Gun kits

[CastAxe]

Ive been looking into making things other than pipes, although pipe making will still me my main hobby or maybe even a career . Ive been thinking about making guitars, knives, or even a gun kit. Anyone got a good place i can go to get info and/or materials for these kinds of projects?

[LAH]

What kind of guitars are you talking about, acoustic or electric?

[Dixie_piper]

Grizzly.com sells some decent guitar kits, acoustic and electric.
For knives, I think knifekits.com has some cool stuff. But some of the knife makers on board here can give better direction on that.

[CastAxe]

What kind of guitars are you talking about, acoustic or electric?

Electric

[LAH]

For Electric I would use:
http://www.usacustomguitars.com/
http://www.warmoth.com/

They are by far the best makers of bodies and necks for building you own. I've had to work on both for various customers at work. I've personally used Usa Custom's necks a few times. They are spot on. Also, very friendly and helpful.

[KurtHuhn]

Personally I would wait on the Warmoth or other higher-end kits until you get a feel for how everything fits together. I'm sure I will get poo-pooed on this suggestion, but Saga produces a very affordable kit that, if you pay attention and follow direction while assembling, is actually a rather decent guitar. Amazon has some of the best pricing for these:
http://www.amazon.com/Saga-LC-10-Style- ... B001AQ0GPM

Once you get the feel for how things fit together, then you can move up to Warmoth, LMII, Stewmac, or any of the others. And if you happen to screw up a Saga kit, you're only out $150 to $180, not the $400+ of some of the other kits (to which you still have to add electronics).

Again, the reason for my suggestion is just to get a feel for how things go together. I have no illusion of a Saga kit being able to compete with a chambered semi-hollow body from Warmoth - the gold standard in my opinion.

For knives, I can authoritatively say that most fixed blade knife kits are going to be roughly identical from one retailer to another. The difference is only going to be in customer service. The reason is that most fixed blade kits are made by a handful of companies, and wholesaled to darn near every supplier of knife making supplies and kits. I personally like the following retailers:
USA Knifemakers' Supply
Custom Knife Kits
Jantz Supply
North Coast Knives
Texas Knifemakers' Supply

Of these, Custom Knife Kits and Texas Knife carry the Darrel Ralph design folding knife kits, which are some of the best out there, and are highly customizable.

For Gun kits, Cabelas is probably the place to go for muzzle loader kits. I know there are others out there, but the Cabelas kits are in the realm of affordable and consistently get good reviews. I personally have shot a Hawken made from a Cabelas kit, and at 100 yards I was making 1.5" groups using swaged minie balls. That's good for "moment of deer" using a muzzle loader and open sights. Using patched round ball you'll have less accuracy, but if I recall it was still pretty good.

[Alan L]

And if you're really serious about flintlocks, www.trackofthewolf.com is a good place to start. A step or ten above Cabela's skill-wise, but the final product is that much nicer.

[DMI]

I did about half a dozen kit rifles 20 odd years ago, unless they have improved a lot the locks were not very good and needed a lot of tweaking to bring them up to scratch.

Not sure if they are still going but I used to subscribe to Muzzleblasts and Muzzle Loader Magazines.

Keep your powder dry.

David.

[KurtHuhn]

And if you're really serious about flintlocks, http://www.trackofthewolf.com is a good place to start. A step or ten above Cabela's skill-wise, but the final product is that much nicer.

You're a bad man, Alan. I've been trying not to come back to their site once a week and ogle the Virginia rifle, and here you just toss links out like there's no repercussion. If you need me, I'll be drooling over curly maple rifle stocks....

[Alan L]

You think those are nice, wait until you look at http://www.flintlocks.com/locks.htm and some of Jim's work. I used to be really into building flintlocks, usually buying a barrel and lock and making the rest myself, including the stock. No pre-inlets for me!

The profit margin on those, unless you're a name, is less than that of knives, much less pipes. In other words, it seems like you have to pay someone to take one off your hands. $600 in wood and steel, plus a solid month of handwork, and you can't sell one for over $1500 unless you're one of the chosen.

