Up until a few years ago, if you were a guitar maker, and you needed a tool to do a specific job, usually you had to make it. That is not the case much any more. With the latest in technology, and the popularity of building instruments, the trail blazers of yesteryear are cashing in on their little inventions to make the industry work in today’s world.
I have a sort of righteous pride in knowing that I started building guitars before it became popular. In doing so, I never had enough money to invest polishing ideas for tools that helped me make the things I make.
Call me a fool, but I like the idea of crude but effective. Lets take cutting a sound hole. There are a number of ways to cut a round hole in a piece of wood…hole saws, fly cutters that cut both the hole and slots for the rosette, and the standard router. For me I like to use a variation of the compass. A simple tool, I used what was available…a piece of 1 inch lath, an x-acto blade, a couple of drywall screws, and a ½ drill bit.
The Drill bit acts as the axis for the tool, the guitar top and the base below. All three are self aligned. The sound hole is cut out by turning the tool in the direction of the sharp end of the blade. Taking your time, and applying downward pressure to cut through the top. It’s important to take you time, and use a sharp blade. Too fast or too dull, and you’ll tear the wood.
Filed under: Guitar Building | Tagged: Acoustic Guitar, Cutting Soundholes, Guitar Tops, Lutherie, Tools of the Trade, Woodworking
[...] FLiF wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptUp until a few years ago, if you were a guitar maker, and you needed a tool to do a specific job, usually you had to make it. That is not the case much any more. With the latest in technology, and the popularity of building instruments, … [...]
Neccesity meets invention.
That’s so true! I like the down-and-dirty “fly cutter” that you improvised—very inspired and cheap to boot. When I started making guitars (in 1972-73) it was impossible to source almost anything. I relied upon mentors in the repair business and my wits to forge ahead. Today, anyone can open a Stew-Mac catalog and buy a router template for almost anything. But it’s still more satisfying to “engineer” a solution of your own. Thanks for the post, it brought back memories.
I was just curious – there are alot of people I’ve seen that cut extra soundholes.. and they usually make them look like “wear and tear” on a guitar (i.e. the guitar in the movie “Once”)
I figured you’d have the answers to my questions:
How does that effect sound performance?
Suggestions for specific cuts?
How to not destroy the guitar?
Etc?