pky said:

CatMcCall, what tools would I need if I'm going to start with a kit?

It all depends on how much you want to modify the kit to make it better. I've documented the tools that I used/made on my blog, The Fiddle Project.

A couple of scrapers are nice to have, and you can make your own for a fraction of the cost of "real" scrapers, not to mention that you can shape them to suit yourself and I bet you'll find a million uses for them once you master the concepts.

Hide glue - can be found very cheaply on eBay. Yes, you really, really, really do want to use hide glue.

Something to heat the glue in - I use a tiny potpourri candle holder, a metal jello mold and a tiny canning jar - total cost $2.24 and it works just as well as an expensive glue pot.

Spool clamps are nice for "closing the box," and can be made very cheaply.

A neck gauge is handy and can also be made from scrap wood, or you can use a couple of steel rulers.

A curling iron to bend the purfling - not totally required, but it sure makes setting in the purfling easier.

An x-acto or similar knife will clean out the purfling grooves easily and cheaply. It will also shape the edges and to a number of other tasks that "they" say require special tools.

A flat chisel, 1/2" wide to mortise the neck. I borrowed one from a woodworker friend until I decide just what kind I want to buy.

A small, sharp saw for cutting down the heel.

A tiny drill and bit to drill the string holes in the pegs - I use a tiny hand drill that I found at a craft store - works fine, I think it cost about $2 and it came with several tiny drill bits.

Sandpaper.

Shellac and varnish. Bull's Eye de-waxed shellac can be found at your local ACE hardware, as can Spar Varnish (not the poly-whatever!) which works just dandy if thinned a bit.

You can make do with the above, or buy a bunch of fancy tools if you choose. You may have what you need laying around the house - be creative if you have more time than cash (don't we all!) and find a way to avoid purchasing specialized tools that you won't be able to use for anything but fiddle building. I mean, what if you don't like it?

myguitarnow said:

Cool Cat! I'll send you an email. A kit would be fine. I can stamp it made in the good old USA!

Uh...well, it could be stamped "assembled in the USA from Chinese sourced materials" My label actually says "Fecit in Oregon" and I guess I should add a USA onto the end of that.