Some satisfactions are more reliable than others; to the toolmonger such as myself, the acquisition of a coveted tool is hard to beat.

Today’s subject: two new-to-me tool acquisitions for guitar construction: A Veritas Jointer Plane and an Inca 250 Major table saw.

Both tools are central to the work. The Jointer plane is the Dreadnought of hand planes. It will get service in the Miller Guitars shop jointing top and back plates and truing neck blanks, among other shop tasks. It is a well-made tool, and takes fine shavings even before receiving a careful hollow grind and hone. After? A dream.

The Inca Table saw is especially interesting. Recently, I’ve been learning more about Inca, a Swiss company that made very high quality combination woodworking machines. While researching machine tools to complete my compact guitarmaking shop, the Inca tools seemed to fit the bill perfectly. They are smart, wonderfully designed and machined, with precision fit. They have a popular following among woodworkers, and as they have not been available for some time, they fetch a premium price in good working condition. When purchasing a 250 Major saw new, you would have had the option of getting a host of useful accessories such as a mortising table, tenoning jig, moulder, and various micro-adjusters, fences, and slides. My saw had a fortunate start, having all the bells and whistles installed from the get go. When I saw a Craigslist ad go up for the saw, I hustled out the door and made the 2-hour drive to go pick it up. Happy day! And thus I go about, learning what all of the beautiful pieces do that came with the saw. Fortunately, there is ample information available on the internet. Now all of my crosscutting, ripping, fret-slot-cutting, and mortising needs are easy!