backwoodsguitars Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 Hello, I have been buying completed fretboards in the past and I am wanting to learn to make my own. The completed ones that I purchase are perfectly flat. I have read that fretting a board already glued on a neck can cause bowing. If I fret the boards while they are off the guitar will this stop the bowing from happening. or if the board is bowed from me fretting it will it in turn bow the neck wood when it is glued up. I have never had a fret pop so the boards I have been buying must have been oversize slots with epoxy this must be the reason why they are flat. This has always been the thing to keep me from making my own boards. It has been easier to just purchase the completed boards but I want to further my skills by making my own boards. Backwoods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 i always fret after the neck is completely made...i just prefer it that way...but alot of the pros do it before they glue on the board. the most important thing is just to do a good job,regardless of what order you do that in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stickmangumby Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 Without any first hand experience, I can offer this: If you support the neck properly while fretting the already glued fingerboard, you shouldnt have any problems. After all, people can refret a fingerboard without any hassles of neck bow really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
backwoodsguitars Posted June 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 Stickmangumby, Sometimes when all the slots are cut in a fingerboard and the fingerboard is glued on a neck, when frets are installed in those slots. The fret tang is wider than the slot therefore sometimes causing a ever so slight bow, regardless of how the neck is supported, If you were refering to a mechanical means of support such as something placed under the neck while installing frets. This is the theory I have read about, I have no first hand experience about this either but this makes sense to me. If the fret tang is wide enough to be held in the slot then the slot is narrower than the tang. Like I said I have always purchased completed fretboards radiused and fretted all I had to do was glue them down and clean them up very very little. Does someone know of a fretting tutorial? Backwoods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 (edited) Does someone know of a fretting tutorial? Here and more info here. I prefer to shape the fretboard sides after its been mounted on the neck block. Once its been positioned properly I can use the neck block side profiles as my routing template. But this also means it can't be fretted beforehand. The last thing I do is shape the back of the neck. This eliminates the need for support. Its so much easier to install frets on a stable flat surface. Edited June 19, 2005 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 i have never had a problem with backbowing...not more than just stringing it up solved Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stickmangumby Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Are you planning on hammering or gluing the frets in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
backwoodsguitars Posted June 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Westhemann, Do you fret after the board is glued up? also do you hammer them in? Thanks Backwoods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
backwoodsguitars Posted June 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Are you planning on hammering or gluing the frets in? ← Yes I had planned on hammering in the frets. I know of the epoxy method where you make the slots a little large and then epoxy the frets but epoxy takes quite a while to dry. I wonder if you could put a little cyanocrylate in the slots on each end after installing the fret instead of messing with epoxy. you could hold the fret in place and add a little on the ends of the slots and hold about 30 seconds. Anyone ever tried this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Read the tutorial and "pinned" topic I posted earlier in this thread. All your answers can be found there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Filing off the barbs is commonly done, too. It's probably in the link Southpa gave, but I didn't have a peek. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Westhemann, Do you fret after the board is glued up? also do you hammer them in? Thanks Backwoods ← fretting is the very last step i take on an already completed neck...so yes. i have hammered and pressed them in...last one i did was a combo of both...i pressed them and then hammered them if there was any poor seating...but i was using ss frets.. I know of the epoxy method where you make the slots a little large and then epoxy the frets but epoxy takes quite a while to dry. I wonder if you could put a little cyanocrylate in the slots on each end after installing the fret instead of messing with epoxy. you could hold the fret in place and add a little on the ends of the slots and hold about 30 seconds. i would not do the epoxy thing...in practice epoxy is very thick and i think you would have a horrible mess,not to mention a sloppy fret job. you slot to the proper size...thoroughly clean the slots,install the frets and seat them perfectly...and THEN you can use thin ca glue to seal the fret ends...it will "wick" in...the stuff is very thin.all you do is turn the neck on it's side...place a drop on each fret end,flip the neck and do the other side...i personally add one more step to the process ..see,i snip the tang back away from the end of the fret before i install...so after i do the thin ca application(and let it dry)i turn the neck on it's side again,and i sand the side of the fretboard with 220 grit(it only takes a few passes...then i DO NOT wipe off the sanding dust..instead i apply at each(now fully filled with fretboard sanding dust)fret slot another drop of ca...but i use medium viscosity this time..this hides the fret slot and makes the fret end invisible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primal Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 I've never even THOUGHT about fretting the board before glueing it to the neck. The thought of trying to get the taper and everything perfect on the board before glueing it up just doesn't make sense to me. I like to glue the board on first that way I can fiddle around with the taper and the shape of the neck without worrying about the frets. Watch out if you us CA glue to help keep the frets in. I used it and you can really see where it seeped into the wood while it was drying. On a side note, does anyone know of any reason why I couldn't finish the board with linseed oil or some Wipe-on Poly? I don't think it would pose a problem as long as I made sure it was completely dried and cured before playing it (to avoid grease and such from my hands to make it gummy). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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