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I invested, ooh, maybe £2 in a second hand baby bottle warmer. Does the job perfectly.

I'd guess sapele, mainly because I built a sapele ukulele which looks just like the middle pic. But all the African mahoganoids have similarities, and colour and striping varies within species.

Both shellac and BLO feel nice in the hand - it pick whichever feels best to you. I strongly recommend buying blonde shellac flakes (eBay) and some meths. Make up small quantities in a lidded jar as you need it. Flakes keep for years, ready made can deteriorate in a few months and you don't...

It might be Spanish Cedar, related to mahogany and rather lighter in both colour and density. I have (had) a Victorian wardrobe, mainly mahogany but some Spanish Cedar side members of frames. Plane the end grain and show us the face grain for a better diagnosis. If it is Spanish Cedar it's...

I bought a 1931 Gibson tenor guitar for a similar sum remotely. It worked out fine. It was probably the only time in my life I'd find one. This is why rare musical instruments are different - substitutes might not exist. I bought via Reverb, which gives some protection to both seller and...

CA glue and baking soda is often used to fill the nut slots on guitars if they are too low. It wears well, but I suspect it might be rather brittle for a cog. CA and sawdust works as a wood filler (but is darker than the wood), so I think almost any filler could produce a solid item. I'd...

I was going to suggest Milliput as well. I'd reinforce those ears with a bit of stainless steel rod.

I'd forgotten that 4 years ago I documented a guitar build. It might be useful because it's a pretty low fi build, and shows ways to deal with some issues without specialist tooling or jigs. https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/threads/a-slightly-oddball-guitar-completed.111602/ I happened to get a...

All I can tell you is that when finishing guitars with satin lacquer (I think 50% or less), the finish is levelled and then the final coat is shot and that's it, no sanding or buffing. Players find that arm or finger wear polishes up spots, but never to the level of high gloss. Some have buffed...

If I were in your situation I'd consider the old fashioned flyer through the door. Pick the nearby villages where there is money and leaflet the obviously expensive houses. A nice A4 (even better, A3 folded) flyer which says (a) you're a local startup, (b) that you're offering a discount for...

Nice example, Pete! I don't have a picture, but my bridge saddle slot router is a block of wood with a wood screw driven through. File the sides of the screw parallel, and then file a chisel point to it. Adjustment is 1/2 turn of the screw, maybe 0.5 mm which is close enough for the purpose...

I'd still say don't rush. For example ... I mainly build with a zero fret, so I don't need nut slotting files (OK, I have them, but most of the time saw slots in the spacer 'nut' are all I need). A zero fret might be a good choice for a first build, because getting nut slots right has a strong...

Goodness, that's a huge question! It really depends entirely on what you plan to make, how you like to work, and what your long-term plans are (will this become a business, for example). I make ukuleles and a few guitars as a hobby - I've made around 60 instruments. I like to work by hand, and...

I'd say yew as well. Lovely stuff but I get a bad reaction to it.

For kindling I'd look for something more like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Faithfull-FAIAXEKINDL-Kindling-Stick-Chopper/dp/B00IT3QYUK Easier to manoeuvre than a hand axe, so fingers might be safer. A fro is designed to split long branches, or wide but shorter logs, in both cases using the...

I use animal glue (bone or hide) in instrument making, and I've read a lot about fish glue though don't use it myself. They all work well on wood-to-wood joints, though oily woods present the same problems as they do for other glues - they must have freshly scraped or sanded surfaced, and all...

My set arrived - the pin vice seems quite good, though very light weight and the drills (HSS, not stainless) are more useful luthiery sizes than the Dormer set above.

He can if there's space next to the shed, put the triangle there! Just extend one line to make one side of the triangle and measure 3 (or 4) along that.

Wood is much easier! I just take some spike (nail maybe?) and poke it into the wood at the right spot. This locates the drill bit point nicely.

I had a set of the 0.6-1.2 mm (dropped around half, never to be seen again) but I only used the biggest. For banjo spikes you'll want something bigger than 1mm I think. Just ordered these, 0.8-3mm and two of each size Amazon.co.uk The pin drill is enough for all my luthier needs, no holes...