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Thread: Lee Valley Luthier Catalog

  1. #1
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    Smile Lee Valley Luthier Catalog

    This is new. All the tools and jigs needed to build guitars in one place.

    Some pretty cool tools and supplies in that catalog.
    "If you have all your fingers, you can convert to Metric"

  2. #2
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    I saw that today, very interesting. I wish there were luthier classes offered close to where I live, I would love to learn to build a guitar... and add to my tool repertoire.

    I remember seeing a post on reddit where someone took a 6 class course (once a weekend over 6 weeks) and built one of the most gorgeous guitars I've ever seen.

  3. #3
    That's cool. Thanks for flagging it Hilton!
    Fred

  4. #4
    Worth noting that the luthiery tool and jig selection from Lee Valley is good stuff but pretty sparse - will certainly get someone going in the right direction, but worth becoming familiar with the tool, jig/fixture, and parts stuff offered by Stewart MacDonald Guitar Supply, Luthiers Mercantile International, Incorporated, and the dozen or so tone wood vendors based in the US and Canada. As usual, worth doing the deep dive on the process before buying anything, and check for local hobby and pro luthiers in your area that you can impose on to get a feel for what is involved.

  5. #5
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    My only complaint about Stewart MacDonald is that every year they seem to come out with an ever increasing number of new inventions that are just not necessary to build fine instruments. I have gotten along all my life without any of these new tools.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by george wilson View Post
    My only complaint about Stewart MacDonald is that every year they seem to come out with an ever increasing number of new inventions that are just not necessary to build fine instruments. I have gotten along all my life without any of these new tools.
    Yes, they do. They have realized gadgets sell, and it seems to be working for them.
    I think a lot of them, though not really necessary, could be considered "convenience" items. And people, if they have the disposable income, will buy them.
    I've built 6 or 8 (lost count) electric guitars and a couple of basses. I would not consider myself a "luthier", but it is great fun. But I am on a shoe string budget. All the flashy gizmos are beyond my means. If I want to build, I need to find practical ways of doing it.
    The danger I think with the "tool/jig/gadget for every purpose" is that you could spend a really long time just buying them, instead of just buying wood and getting to it, as it were.
    I just bought the wood I need to built my first acoustic guitar. With the wood working hand tools as well as the set up tools for guitar I already have, all I really need are 6 or 8 deep reach clamps(of course it would be clamps, wouldn't it?), and I will be ready to begin. With Youtube, I can see it will be possible to make deep reach cam clamps, which is the route I'm planning to go. And a Gramil as well.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by george wilson View Post
    My only complaint about Stewart MacDonald is that every year they seem to come out with an ever increasing number of new inventions that are just not necessary to build fine instruments. I have gotten along all my life without any of these new tools.
    George, Your observation applies well to many other new woodworking tools and accessories that we have seen released in both the hand and power tool segments in recent years.

    Commercialism has driven the production of a lot of those new products including but not limited to a good number of what we call boutique tools and accessories, or one-time tools. They have added little or even no value to a woodworker's work. We are seeing a concerted effort, knowingly or unknowingly, by manufacturers, advertisers, publications, brand managers and ambassadors, social media producers and promoters (bloggers, writers, content creators, etc.) and even woodworkers themselves to create a desire for more, "newer" and fancier tools and accessories.

    The trend has been set and is unstoppable.

    Simon

  8. #8
    I share the sentiment.

    I wonder though if this is how it has always been. Perhaps 100 new fangled jigs or technologies are necessary to get to the one that is truly transformative.

    I also believe in many cases jigs are a gateway not a barrier to skill development. So to the extent that jigs encourage potential masters to take up a tool, I think it's a great thing.

