daveq Posted July 14, 2003 Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 Has anyone tried cutting a "pre-made" fretboard (from Warmoth or others) to accept a locking nut for a Floyd-type bridge? The fretboard has a slot cut for a Fender style nut. I started to remove the wood from the top to be the correct dimension for the width of the nut. The problem is getting it nice and flat / level. I was going to use a Dremel mounted above the neck (it is glued to the neck now) and support the Dremel with a jig. The cutter bit looks like a router bit with more teeth. I'm going to try it on a scrap piece but I just wanted to see if there is an easier way to do it. Thanks, Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted July 14, 2003 Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 I pretty much do the same thing with a dremel router bit and base attached. Sometimes I don't go as deep and hand file the rest so I can make sure it's the correct depth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted July 15, 2003 Report Share Posted July 15, 2003 u boys and ur jigs... the time it takes u to set it up, test it, and get it set up again for the actual neck u coulda just used a nice wide (and sharp) wood chisel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted July 15, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2003 I'm not that talented with a chisel to risk it at this point. I'd probably hit it wrong and split the wood. Even if I didn't split it I probably would not get the cut level - I don't have enough confidence in my chisel'n skills yet. The jig took a few minutes to setup - the hardest part was blocking it from cutting past the 0 fret slot. Brian - when you talked about the depth did you mean the height that the nut would sit above the frets or the depth into the first fret area (0 fret slot)? I have been searching for info on how to find the correct height for the locking nut with not much in replies. I think the most useful one said to wait until the frets are crowned and trace the first fret onto the nut - then adjust appropriately. If you use a different method please pass it along. I would be very interested in how you do it. Thanks again - you guys are the best. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted July 15, 2003 Report Share Posted July 15, 2003 I'll set up a jig everytime, then I know I'm not going to accidentally slip Anyway, do you have a fretboard radiusing block? Even if you don't, it's ok, here is the EASIEST way to do it. If you have a radiusing block, simply clamp it to the top of the fretboard and let your dremel run on the flat side of it. If you don't, then do this take a piece of 1/4" plywood, glue 2 strips of 1/8" plywood to the 1/4" so that you can lay that on the fretboard. It will then rest flat, you can even do this on a fretted neck. Clamp it down, and run your dremel along that, you can even glue a stop block to the 1/4" across it so you can run your dremel along that to the right distance from the first fret. It will take you all of 10 minutes to build this jig and you can use it over and over and over, takes 1 minute to set it up, and 2 minutes to route your nut bed for the locknut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket Posted July 15, 2003 Report Share Posted July 15, 2003 I used a roto-tool(Dremel type thing) and cut one on a scrap neck freehand and it worked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted July 15, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2003 Thank you for the information. I like the idea with the 1/4" & 1/8" plywood. I'm not sure if I'm picturing it right but it gave me an idea of how I might be able to do it next time. The jig I used was actaully a plexiglass battery box template (from stew-mac) mounted onto two 1X6 scrap for legs. It straddles the neck / pegboard and is clamped so it won't move. The neck was also clamped after running the dremel bit past the existing nut slot edge to make sure it never tried to bite into it. I was pretty nervous when running it but it did work. The plexiglass is nice since I can sort-of see what is happening. Only thing is - I don't know if I needed to go deeper or not. I have some shims on order (made for the nut) but if I didn't go deep enough, I may have to do it again. Thanks again. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted July 15, 2003 Report Share Posted July 15, 2003 I just trim the whole thing off and use a Floyd Nut shim to get the nut set right, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted July 15, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2003 I would have done that but most guitars that I have seen show about 1/16 +/- ? of fretboard underneath the nut. I didn't want it to look different from what I have seen - not knowing if there was a reason for doing it that way. Thanks anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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