Devon Headen Posted May 13, 2005 Report Share Posted May 13, 2005 So I finally broke down and bought the StewMac tablesaw fret slotting blade with my last order. Pricy? A little, but I'm not regretting this purchase. I built a quick jig for it yesterday in probably 15-20 minutes, After scribing all the fret slots on, I had the whole thing slotted in less than 2 minutes. All with uniform depth cut perfectly square. If you can puch it into your building budget, just do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted May 13, 2005 Report Share Posted May 13, 2005 Do you use the slotting template and pin? or just match up lines? I was thinking matching up lines would probably be just as easy, but since I already have the slotting plate, i could go either way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted May 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2005 Match up the lines. I can't see buying a template unless I'm planning a production run or something, where a lot of guitars will have the same scale length. Plus it only takes like 5 minutes to mark the fretboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclej Posted May 16, 2005 Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 i've always been curious about one thing regarding those blades..are they the same thickness from the center hole to the cutting edge or is the body of the blade thick and then reduce down to fret slot thickness at the cutting edge..just wondering if it's thin all over does it have a tendancy to wobble when running? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted May 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 The Stewmac blade is a hollow rim ground blade, so it's thick all except the edge. That mean you don't need any stabalizers. The lmii blade is just .023 all the way. You have to add stabalizers to it so it doesn't wobble or distort from heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted May 19, 2005 Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 I'm sending my mitre box assy back and getting the table saw blade.. I cut half a boards worth of slots then it was dawning on me that it looked strange.. Each slot was about 92 or so degrees to the edge of the board.. At first i though "stupid mistake" and checked my adjustments.. but it's the fixed side of the mitre box that's off. The blade guides don't line up, and they are so far out of line that even the play of the brass guide blocks isn't enough to compensate. I dont' know how that one made it out of the place but it's a good excuse to send it back and get the table saw blade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted May 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 Just make sure your table saw is set up right, and the jig is made with all perfect square corners and you'll be set. Took me a bit of fiddling with the mitre slot guides to get everything perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egdeltar Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 Think you can take a pic of the jig you made? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdw3332 Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 Has anybody tried it with a radial arm saw? If so, how did it work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 Has anybody tried it with a radial arm saw? If so, how did it work? ← There is a video on the Wayne Guitars website of him doing his slotting on a radial arm. Seems to work just fine. No need for a jig if you have a radial. Just an accurate index point you can line your fret lines up with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted May 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 I'll try to get a picture of it, but it's really nothing fancy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egdeltar Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 Has anybody tried it with a radial arm saw? If so, how did it work? ← There is a video on the Wayne Guitars website of him doing his slotting on a radial arm. Seems to work just fine. No need for a jig if you have a radial. Just an accurate index point you can line your fret lines up with. ← Holy Crap!!! He does that so fast!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
backwoodsguitars Posted May 29, 2005 Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 I have a stupid question, Do you mark the slots on the opposite side of the board? The reason I ask is it seems that you could not see them if they were laying on your table saw. I hope this makes sense, because I have been contemplating purchasing a TS slotting blade. I have also had problems with the fret slotting mitre saw. Backwoods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted May 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 Yeah, mark on the side that will be facing the neck (opposite side from the slots...My camera died a couple weeks ago, and I forgot, so I'm afraid I can't get a pic right now. It's REALLY simple, though. No reason to make it more complicated since I'm not using templates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_A_T_T Posted May 29, 2005 Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 So I finally broke down and bought the StewMac tablesaw fret slotting blade with my last order. Pricy? A little, but I'm not regretting this purchase. You could say that, but look at the price of these: http://www.houseoftools.com/subcat.htm?cat=9053 Specialty and good blades are always expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted July 21, 2005 Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 Time to wake this topic back up. I want to show how I set up my sliding miter saw to slot. It is working well for me, and I think it might be a good option for you guys that have a saw like this. I wanted to also have info about the table saw method (so this is a great topic to jump on. Sorry Devon, I hope its Ok that I use your topic.). If anyone has a Radial arm saw set up please post up, or any other slick slotting set ups for that matter. Pics say a thousand words, if possible post a couple of shots of your rig. This is about 4000 words on my set up-Slotting rig. My goal is to show as many options as possible, and get some feedback on how these rigs perform. I know the blade is not cheap, but it is so much better than doing this by hand. I think I had read once that someone had a blade machined to thickness at a machine shop (for a very reasonable price). If you have done this let us know how the blade works. If it is good and can save $$$. It may help more members put together a set up. Peace, Rich Cud- If I forgot to mention something please help me out here. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egdeltar Posted July 21, 2005 Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 Im in the process of setting up a radial-arm saw method. I was lucky to score a really nice saw for $50 from a friend. My father is fab'ing me a table top with a 90 degree fence on it as I type this. Once I get it all going I will post some pics, but it is the same exact idea that you have there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lou Thier Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 Im in the process of setting up a radial-arm saw method. I was lucky to score a really nice saw for $50 from a friend. My father is fab'ing me a table top with a 90 degree fence on it as I type this. Once I get it all going I will post some pics, but it is the same exact idea that you have there. Hi, this is my first post here I've just bought a brand new De Walt 10" 745 table saw on ebay. It costed $100 less than at the store (Lowe's), shipping was low due to distance. I had drooled over this one at Lowe's many times becase of the rack and pinion fence system's razor sharp accuracy. