When I first walked into
Chris Eccleshall's workshop to start my apprenticeship..... I had no
tools what so ever of my own. Over the
years as I learnt to use Chris's tools - I picked up the odd tool here and there
- mostly second hand
- chisels,
gouges,
planes,
files
and rules
etc..... and luckily my Mum and Dad helped me with some bits here and there.
This is fine for general tools,
as they are easily available..... but quite a few guitar
making tools are quite specialised
and I had to buy them new when I could afford it.
For Specialised
Tools - see..... Luthiers
Supplies and Touchstone
Tonewoods in the LINKS
Section.
(
I'll mention about more specialized tools a little later on.)
When I left Chris in 1981 I walked out with essentially..... one bag of hand tools that I had bought here and there over the previous two years. I had no power tools at all.
It is actually quite surprising how little you actually need to get started - spending money on a few essential tools..... and a bit of ingenuity can get you a long way !
.......... I'll continue when possible.