Handcrafted Luthier Tools

[DJ Parker]

Hello All,

It is always very interesting to see hand made tools on this forum. Speaking for me, I cannot always afford to purchase certain tools that guitar builders need in order to perform the many tasks involved in our creations. Some items of course you just have to buy unless you can build your own files or bits or ?? But, some items can be fairly easily built to suit the need and frankly I have found that I have a better appreciation and understanding of why, what, where regarding a certain tool. And then there is a pride factor as well. We are all artists in our own right so lets share some pics and ideas. I'll start off with these three. Here are my versions of the fret tang adjuster, the fret end bevel tool, and good ol' cam clamps.

Also: This post in no way suggests that the lutherie tool companies available to us don't provide great tools as they do. This is simply an alternative for those cost conscience luthiers.

Regards

[Bob Hammond]

Like many others, I've made a number of tools - a frewire bender, fingerboard slotting fixtures (standard and fan-frets), and maybe few other things that I can't remember. Just search in this forum and the old library for my name.

[Ed Minch]

Not strictly a lutherie tool, but these low-angle spokeshaves are really great. A friend made me a little one in Lignum Vitae, and I have made others in maple, boxwood, purpleheart and jatoba with both flat and curved bottoms. Perfect for neck and heel shaping. Some have a brass wear piece from the local Ace Hardware. Easy to make, sharpen, and adjust, and the blades are available from Hock, Dave's Shaves, and Lee Valley.

Ed

[Gordon Bellerose]

I'm not sure this qualifies, but I made this from watching videos of people using it.
I just watched how it worked and figured it out.
The whole thing cost about 50 dollars, as compared to over about 275 plus shipping, if I were to buy one.

I don't know why, but this pic won't load right side up.

[Gordon Bellerose]

This is a vice I made that uses C=clamps as the tightening method.
It is wide enough to clamp an acoustic body.