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[QUOTE=phil c-e] john,
i don't know what school i'm from, but after working in a cabinet shop for a year and recognizing the importance of great equipment to some of these operations, i sought out a guy close by who helps me with his thickness sander.

he cleans up his belt and runs through the soft woods first before gumming it up with the exotics. i stand on the outfeed side with my dial caliper and spend a bunch of time flexing, and hand it back to him on the side i want sanded next.

i glue up and rosette two tops, glue up two back (cut to rough profile just like the tops), plus bring sides and other things like eir cutoffs for binding fretboards, and other cutoffs for bridgplates.

overall it takes about 25 minutes. i show up with a $5, a $10, and a $20 in my pocket and so far it's never cost me more than the 20. i've gotten to know a really nice cabinet maker, and he's saved me countless hours of time.

while i loose out on the convenience factor, i could do this for years and years before coming anywhere close to the cost of my own sander.

some of you might think i'm taking the easy way out, but i think we all make our choices. some buy necks. some have inlay work done. i borrow a guys timesaver.

phil[/QUOTE]

Phil don't think that this is an easy way out. Charlie Hoffman did this for about 15 years with Jim Olson before he got his own sander. He makes about 20-25 guitars a year, so I think your wise. You can get 50 sanding sessions done for $1,000, and you don't have to worry about space or dust in your shop.

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Although I am kind of frozen in fear on my guitars, I do know something about handplanes. The issue is not a question of low angle versus standard angle. It is more a choice of bevel up or bevel down. Bevel up is versatile. Swapping irons with different bevel angles makes for versatility. There is only minimal angle choice in the traditional bevel down plane. I have the LN bevel up, or " Low Angle Jack Plane." Lee Valley Veritas has a version equally as good. With a toothed, a high angle and standard( about 37*)blades, it is a paragon of versatility. Both have adjustable mouths. Either, with the high angle bevel and properly honed will handle nasty, but beautiful grained hardwoods. With the standard angle blade, properly honed, these planes leave a silky finish on softwoods. Neither is an inexpensive tool, but will perform admirably out of the box unless you are as crazy as I am- then you will final flatten(polish) the back of the iron and secondary bevel a super sharp edge. Just my thoughts on this. MT