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=330211825607 I have read this topic to see any pics of anything, maybe they can be reposted. I am wondering if I should have got a radial miter saw instead. Perhaps it would depend on which type of saw I'd have more uses for, right now I don't have a need for a table saw except for the fret slotting. I had the Stewmac miter box and saw but returned them after reading the posts about the poor results with the saw and the efficiency of using the table saw blade. So I bought the table saw blade and kept the templates. I am allways dissapointed with the instructions that come with the tools the sell but this time there were zero instructions included. I would greatly appreciate a pic of what a jig looks like I'd have to bulid in order to use the template with the table saw. While I had the Stewmac miter box, saw and templates it was all self teaching to set it up, I am fairly certain I had figured out a correct method but I can't evan imagine how the template works with the table saw. If anybody has tried both the tablesaw and the radial miter saw, which do you prefer and why? My new saw is still in the un-opened box so it is not too late to return or exchange, if that's the case than please recommend a good radial miter saw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted February 18, 2008 Report Share Posted February 18, 2008 Here's my jig, it's much smaller now. Big enough to do fingerboards up to 6" wide now and slides incredibly well on the miter slots of my table saw. You can also check here for a good tutorial on how to make your own slotting jig. ~~> Slotting Jig tutorial Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lou Thier Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 (edited) Here's my jig, it's much smaller now. Big enough to do fingerboards up to 6" wide now and slides incredibly well on the miter slots of my table saw. You can also check here for a good tutorial on how to make your own slotting jig. ~~> Slotting Jig tutorial I read thru the link on how to make the jig, I can't thank you enough. I have printed out 10 pages of that tutorial for future reference. But my brand new quality DeWalt tablesaw still is inside the box. I'm still wondering if a sliding miter saw would be better, I think I'd only need to make a fence to install the pin for the template that way. I've been shoping around a bit and those can be had for as much or less than my table saw. I think I could take it to Lowe's and get in store credit without the reciept, I've done that with other merchandise I lost the receipt for. Please post if you are using a sliding miter saw or have done them both ways and tell why you favor the table or sliding miter saw. Not that I'm overwhelmed by lack of skill to make the jig, but if it's easier to use the s.m.s and it's just as accurate, thats what I'd do. Edited February 20, 2008 by Lou Thier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgmorg Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 I think you will be much better off keeping the tablesaw. You will find a lot more uses for it than the mitersaw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
komodo Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 The StewMac blade with the table saw is the way to go. You don't NEED stabilizers, but I had them and used them anyway. Even better. I have used StewMacs templates with the pin, and have also printed out fretboard templates using FretFind and then "freehand" by lining them up. If you print them out, and you are doing a fanned fret, make sure that you have the template flipped mirror image before you cut . . .;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 I use a sliding miter saw, but wouldn't say that it is better than a table saw. First you need a pretty good saw so it will not be cheap (my sliding miter cost around $550), it will be harder to find a good sliding miter than a good table saw. However if you already had a good radial arm or sliding miter it is an option. A very good table saw with good quality blades is extreamly versatile. You can really make some productive accurate jigs and sliding tables to perform many tasks. If you have a good table saw, put that baby to work. Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lou Thier Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 I use a sliding miter saw, but wouldn't say that it is better than a table saw. First you need a pretty good saw so it will not be cheap (my sliding miter cost around $550), it will be harder to find a good sliding miter than a good table saw. However if you already had a good radial arm or sliding miter it is an option. A very good table saw with good quality blades is extreamly versatile. You can really make some productive accurate jigs and sliding tables to perform many tasks. If you have a good table saw, put that baby to work. Peace,Rich I'd probabbly buy a new in box off Ebay if I were to buy a sliding miter saw, but I went to Lowe's to get an idea of what they felt like. I pulled and moved them thru some paces, checked for stability. Yes, the two 12 DeWalts moved with ease and precision, but they cost alot too, they had a Kobalt which was only $199 that slides, it of course didn't have the same ease a precision but maybe would be accurate enough. So the only problem now is that I found out thru a review in Tool Guide that my DeWalt 745 can not take stacked Dado blades, and the table is kinda small. When you compare others in that price range, the tables are much bigger, they come with stands or have cast iron precision grinded tables. The DeWalt has a teflon or something coating the table, and no doubt has table extensions and stands available, but are aftermarket purchases. The advantage of not having a large one is that I can put it away and with ease, not taking up floor space. The reason for the grip about the DeWalt not using stacked Dado blades is that can be used to cut truss rod channels. Thanks, this forum really helped with a hand up, I owe you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgmorg Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 Well, Most folks prefer a router for cutting truss rod channels, but if you really want to do them on a tablesaw, you don't need a dado blade. The channel is usually only 1/4" wide ( except for the martin style box trussrod ) so a few passes with a normal blade works fine. Also, that way you can make sure you get the right width by gauging each pass. With the stacked dado, youhave to fuss with the shims to get it right, and run the risk of getting it too wide right off the bat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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