I made exceptions for friends, of course...

Here's a closeup of the lock on a pistol I made about ten years ago.



It's a Siler lock, modified a bit and engraved by me. Hand-forged wrought iron trigger, and the stock was carved out of an 8-foot plank of walnut the owner sent me in the mail. Talk about funny looks at the post office...

Here's the whole thing. I made the nosecap and ramrod pipes, along with the sights and the barrel lugs. Bought only the lock, barrel, triggerguard, and buttcap.



Here's the matching rifle, made from the same plank-o-walnut:







It's an Anglo-Irish style short rifle, stylistically dating to the 1770s. Like the pistol, bought only lock, barrel, guard, and buttplate, made everything else. Oh, except the sling swivels.

Did I mention no power tools? Planes, chisels, and rasps only for the wood. Handcrank eggbeater-type drill. Files. Wait, I lie; I did use a bandsaw on the pistol stock blank. The rifle was too big for my crappy little bandsaw of the time, so it was sawn out by hand with a big-assed 4 tpi ripsaw, then hacked into submission with mallet and chisel.

DMI, the lock available now are so much better than the ones of 20 years ago it's not even funny.

[LAH]

Kirt does make a good point. The first guitar that I put together was an old cheap electric that had all the hardware but was apart. I striped it, refinished it, changed some parts, put it together. It turned out alright. It was a huge learning experience.

[KurtHuhn]

I say again: You are a bad man, Alan.

But in a good way.

I will try to resist this additional hobby as long as I can. But if I cave, I'll tell my wife it's your fault.

[Alan L]

But if I cave, I'll tell my wife it's your fault.

I will win you over to the dark side yet!

That's okay, My wife blames you for my interest in Morta. And the eight feet of stainless tubing leaning in the corner. Not so much the five pounds of 1792 in the garage, so you're safe there.

I do have something for you though, so send me your address and I'll send you the goodies.

[FredS]

Gun kit? You don't need no stinkin' kit. Here's a link to a little pistol I made from scratch.. Scroll down a few posts and you'll see a link for plans you can download. Or just search for "Jaco plans" and you'll find them easy enough.

[Vermont Freehand]

I made a mandolin ($100) from Stewmac, they have everything you could ever need, including good instruction and every tool known to man. They have good cheap starter kits and you could even go to the extent of their $1,000 setups. They have been around a LONG time.

[KurtHuhn]

How's that mandolin sound, Steve? I was toying with putting that one together myself.

[BriarWorldNick]

Personally I would wait on the Warmoth or other higher-end kits until you get a feel for how everything fits together. I'm sure I will get poo-pooed on this suggestion, but Saga produces a very affordable kit that, if you pay attention and follow direction while assembling, is actually a rather decent guitar. Amazon has some of the best pricing for these:
http://www.amazon.com/Saga-LC-10-Style- ... B001AQ0GPM

Once you get the feel for how things fit together, then you can move up to Warmoth, LMII, Stewmac, or any of the others. And if you happen to screw up a Saga kit, you're only out $150 to $180, not the $400+ of some of the other kits (to which you still have to add electronics).

Again, the reason for my suggestion is just to get a feel for how things go together. I have no illusion of a Saga kit being able to compete with a chambered semi-hollow body from Warmoth - the gold standard in my opinion.

For knives, I can authoritatively say that most fixed blade knife kits are going to be roughly identical from one retailer to another. The difference is only going to be in customer service. The reason is that most fixed blade kits are made by a handful of companies, and wholesaled to darn near every supplier of knife making supplies and kits. I personally like the following retailers:
USA Knifemakers' Supply
Custom Knife Kits
Jantz Supply
North Coast Knives
Texas Knifemakers' Supply

Of these, Custom Knife Kits and Texas Knife carry the Darrel Ralph design folding knife kits, which are some of the best out there, and are highly customizable.

