decorative piece shaped like a full size electric guitar.

I'm willing to buy a learn few new hand tools, but I don't want to go overboard. I need to cut the shape of the body somehow. My coping saw may not be up to that job in 6-8/4 stock. After that, I'll need to shape the curves (round over) on the body edges and the back of the neck.

I'm thinking I can get by with some kind of bow saw and a rasp or two? I have #151 spokeshave, few standard files and a cheap Nicholson rasp.

Any suggestions on tools and techniques would be super helpful.

[Matthew N. Masail]

A couple good rasps would be nice, then scrap and sand, how much depends on the rasps you get, but good rasps will be useful all around not just for this project. For cutting the shape a turning saw or you could do stop cuts with a backsaw and chisel out most of the waste. It's good practice to read the grain when doing that, and a useful skill all around.

P.S
Why not make it a functional guitar? Unless it's a time is money kind of thing.

[Daniel Rode]

Making a functional guitar, even a solid body, is an order of magnitude more complex. This is a gift for a friend who play in a band. I don't want to be more specific because the idea may have commercial value later on.

I'll look into buying or building a turning saw.

As for rasps, I absolutely cannot pay over $100 each for Auriou rasps. What's available that's not junk?

[Matthew N. Masail]

The Liogier are less than the Auriou http://www.liogier-france.fr/woodworking?lang=en

I'm not sure how much cheaper they are after shipping but I'd look into it. They have a nice online store.

Stewmac carry "Dragon" rasps of which I have two and they work very well. I think it was George who had a bad experience with them so I can't say if they are worth it. Not too
many high end options that I know of. I have one of the 50$ Nicolson pattern makers rasp that LV sell, it works well and is a good tool, but it's not on par with even the dragons so I personally would rather bite the bullet and invest in a higher end tool, even if that means getting only one or two rasps. A coarse rasp followed by a double cut half round bastard file then a finer file cut be quite effective. The wood files that LV carry have served me well In this regard for years.

[Jim Koepke]

This makes me think of the pizza peeler I made and sold at the farmers market. Sometimes I would hold it like a guitar as people walked by.

With so many shapes used for solid bodied guitars this shouldn't be real difficult.

As for rasps and such, Frog Wood Tools dot Com has always caught my eye, but so far none of my money:

http://www.frogwoodtools.com/Catalog/08.htm

I have a few Italian riffler rasps that seem to be good tools. The price is a lot lower than some of the "premium" brands.

You might also fine a round bottom spokeshave to be a help.

jtk

[george wilson]

I really don't have experience with the line of "Dragon" rasps out now.

All I can say is YEARS ago,Wholesale Tool was selling rasps that look EXACTLY like them for $1.50. I bought a few to try out. They were not hardened at all,but what I thought was a thin coat of silver paint apparently was a super thin coat of hard chrome,too thin to be of any use.

I don't know if these Dragon rasps are the same,or maybe are hardened. And,I'm not going to risk their price to find out. I don't need a new rasp anyway.

[Barney Markunas]

I found an old post by Bob Smalser that might be of some assistance:


Here's a post from a guy who uses rasps every day who offers better and less expensive alternatives to Auriou:


....here's a few alternatives to Auriou, many which are as good if not better, and all far less costly. Rasps are probably (along with burnishers) my favorite tools and I have a lot of both. While I've owned and used Auriou rasps in several shapes and grains (I love the modeler's rasps), they're okay on hard microcrystalline waxes (for cire perdue, etc.) and wood, but they don't hold up well to stone, plaster, investment or even woods species with high silica content. They're also not good candidates for resharpening due to their case hardening and lower carbon metallurgy, allowing for easier production; stitching and heat treating, at the expense of longevity.

Milani handcut rasps and rifflers are a worthy option. Unlike the inferior Austrian or Hungarian attempts, these are high carbon, nicely cut, well heat treated and tempered for stone, plaster, investment and wood species with high silica content. They last and last, cut beautifully, quickly and smoothly, cost 1/3 to 1/2 the price of an Auriou, and last two to three times as long. They come in a broad range of sizes and styles and can go from wood to stone to wood again, esp. in their first half-life. I usually dedicate them to stone in their second half-life, and not on soft material (soapstones or alabasters). I only carve harder marbles and limestones. As the teeth are bidirectional in most styles, they'll cut on both the push and pull strokes when it's useful to do so, although I learned to lift on the backstroke and still tend to do so. The can usually be sharpened a couple cycles. The Aurious do not take well to this with their soft core and thin case hardened shell.

