I'm a music teacher who fell into teaching a guitar class at the Middle School level this year. We've had a blast, and the students have gotten into it enough that we started an after-school guitar club for the kids who want to do more with it.
I got the idea a bit ago to start a project with one of my other general music classes to have them build CBG's (Had to rename them "Junk Box Guitars" to avoid the tobacco angle, but that's another story...), but have decided to try it out on the after-school group first to work out the kinks before doing it in a class.
I came across this multi-function oscillator tool thing with a thrust cutter that seemed like it would be perfect for notching out the cigar box, and maybe even the neck for the head and where it goes though the box. Does anyone have experience with these? Any tools we use for the project are going to have to be relatively small and portable. What other tools would you think would be "must-haves"? (Other than a drill and saw?)
It's been a fun project already just to plan! I've contacted a bunch of local businesses, and have scored a great number of donations already. The local liquor store gave us about 40 wooden cigar boxes, and a local cabinet-maker gave us 16 4 foot maple 1X4s that were left over from a job - a parent with a woodshop is going to cut those into 1X2s.
I appreciate any advice you can give!
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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.
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.
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...
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.
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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