Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bad Finger (Eric) on April 20, 2012 at 7:20am

It's kind of hard to control those tools without a good guide.  The neck opening in the box should be fairly tight to the neck wood so I recommend using a cheap coping saw instead of a power tool.

For a class, I wouldn't bother notching the neck under the lid.  It is not necessary to make a good sounding guitar.  You'll possibly get more volume if you notch the neck inside the box, but for a quick class-made guitar you can do without it.  You can even attach the neck to the outside of the box and still get plenty of volume!

I'd list for a class-made guitar tools and materials such as:  hand saw, coping saw, wood  rasp and file, drill, screw drivers, small wood screws, glue, paint, decorating bits, etc.  It really doesn't take much to make a first stick-in-box guitar.

Have fun!  I'm taking my guitars in to my daughters 1st Grade music class within the next couple weeks.

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Permalink Reply by David L. on April 20, 2012 at 7:34am

I'd contact chickenbone John - he runs workshops (some in schools for kids) his page is here http://www.cigarboxnation.com/profile/ChickenboneJohn so he should have an idea of how few tools you can get by with.

Also here is a video http://www.cigarboxnation.com/video/make-a-guitar-for-15 showing off the £15 kit he makes up to use in the workshops.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Marchese on April 24, 2012 at 5:32am

Thanks, David - will definitely contact him about that!

 

Just finished my first "working model" last night so I can show the students today.  After some experimentation, I found that to notch out the box, a coping saw and/or a utility knife worked best for me, depending on the wood on the box.  For the neck, I tried using the multi-tool to do the whole thing, and it just took too long, though it was nice to be able to use the flush-cut blade to get the right height.  After I had to change to a different box, I used a coping saw to make shallow cuts every quarter inch or so, then used the multi-tool flush cut blade as a chisel to take out the rest of it.  Worked pretty well!

 

More later...

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Permalink Reply by William McCauley on April 25, 2012 at 6:56am

I use an X-acto saw with the large blade with a guide (carpenters, framing square) for the verticle cuts and a utility knife for the horizontal cuts. Just be careful with the knife and use a straight edge clamped to the box.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on April 24, 2012 at 8:54am

Paul,

Check out the Uncle Crow build vids and Discussion:

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/forum/topics/easy-to-build-cigar-box-...

You can duplicate these in class very easily.

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on April 25, 2012 at 8:42am

For knocking-out the cutout of a box to fit the neck into - mark it with a pencil and a try-square, cut with a tenon saw and a knock it out with a chisel, clean it up with a flat file..that's it. That's the way I teach my classes to  do it.  No coping saws, hacksaws, drills, power tools, or anything fancy...it's safe and quick.   In my own workshop, with thin boxes I make the vertical cuts with a tenon saw or gents saw and use a scalpel to finish the horizontal cut...a bit neater, but more dangerous in unskilled hands. I wouldn't let any student of mine of any age loose with a craft knife or a corded power tool...and we carry £5 million indemnity insurance!!!

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