psw Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 Hi I wondered if anyone knows of some software that not only calculates fret spacings but will accurately print the actual board so I can transfer the slots directly to it? Maybe even cutting through the paper double sided taped to the board. It's one thing to have the measurements, but another to transfer them over to the workbench and get them all square to the centerline when your working in points of a mm! psw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 psw CAD software is designed to be more accurate than you could think of cutting. If you draw a polyline (set the width of that line to .024"). Then copy it to the mesurements you need for correct spacing (lets say to the thousandth of a millimeter). Draw another line from the midpoint of the first polyline as long as you need to help you line up center. Then just for the heck of it copy that line half the width of your fret board blank (to use to align the square edge of the blank). After you do this print it out with a 1-1(no scaling) plot setting. The drawing will be accurate. I would highly recommend you print the information on Vellum or Mylar(heavy is better) so you can see the wood and your marks(such as your centerline) through the medium ( allthough you can make regular bond work ok to just treat it gently). I would recommend not using double sided tape, The drawing may move. Just glue it down to an un-radiused blank, make your cuts if any glue remains it will sand away during radiusing. P.S. If you don't have Auto Cad, I have heard several people talk about free CAD programs that can get the job done. As far as plotting CAD drawings on large enough paper. Take it to Kinko's or just about any print house in your area. You can copy the layout several times and they can print it on a standard size sheet 18"x24"(6 fretboards),24x36"(12 fretboards) for instance. Peace, Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted February 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 Thanks that's really good advice gluing will be easier and easier to sand off than tape gunk I don't have AutoCAD (and I'm not sure what you mean by "polyline") but I've got turboDraw and such which will get the job done. Thanks a heap, great reply psw PS, you'd think someone would have done it though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnewman Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 Hi I wondered if anyone knows of some software that not only calculates fret spacings but will accurately print the actual board so I can transfer the slots directly to it? Maybe even cutting through the paper double sided taped to the board. It's one thing to have the measurements, but another to transfer them over to the workbench and get them all square to the centerline when your working in points of a mm! psw ← If you go to http://www.guitarbuild.com/modules/mydownloads/ the second item from the bottom is called "WinFret" it's a pretty simple program, but it prints off the fret distances for you no sweat - you give it the number of frets and the scale length and it tells you right off what you need in a chart and gives you the option of printing a template. I had it print up a 25.5" 22 fret template and held it up against my strat under the strings and it's perfect. It prints them in several rows, so you have to cut it up, but the way it prints them makes it very easy to line each part up perfectly with the others. It's what I'll be using for my next guitar. (Along with a home-made miter box) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted February 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 I knew there must be something....I'm going straight there p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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