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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on October 14, 2012 at 2:10am

cigar  boxes are  not the  only  things  out there  ..  many   nice   wine  boxes     ,  silverware   boxes  ,  jewlerrly  boxes ,   old  doors  ,    door   panels  etc ... can  be  used     too  ,  don't  count them  out .

also,   you  can  taker a piece  of wood to  a     lumber    store    ,   cabnet shop  etc  ,, and ask  them to   cut  / plane it  for you  .

 

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Permalink Reply by jabes on October 14, 2012 at 2:35am

i agree with 'pick' ,cigar boxes pretty rare around here but i just picked a old oak dresser with cedar drawers a bargain at £20 but my mrs claimed it and gave me her old one -ok... ash  with cedar drawers. enough to make about 8 guits

thinning down i use a handplane but if too thick , a local wood turner does my stuff for a small fee but i only asked him once in the last year.

good luck with your projects and have fun

J

 

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Permalink Reply by DarkMark on October 14, 2012 at 4:17am

I'm making a box out of 130 year old bead board I found in my basement. I too am short on real tools...jigsaw, mitre box/hand saw, some knives for detail and carving work, Dremel tool, etc. oh, and lots of glue

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Permalink Reply by Rand Moore on October 14, 2012 at 4:18am

Hi Jesse,

I have a discussion group on CBN which deals with this very topic: Home Made Resonator Boxes 101, v.2.0. Check it out. All  the tools I use are hand tools, and the only electric one I use is a hand-held electric drill. Finding sources for wood is a big problem. I live in China and here they sell cherry and shapelli trim wood that measures 3cm by 0.5cm by 2.2meters and I have used this trim wood to build box frames, laminated necks and fretboards, They also sell 2.5cm by 2.5cm by 2.2meter lengths of hard wood (beech wood) which I've recently switched to for the core of the neck as the hardwood produces a sweeter sound. I also build what I call "paddle box dulcimers", which is another body shape you may want to consider. For the sound board and back boards I use 2mm thick plywood laminate. The boxes and paddle boxes I build sound better than the majority of cigar box instruments I've built over the past 3 years.

However, in America (which is where I assume you are from), the wood available comes in much different dimensions. So, finding wood to build the frame (or sides) of your instruments and the plywood laminate for the soundboard and back boards will be harder to find. Seems Lowes and Home Depot doesn't sell long thin slats of trim wood or sheets of plywood laminate like the local wood suppliers do here in China. However, for building boxes, I've seen some wood at lowes and maybe Home Depot sold more for wood working hobbyists that comes in dimensions suitable for building the frame or a sound box. I've also seen suitable wood at places that specialize in model building hobbyists (like building model airplanes)  and I saw some wood at JoAnne (sp?) Fabrics. However, to build a sound board and a backboard involves gluing maybe 3 or 4 boards together side by side, It's possible to do and if you need more info on doing it, I can write up an explanation of how I've done it in the past.

Well, good luck with your project.

-Rand.

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Permalink Reply by Sanddraggin on October 15, 2012 at 2:45am

I built these boxes recently. Nothing fancy but I've been happy with the results. Sides are 1x3" poplar and the front and back are luan board. All bought at my local Home Depot.

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Permalink Reply by Rand Moore on October 16, 2012 at 6:02am

Hi Sandraggin,

How heavy are the boxes you build with 1x3" poplar wood? I imagine pretty heavy, I build my instruments very light because I don't really like a heavy instrument. So, in the States, I'd be more likely to build it out of 1/4" by 3" poplar, or other wood, if I could find a source in the States. Here in China, my sound boxes are typically 0.5cm thick for the frame and 2mm thick for the sound and back boards, so the instruments are quite light, yet they seem to standup okay -- assuming you're not a crazed rock star who likes to bust guitars as a part of your performance!

-Rand.

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Permalink Reply by Sanddraggin on October 16, 2012 at 10:37am

They are realatively heavy Rand. I found The thick sides make it easy to mount the neck. a couple of 2" grabber screws and it's mounted very solid. No need for extra bracing and if your a rockstar trying to bust one this might make you look like a fool....lol. On the other hand if you got into a bar fight it would be your new best friend....Haaaaaaa

 

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Permalink Reply by Swamp Dawg Primal Music on October 16, 2012 at 7:13am

I use 5mmX50mm sides and 4mm top and back, all cut straight and glued together as a box (I leave the top off until last, to put in the neck, etc. The side wood is generic solid pine and the top/back are poplar plywood, all cut to length at my local hardware store, though I have the top and back cut a bit larger and sand the final shape. For necks I usually get 40mmX15mm maple blanks and 40mmX8mm walnut fretboards from a liuthier supplier. Hope that helps.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on October 16, 2012 at 9:56am

Jesse,

I took my first trip to Menard's this past summer, while vacationing in Traverse City, Michigan. They have gorgeous birch plywood in the perfect sizes and thicknesses for box making. I know the TC Menard's had 1/8" thick birch ply, that would make a lightweight yet toneful git. Alternatively, Lowe's and Home Depot sometimes have birch ply in 1/8" and 1/4" thicknesses; depends on where you live. A 24" square 1/4" thick birch ply sheet will run you somewhere between $5 and $8 at HD. Harmony used to make 6-string guitars out of birch plywood. I personally use 3/16" lauan plywood, which sounds nice and warm, almost like mahogany, and is pretty cheap to get where I live. I use discards from our theater workshop. Check the pics on my Profile page for how I build my boxes.

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Permalink Reply by jesse on October 16, 2012 at 1:20pm

Thanks everyone for the tips I will try looking at some of the other options. These are very helpful suggestions

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on October 17, 2012 at 10:59pm

mate go to a big warehouse where they bring machinery into the country.   Large, heavy equipment, an importer of big saw tables, lathes, cnc equipment, forklifts, any kind of large heavy equipment really, it'll be coming into the country from mostly China in crates made of heavy hardwood frame and thin plywood panels.  Ask.  they will have a huge binful, probly going to landfill.   Theres lots of nail pulling, but youre recycling and its free.  Enjoy :)

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Permalink Reply by jabes on October 20, 2012 at 6:46am

yes Jeff, in our local 'yard' the sheet material comes banded in 20 sheet packs with 'like' packing with some pretty cool stenciling, just working out a 'price for this scrap- i'm thinking it could be £0.00 or what we call "a drink" :)

 

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