While the Milani rasps are mostly based on sculpting tradition (they do make fine cut half-rounds and cabinet rasps) , F. Dick rasps excel at cabinetmaking and patternmaking tasks. I use on them on wood only, where they last and last. I also love their files, which you can purchase from www.riogrande.com (http://www.riogrande.com/), a large jeweler supply. These are cut to a more acute angle than so-called 'Swiss pattern' files, which allow for facile and smooth cutting of not only non-ferrous metals (silver, gold, brass, copper, et al), but also ivory, lapis, coral, dense woods (LV, rosewoods, ebonies, et al) and tough resin laminates such as micarta. I mention the F. Dick files as they are my go-to followups to rasps on wood.

Then there are the Kutzalls. I think these are the most versatile of all rasps. They cut rapidly in any direction, almost never were out as they're made with structured carbide teeth, and can be unclogged quickly and safely with a torch. These are the modern workhorses of the rasp family and pay for themselves in no time flat.

Finally, you could try making a rasp or two on your own. It's far easier (and kinda fun) to make a fine cut rasp than you might imagine, esp. with all the hyperbole and high prices from rasp manufacturers. You can do this with a firebrick, a MAPP torch (even a cheap propane plumber's torch for smaller to medium sized rasps), and a hammer. You can stitch with a simple homemade punch (just a rod of tool steel/drill rod, a worn file, screwdriver shank, center punch, etc.). Over the years I've made needle rasps, small to medium sized straight and curved rasps, and I'm totally satisfied. They're far better than the cheaper Euro or Chinese rasps I've tried and cost next to nothing. Helps if you use a Magnivisor and vise, but you can manage without either. You can practice on brass or mild steel, if you feel the need. I promised someone in chat recently that I'd email some tips reasonably soon. Maybe I'll post them, too, if anyone's really interested.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that although I'm sad to see a toolmaker bite the dust, even if they were a bit pricey, there are alternatives every bit as serviceable and for less spondulix.

Oh... and don't forget variously shaped sanding sticks. They're extremely versatile, cheaply made of scrap wood and scrap sandpaper, and can produce excellent results. I use coarse through ultrafine papers and some with leather or hard felt with polishing compounds. I doubt there's a jeweler, goldsmith, silversmith, gunsmith who doesn't depend on them, but they're equally useful for woodworkers and machinists. (My favorites are 3M polishing papers and films that range from 220 to 8000 grit, are accurately graded and can even be washed and used over and over (get them from www.ottofrei.com (http://www.ottofrei.com/) or www.riogrande.com) (http://www.riogrande.com%29/).

dF. DICK in cooperation with the Swiss filemaker VALLORBE/GROBET
http://www.fine-tools.com/feile1.htm

L’Antica Ferraria di Villamagina
http://www.ferrariavillamagina.com/default_ENG.html

Milani rasps & rifflers
http://www.fine-tools.com/feile8.htm
http://2sculpt.com/hand_rasps.html
http://www.sculpt.com/catalog_98/fil...nirifflers.htm (http://www.sculpt.com/catalog_98/files-rasps/milanirifflers.htm)
http://www.sculpt.com/catalog_98/fil...nirifflers.htm (http://www.sculpt.com/catalog_98/files-rasps/milanirifflers.htm)
http://www.bradsculpture.com/supply/tools08.asp?pg=1

Kutzall carbide rasps & rifflers
http://www.sculpt.com/catalog_98/files-rasps/rebit.htm

Sculpture House Italian Rifflers
http://www.sculpt.com/catalog_98/fil...IFFLERS183.htm (http://www.sculpt.com/catalog_98/files-rasps/SHRIFFLERS183.htm)

[Matthew N. Masail]

I really don't have experience with the line of "Dragon" rasps out now.

All I can say is YEARS ago,Wholesale Tool was selling rasps that look EXACTLY like them for $1.50. I bought a few to try out. They were not hardened at all,but what I thought was a thin coat of silver paint apparently was a super thin coat of hard chrome,too thin to be of any use.

I don't know if these Dragon rasps are the same,or maybe are hardened. And,I'm not going to risk their price to find out. I don't need a new rasp anyway.

Sorry George, I guess I didn't remember your post correctly. the ones I got from stewmac seem fully hard and have worked well so far, being very fast and so far have not lost their bite. they actually arrived looking quite ugly, they were wrapped in brown paper and oiled. the oil must have stained the metal because they have a blotchy greenish color, I don't notice it anymore and they work well so I don't hold it against them. My guess would be what you bought for 1.50$ was a cheap knock-off of some sort.

[Matthew N. Masail]

I Just took a look at the stewmac site and cannot find a single bad review on the Dragon rasps, so now that it's clarified that it wasn't these the George had a bad experience with I wouldn't hesitate buying a few if I were looking for bang for the buck. the medium size are only 32$ each, quite a steal IMO
http://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Types_of_Tools/Files/Dragon_Hand-cut_Rasp.html?ShowMoreReviews=true#reviews

the double-radius ones look very useful too.

[Daniel Rode]

$32 seems like a bargain to me :)