I am looking to build my first cigar box guitar over the summer however I have very little in the way of power tools etc.

I would like to build an electric version with  a single coil pickup and two sound holes. Is there a short cut method for creating the holes (both the sound holes and for the placement of the pickup), without using a routing tool. I would like it to be reasonably neat but I appreciate a short cut method would not produce the same results as a dedicated tool. If this is too difficult without dedicated tools then would someone be able to recommend a cheap tool for the job that is suitable for beginners.

Sorry about my ignorance but this is going to be my first build!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

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LOL!!

My wife was showing all the boxes she had just bought for me. After a while they started to cover me. Soon it turned into a running gag and she did bury me. That led to this picture. All of these were under $3/box, including shipping! My wife can smell a good deal!

Wow! thats some collection!! I shall have to keep a look out on ebay then!

My wife is VERY patient. She'll watch 25-30 auctions. The boxes have to look nice and it has to be a great deal. She'll end up bidding on about five and win one or two. She doesn't just buy the first thing that looks nice. She rarely does "buy it now" auctions. We lose lots of auctions. In the end she has found me many great boxes.
The REAL blessing is not the boxes, but having a wife that supports me. She doesn't complain that it cost too much or takes to much time. She enjoys doing this with me. It has made all the difference.
HA!

I'm a lucky man.
I don't know if you know Seasick Steve's song "Don't Know Why She Loves Me, But She Do".
That's how I feel about my wife most of the time.
I hear you, brother!
Hi Tom,

I have never managed to buy a decent cigar box off eBay uk - too many people chasing too few boxes pushes the price up.
There is a UK group http://www.cigarboxnation.com/group/thebritsarecoming if you post on there you might find somebody who can point you in the right direction. From eBay I find the old Boots wooden slide boxes for 175 slides make a good box guitar. They come up fairly often and typically go for around £10 so if you like the look of them don't feel the need to rush and buy anything tatty or overpriced.
Depending on how low cost you want it to be there are some uk sellers selling full or partial CBG kits
http://www.tonetechluthiersupplies.co.uk/kits/cigar-box-guitars.html
http://www.chickenbonejohn.com/menu-shop/view/productdetails/virtue...
http://www.astonsmusic.co.uk/strumma-cigar-box-guitars-and-parts-19...

Of these I have only bought from Chickenbonejohn who is excellent.

Regards,
David L
Tom,

You can get your shotgun, point it at your computer, and remove eBay from your life.

Or

You can easily learn to build your own boxes. There is loads of info here on how to do it.

Or

It seems it is much easier to find bikky tins in the UK than cigar boxes. Why not start using tins instead of boxes? There is lots of precedent for UK builders to do this.

I've bought from Aston's as well. The service is good, really nice fella. His boxes are very expensive though. +1 for CBJ - but put in your order well before you need it - he's quite a busy chap!

Cheers David. Yeah, that seems to be the same problem I am discovering. Thanks for the other links though! 

The Boots wooden slide boxes look really good as well. Ive just been searching for them and immediately found some well priced boxes. They are also a bit larger than many of the cigar boxes listed on ebay which I see as a bonus!

I have found these for sale on ebay after following up on advice from Richey.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6-X-WOOD-GIFT-BOXES-LARGE-PLAIN-MULTI-USE...

What do people think? The dimensions are 27.5 x 17.7 x 7.5. Ive been trying to decide what size I would like best and this seems to be a good start as its a little deeper than some of the cigar boxes that crop up constantly on ebay.

Size wise, sounds perfect. They're a bit cheaper than the ones I get... cool find.

 I spotted them as well , a good size if a bit deep but they could all ways be cut down to 50mm or that ever is a comfortable playing size to you , lets know if you buy them all ways handy to keep in mind .

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