Official Luthiers Forum!

Looking to order more than just a scraper to combine shipping. What are some of your favorites? The buffer setup isn't an option right now or else the choice would be easy.

Shipping? Just get StewMaxx, you will be ordering stuff all the time. It will be like Christmas everyday!

Got to say I love the dragon rasp. And the setup gauge has been a game changer.

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Pat

Bridge pin reamers (3 and 5), string spacing rule, fret end file,

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

+1 string spacing rule. I like their gauged nut files too the two sided, one gauge ones.

+1 for Stewmaxx

+100 on the spacing rule. I also really really like the steel sanding beam too. That was a big step up in my fretwork. I also like the fret rocker. One more I can thing of is the dragon rasps. I got both the coarse and fine in the 10in length. Oh yeah and the fret end file is nice too.

All of the above, plus:

Their rabbeting bit and bearings. I like my LMI binding ledge tower and guitar cradle better than I like the StewMac ones (I've tried both), but the StewMac bit and bearings help me get the horizontal depth of cut just right.

Their table saw blade for cutting fret slots, along with their steel fret templates. If you use a zero clearance throat plate dedicated to this blade, it does a great job of cutting veneers for custom purfling.

Their bending iron. I started out with a handmade iron, then moved to a Fox jig, and I am getting back into hand bending. I love it, and their bending iron is a big help.

Their bridge clamps, both the Ibex and the steel ones with the extra adjustable foot. After monkeying around with other ways of clamping bridges (the 2 bolts in string holes thing), I am back to using multiple clamps through the soundhole, and I feel this is working better overall. It is easier with the right kinds of clamps.

All of their little bridge tools, like the Saddlematic, the Intonator, the tapered reamers, the chamfer tool, the bridge pin hole slotting saws, . . . They really have put together a lot of handy little tools.

I use the string action gauge a lot, and not just for building guitars. It is a great tool for setting a shallow, but precise, depth of cut on a router.

I am sure there are lots more little tools I am forgetting.

Fret Rocker. Then string spacing rule.

Saddlematic, unslotted bridge pins.

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Their guitar tech screwdriver kit. I love it and and use it more than I thought I would.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

I’m assuming you guys are talking about the one on the left here. You guys must have built a lot of guitars to afford that sucker!

Seriously though I’m wondering if they’ve been hacked or something. A lot of their prices look whacky.




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I use and love the 22 usd spacing ruler, but can’t remember how much it cost me back then. It’s a neat little time saver.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

Unfortunately they were sold out:(

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

3 corner fret crowning file.... I have made a LOT of money with that one.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

+1 on the bender. I've made 3 of them myself but was never really happy with any of them as I could't seem to get the temp right (usually not hot enough or too hot) and they weren't as stable as I'd have liked. I still a fox bender to get close but it's nice to fine tune the fit with that bending iron, especially with ebonies that don't want to get bent.

Hey Hesh I've been eyeing one of those vs my current method, does that spacing rule work on fan frets or would it be too short after you cant the nut? I make my widths at the nut ~2" for myself because I have large hands and learned on a classical. 1.75" doesn't feel right to me. So 2" canted, especially in more extreme differences in scale would be quite a bit longer than normal.

The razor files are sweet.

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https://www.instagram.com/fostinoguitars/
https://www.facebook.com/PuraVidaUkuleles/

The vise is great imo. It may be the single best thing I’ve purchased . I use it ALL THE TIME


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Got change for a zillion-dollar bill?

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

I went ahead and did that too. It should pay for itself by the time I order the buffer later this year.

Did anybody mention the rosette jig?

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

Tape.

Andy

Throw in a bunch of whip tips for super glue. I use a lot of them; they fit on StewMac bottles as well as the GluBoost products.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Vice - used for everything. String spacing rule, the $22 one. Bridge pin reamer, had the Grizzly one and the SM version is so much better. String Action Gage - pricey, but I actually use it all the time, love the conversion chart on the back side. Preservation Polish - this stuff works so well for cleaning and polishing!

You can get by without all of these, but if you don't have a vice, you should put that at the top of the list.

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Tony Thatcher
Bozeman, Montana

I use the string action gauge more than anything else I have bought from them