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Hey guys
This is a question that is slightly related to luthiery, but more so to wood work in general.
Over the last three months, I have been spending my saturday afternoons out in Cape Point, building my own African Blackwood/German Spruce, acoustic guitar, under the guidance of the amazing Matthias and Matthew of Casimi guitars.

In what is bound to be the understatement of the century, I am really really enjoying this course, and find myself day dreaming about building guitars, and wishing I was in the workshop pretty much every other day of the week.
It is with this in mind, that I have decided to sell an electric guitar or two and purchase some tools to start my own workshop (I have already got my second build lined up, and intend to complete it at my home workshop, along with my weekly visits to Casimi, so with less supervision, but still under the guidance of the pros.

Anyway, first tool up is a band saw. Now here is where I get a bit stuck.
All indications say that a 9" band saw will do what I need it to do, but will be underpowered, and will not do what I need it to do for very long. However, it has two major pros: They're considerably cheaper than the more serious 14" units (9" priced at around R1800, 14" start at around R6000.) and they are also more portable, light, and have a smaller footprint (which translates to a machine that shakes a lot more, and ultimately ends up destroying itself).

The 14" units seem to be the way to go, but I am a renter, who knows he will have to leave his current house at the end of the year, with nowhere new lined up yet, but purchasing this kind of fixture for my workshop would limit the types of places I could move to next year, unless I found a way to have a workshop that was not based at my residence, but also cost me no monthly rental ? haha

I am not sure quite what my question is, but basically, and information you can give me on using 9" band saws, or perhaps moving and storing 14" bandsaws...It seems like dissembling and moving them is an exceptional difficult task (especially in my Clio), but perhaps it is actually deceptively easy.


Anyone?

Thanks folks
Andrew
    Well band saws are very useful, granted, but once the body and the neck are cut there isn't much you can employ them for - Realistically you'll probably only be able to squeeze another 2 or 3 MAX builds into this year if you're still starting out so maybe rather consider hiring or paying someone else to band saw what you need done and then once you have more experience under your belt, and your a few builds in to see if you really do enjoy it and you have a better idea of costs involved and a stable place to live then revaluate whether the band saw still seems like a good idea and go for the 14" ?
      Yeah I am considering this option.
      However, it seems the band saw is useful all over the place. Every time I think I am done with it for this build, end up using it again.
      The problem is that each tool is rather useful and the job becomes a lot harder without the correct tools. I don't intend to build only guitars in this workshop, and it seems to me, that a band saw would be about the most diverse, useful starting point.

      Perhaps I should reconsider a bit.
        Well if it's for work that isn't necessarily guitar building related then definitely go with the 14" while you can - We live in a tough economic climate, you never know when being a cabinet maker may just be a good retirement plan, so having the tools ready can't hurt ?
          I've been toying with the idea of trying to build a guitar at some point... but eish.. time is very short at the moment.
          Good luck with your mission there!!!
            4 days later
            I have one that is sold at Makro, for around R2000. The blade tends to twist, and if you tighten/tension it toooooo much, it snaps. I did 2 necks out of Rhodesian Teak recently, and gave up on the band saw and used a table saw, a few mm away from the cutline because of the rip and tear of the blade, then used various sanding and grinding methods., to even them up. Adendorff sell a machine for R3000, not sure of the numerical size of the machine, but the blade seems sturdy and strong. Another good tool to have is a small grinder, used with the offset wood sanding discs. There is a shop in China Town, Milnerton, which sells the discs for R7 a pop, and they work well, R57 at Game [it pays to shop around]. Another handy tool is a set of drum sanders that fit into a drill. Verrry handy for solid body geets. Brights in Panorama sell them for around R120 a set, well worth having. Another must have tool is a Dremel or similar type of machine. I bought one at Adendorff with all of the attachements for waay cheaper than anywhere else. It is seriously handy. If ever you make pickguards, use a soldering iron for cutting/routing, then file to shape, no friction is caused this way. Hope that some of this info is useful to you.
              Tricky one.
              I have a 14" and am fantasizing about something bigger.
              It is certainly not portable.
              But. I cannot understand how I've lived without it for so long.

              My biggest learning though is that the cheapest tools turn out to be the most expensive.
              Either buy right ... or rather find a friend with the right tools you can use.
                hhhmm I have heard a lot about Adendorf, but only ever visited their website. They carry a brand (Mac-Afric) that I am not familiar with, although a lot of the images of their tools seem to be designs with which I am very familiar, but simply a different badge on the machine.
                Has anyone got any experience with Mac-Afric power tools? Are they worth a look?

                Wizard I tend to agree, buy right or buy twice.
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