  9. #9
    Simon nailed it. It has gotten to the point where jigs and fixtures that showed up in magazines and books as build it yourself items now have commercial versions selling for many times the cost of the materials you used to cobble together. The implied promise is that the purchase of Joe Gizmo's new and improved blivet is going to make you an instant master.
    Dave Anderson

    Chester, NH

  10. #10
    Prashun, I agree re jigs.
    But...there was a time when a wood worker or guitar maker would build their own jigs. It was part of the process.
    Understand, I don't think that there's a right or wrong, and if people want to buy the jigs instead of build them, that;s their choice.
    But I think that building a jig to do a certain task might help someone more fully understand the process that jig is being built for in the first place. IOW, to build a working jig, you need to understand why the jig is needed. I think it's worth the time spent learning, instead of hopping on StewMac's site and filling up a cart.
    That is the direction I intend to go at least. If I can build it instead of buy it, that's a win for me.
    YMMV.
    Last edited by Mike Baker 2; 09-19-2017 at 10:59 AM.

  11. #11
    There are def good 'new' tools and useless 'new' tools, and it can take a while to get to the point where we recognize that it's not so much the tool as the person using it that determines the outcome.

    Along the lines of the earlier comments, the proliferation of 'CNC for CNC's sake' jigs and fixtures is annoying...new builders convince themselves that a square cornered MDF mold that is heavy, cumbersome, and not particularly rigid is absolutely necessary, versus a light, quality BB plywood shop-built mold (or none at all for one-off builders). I had a student walk in with CNC templates and a commercial outside mold that were complete crap - not even remotely useable. Despite being told not to bring anything but the few tools on the 'have these first day of class' list, the ad copy sucks them in.

    Summary: don't buy anyone's solutions (or as I refer to them, 'bad ideas') - especially from guys that make their living selling those 'solutions' - before finding out what the real repair and build pros use and how they equip their shops. Many pros end up building almost everything in their shops based on the complete lack of suitable commercial offerings....which says something about what should be bought and what is better made.
    Last edited by Todd Stock; 09-19-2017 at 6:13 PM.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Prashun Patel View Post
    I share the sentiment.

    I wonder though if this is how it has always been. Perhaps 100 new fangled jigs or technologies are necessary to get to the one that is truly transformative.
    I think this is about right. I've been around long enough to have seen a number of market booms (or manias as they're often called after the bubble pops), and they all feature similar misallocation of resources. In one instance people flog useless jigs, in another stock offered by useless dot-coms, and in the next bonds backed by rather questionable mortgages.

    As you say there are usually one or two genuinely good ideas hidden amongst the chaff, though they aren't usually recognized as such until the ensuing correction sorts things out.
    Last edited by Patrick Chase; 09-19-2017 at 6:53 PM.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by george wilson View Post
    My only complaint about Stewart MacDonald is that every year they seem to come out with an ever increasing number of new inventions that are just not necessary to build fine instruments. I have gotten along all my life without any of these new tools.
    yes, you have. And for a great part of that life you worked as a craftsman daily. You have a vast, deep well of skills and experience that most hobbyists lack the time to develop. yet even you use a bewildering array of gadgets and jigs. What, after all, is a plane but a jig to hold a blade? I'm sure that the ancients scoffed at the new fangled gadget, because THEY didn't need some thingamajig to hold the blade like that, THEY could make a surface flat without it. Clamps? Who needs clamps when there's a heavy rock handy? etc, etc.

    ANY new tool that is applied to create something that somebody has already created is, by definition, NOT NECESSARY to accomplish the goal. So the correct question to ask about these newfangled gadgets is this: Will it help ME do it better / quicker / more enjoyably? And the standard for answering that question isn't the skillset, resources and experience of someone else, but of the potential user. For George, the answer is generally going to be "no" (generally, but not always). For me? Likely be a different answer. (Note: this doesn't mean that all, or even most, gadgets end up delivering on their promise. Some though DO.)

    If you think there's too many gadgets in woodworking, then you definitely want to stay away from cooking.
    It came to pass...
    "Curiosity is the ultimate power tool." - Roy Underhill
    The road IS the destination.

  14. #14
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    My thinking is, if we buy a few jigs, we may not have money to buy wood to build with.
    I see these companies making money at the woodworkers expense.
    Just saying, with no malice intended.
    Everybody has a right to make a living though.
    You never get the answer if you don't ask the question.

    Joe

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by John Sanford View Post
    If you think there's too many gadgets in woodworking, then you definitely want to stay away from cooking.
    Ain't that the truth!

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