I don't know which spokeshaves they sell, but I prefer flat in general. Especially for guitar applications. I think spokeshaves are tricky to get a hang of, but they're what Robbie uses to shape necks in the courses, and the LMI price isn't bad at all.

What do you have to measure with? When you order your block plane, grab their 6" rule for $3, too (we'll also use this with your sharpening). Robbie works in millimeter, so try to get a few good steel rules with mm. A meter rule would be nice as well as a shorter one that's easier to move around the top and back.

Be sure to save some coin for a humidity solution for your shop. Acoustic guitars in the construction phase are VERY unforgiving of building outside of a dedicated RH (relative humidity) range that's suitable for where you are and where your resulting instruments may end up.

Things to consider having are something to do wet-bulb testing with (lots on this in the OLF if you search the forum), a hygrometer that can be calibrated and forget about the digitals, they all suck...., and what ever it takes to get your shop properly sealed to either hold humidity or ward it off again depending on where you are located. For me this includes a dedicated humidifier for my shop(s) (or two....), a dehumidifier for when it's warm and humid, and of course the measurement stuff to know what the RH really is in real time. I also installed vapor barriers, heating and AC, etc.

This can be a difficult and expensive endeavor, preparing a shop for instrument building but the alternative is cracked instruments, instruments that can't be set-up without being way too sensitive to RH changes making them a moving target so-to-speak to set-up, and of course the heartbreak of gifted instruments or personal instruments being ready for the fire pit in only a few years....

It's a hassle but very much required or it will bite any of us in short order.

PS: Your new and expensive tools will love stable RH too.... no rusting!!!

I use the flat "Kunz light spokeshave" from here http://www.diefenbacher.com/Spokeshaves.htm
I also have the round bottom one, but have never been able to get it to do anything useful. I'd hoped to use it in the heel area, but the 3/4" violin knife from LMI is much more effective.

The "compact dozuki saw" from the handsaws page on that site is also excellent.

If you don't have a scraper (and burnisher to sharpen it), that's one of my most used tools. This carbide burnisher is by far the best, because it never rusts http://www.leevalley.com/en/Wood/page.aspx?p=32643&cat=1,310,41070&ap=1

A straight edge is very hard to live without, and a long, accurate measuring device is very nice to have as well. Kill two birds with one relatively inexpensive stone with a 36" graduated iGaging straightedge http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CFAQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FiGaging-Premium-36-Steel-Straightedge%2Fdp%2FB005G8HEIW&ei=_W__VKj3HoygNrfbgCg&usg=AFQjCNHAMJ0kavpKA94_tkAin3YgeTtmQw&sig2=QVi0pZN-DtYrvP4G1q2qbg
It is in inches, but 64ths are smaller than 1/2mm so it may be worth the effort of converting values.

And Hesh's comment on humidity is most certainly important. When you get your soundboard cut out, you can use the offcuts to make a better hygrometer than any of those digital hunks of junk. Just glue two strips of spruce together, one long grain and the other cross grain, and sand it thin and flexible, and attach one end of it to a base of some sort (two little blocks of wood glued to mine). My numbers aren't right, but after watching it for a couple years, I don't need numbers to know when it's safe to brace. Even if you buy a different kind, make one of these. It only takes a few minutes and it's more reliable than anything else, and visible from a distance.


Bracing in high humidity is a death sentence for guitars. They have to be babysat every winter from then on or the soundboard sprouts cracks all over. Even if you rehydrate it and glue them, it still needs babysat or it will sprout new cracks elsewhere. I only brace in the winter now, but since we're just heading into summer, you'll need some way to dry yours. A hot box is one way to deal with high humidity. I've been known to use the oven on occasion, though you do have to be careful not to overheat it, and repeat the procedure for every round of braces.

When I'm ordering from LMI and Stew Mac I try to think of the things I can only get from them. Really you can get a lot of things from a lot of places, but they are really good at certain things. Like LMI white glue if that is what you are going to use. When I first started using hide glue I picked some up from Woodcraft. It smelled bad and in all my experimenting I don't think it quite dried hard enough. It certainly didn't behave like what I had read. I picked up some from LMI knowing what they are selling is intended for luthiers and it worked like a charm. Now I know what I should expect from the item.

So that is my long winded glue example, but there are other items like:
Nut files. You don't need them yet, but you will. This is a good item to add one to each order just to make the shipping worth while.
Fret dressing files
String spacing rules
Fret slotting templates and rulers
Truss Rods
Inlay materials
Headstock veneers
Wood

If this is your first guitar there are things you wont realize you need until you need them. I have tools I bought early on that I've never worked into my building style. I wish I had spent that cash on some fretting tools or some nut files. Or the stew mac vise. The list never ends.

I here ya, the reason I'm only looking at LMI right now is because I got some nice gift certificates from my lovely family

Yeah, LMI has great hide glue. Sadly, the white glue is gone Replaced by their new yellow glue, which I haven't tried yet.

Binding tape is another thing to buy from them. And possibly finishing materials, depending on what you plan to use.

Do you have a plan on how to accurately drill the holes for the tuners? LMI does have a jig for it, though fairly pricey for a block of steel with a few holes in it...

Oh, and get the 2mm brad point drill bit. I use mine constantly, and you'll specifically need it for the string holes in the bridge tie block.

Raul, a couple more thoughts to ordering from either StewMac or LMI. Try to be efficient with shipping - put off your order as long as possible to get it shipped in one box. If you are going to order something that is long (fretwire, kerfing, binding...) think about maximizing that box - two pieces of binding in a 36 inch box with a lot of packing material doesn't make much sense.

I tend to buy mostly wood products from LMI and mostly tools and hardware from StewMac but that's just me. LMI's shop services are great - since I lost the ability to have wood thicknessed locally I have been sending tops and backs to LMI for sanding (pretty expensive shipping both ways however).

If you are ordering the serviced classical you won't need a spoke shave at this point - the neck should be preshaped. I have a flat spoke shave (from Grizzly) but I don't use it much - do most of my neck shaping with a band saw, small planes and rasps. BTW, I'm pretty sure the tuner holes are drilled in the kit neck too (I built one of their Hauser kits a few years ago - here is a thread that I did for a now defunct kit guitar forum

http://www.kitguitarsforum.com/archives ... 86_0_6_0_C

Minimum hand tools to build a kit include a couple of chisels, a small plane, a gauged saw (probably 0.010) plus a bunch of clamps. You'll need good measuring tools (machinist rule, feeler gauges, long straightedge) as well as a few special lutherie tools - nut files, a fret crowning file, fretting hammer or press. Main power tools include a small router and special bits for binding, a cordless drill motor. A belt sander, drill press and band saw are all handy but you won't need them for a kit. You'll want to build some sort of solera or workboard or maybe a body mold (most classicals are built on a workboard). Be thinking about how you want to finish it - I used rattle cans of nitro (StewMac) for my first few but if I was doing another classical I would French polish it.

Edit to add, I just remembered that my kit just had billets of spruce for the braces - I needed to rip them to size on a band saw. Check your kit to see what you get. The LMI kit wizard lets you customize it all you want - if there are operations you want to do (or don't want to buy the tools for) you can have them make that change.