Building a Lap Steel Guitar
Tools needed
Cutting tools
Ryoba saw: I can really recommend
that you buy a Japanese Ryoba saw. Japanese saws can have thin
blades because their teeth cut on the pull stroke. There's no
bending of the saw blade if used correctly. A Ryoba saw has two
sides: the fine teeth are for cutting across the grain, and the
large teeth on the other side speed things up considerably when
cutting along the grain. Japanese saws are very popular among
woodworkers, so you won't have any difficulty finding one at
good woodworking tools suppliers. The only drawback I know of is
that you have to blow away the saw dust rather frequently because
there's always some there to cover your cut line. Ryoba saws
are held at a low angle to prevent scratching the surface with the
teeth of the other side when making deeper cuts.
Bow saw: A small bow saw with a narrow blade can
be used instead of a band saw. My bow saw is a luxury model with a
Japanese-style blade. This blade is also available as a spare part,
if you should want to make your own bow saw. For this, you need
three hardwood battens, four wood dowels, a threaded rod, two wing
nuts and two washers.
Hack saw: Another saw needed for cutting metal is
a standard hack saw.
Chisels
One 1/2"(12mm) and one 1"(24mm)-wide chisel are needed
for cleaning up the cavities.
Plane
A simple block plane will do for all the planing tasks required in
Project One. You can spend a fortune on planes, and the quality you
get is certainly worth the money. If you want a reasonably-priced,
well-made plane, get a Record block plane.
File, rasp
One fine mill file and one half-round rasp is needed.
Scraper
You need one rectangular and one curved scraper. Curved scrapers
like the one shown in the picture are also called
"goose-neck" scrapers.
Sandpaper
Buy 80-grit, 120-grit and 180-grit sheets or small rolls of
sandpaper.
Sanding block
Also needed is a sanding block. The "Rolls Royce" among
sanding blocks is the one made by the Canadian company
Veritas.