For Gun kits, Cabelas is probably the place to go for muzzle loader kits. I know there are others out there, but the Cabelas kits are in the realm of affordable and consistently get good reviews. I personally have shot a Hawken made from a Cabelas kit, and at 100 yards I was making 1.5" groups using swaged minie balls. That's good for "moment of deer" using a muzzle loader and open sights. Using patched round ball you'll have less accuracy, but if I recall it was still pretty good.

One of the few people on this forum that I am repeatedly amazed by is Kurt.

Kurt your level of education and accuracy for so many different fields of endeavor is awesome.

[KurtHuhn]

One of the few people on this forum that I am repeatedly amazed by is Kurt.

Kurt your level of education and accuracy for so many different fields of endeavor is awesome.

Wow - thank you!

People ask me how I have time for all the stuff I do. It's simple to me, but hard to explain. The thing is, I can barely sit still. I always have to be up doing something. I truly am an ADD poster-child, and I always have been. The only way I can keep myself from going absolutely neurotic like some sort of caged bear is to engage my mind in creative pursuits, or solving some arcane or complicated problem. It's probably why I've been working in Information Technology for almost 20 years - it changes so rapidly, and the puzzles presented can be so complex, that I never get tired of doing it.

But why such a varied set of hobbies? Simple - I get bored. I haven't actually made a pipe since before Christmas. I got burned out on all the Christmas orders and it started to seem like work, so I've taken a break. In a couple weeks I'll have an idea and get excited about making pipes again. It's a cycle that repeats itself a few times per year. In the interim I work on other stuff. Sometimes it's the same stuff (knives, furniture, homebrewing, etc), but sometimes I have some spare cash to try something new. It's like a game my wife and kids play: "Oh, dad's not in the workshop today. What's he planning this time?"

My collection of publications and research material will probably get unearthed one day in some nouveau victorian society after some cataclysm or another, and be hailed as a wonderous archeological find, solving a great portion of the missing scientific data that was lost when they burned the sky....

[Philthy]

Kurt, I do believe we may be related. My wife is constantly razzing me about "whats next?" because I will delve deeply into something new, research it, build contacts, reference material and tools until I burn out. Something new will always come up since I cannot sit without working or creating something. Selfbows, flintknapping, guitars, motorcycles, knives, sheaths, pipes...

I try to explain that the experience and knowledge can never be taken away and often lends itself to othe endeavors. She has no hobbies or interests (other than giving me grief) so she is not able to understand in the least. She just sighs or says "thats beautiful honey" (I know she is lying). I just cannot help myself so I just make my interests self supporting. My job does get in the way of the hobbies sometimes tho......

....But why such a varied set of hobbies? Simple - I get bored. I haven't actually made a pipe since before Christmas. I got burned out on all the Christmas orders and it started to seem like work, so I've taken a break. In a couple weeks I'll have an idea and get excited about making pipes again. It's a cycle that repeats itself a few times per year. In the interim I work on other stuff. Sometimes it's the same stuff (knives, furniture, homebrewing, etc), but sometimes I have some spare cash to try something new. It's like a game my wife and kids play: "Oh, dad's not in the workshop today. What's he planning this time?"
....

[BriarWorldNick]

I think the whole trying new things is a Man mentality. Boys will be boys if you will.

I know very few people who like to try new things, and experience new adventures, whether intellectual or physical.
And of course I know even fewer men. And by men, I mean those in control of their own lives, which could be a woman
as well.

For those of us who live a life of adventure and experiences, we end up with not only a more broad view of life and
enjoyment, but with a huge ability to see how ideas found in different realms all tie together.

That is really why I enjoy this forum, because there are more people like me present at the touch of a few keys. Discovering
similar minds is an adventure all its own.

But it is always just neat to read about other people who enjoy playing with the material of life as a whole, always changing
the "What could be-s" into "What I did-s" understanding that something as small as making a pipe empowers your mind
in life. Increasing your understanding that a person really can do anything they want, and however well they decide to.