Hughes Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 hypothetically, what if i glued a blank fretboard on a neck, then flush trimmed the fretboard to the slant of the neck? what would i use to get perfect straight fret slots? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 Hypothetically, that wasn't the brightest of ideas [] Basically, draw a centerline (easily done: take 2 or three fret slots, and draw an 'X' in each one, two diagonal lines from the edges of the board at the fret slots, the intersection is the center of the board. Do a few, draw a line), get a good square, and saw relative to that. It might actually be easier to ' simply' take the board off, slot it, then glue it back on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddiewarlock Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 Hmm i have a similar problem, i bought some ebony boards from touchstone tone woods in the UK, and the blanks are narrower on one side, almost like it's been profiled, so i have NO idea how to slot it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mammoth guitars Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 You could use a pre-slotted fretboard as a guide by using a shim at one end to make it square to the profiled neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddiewarlock Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 I thought about a shim...but i wouldnöt know how accurate would that method be, I will measure the blanks anyways when i get home, and if they are big enough, maybe i can make them square, BTW I am very dissapointed with touchstone, they gave me a great price on the stuff, BUT it is not that high quality, the preslotted fretboards and THICK around 10mm, and not square...i should take pics and post them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 Non-square blanks are pretty common, and not really an issue. Again, it's not hard to mark a centerline, and work from there. You really don't need a square edge to get your fretslots where they need to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setch Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 Basically, draw a centerline (easily done: take 2 or three fret slots, and draw an 'X' in each one wait a minute.... you're suggesting that he use his fret slots to divine his centre line... but he's marking his centre line as a prelude to marking his fretslots, which aren't cut yet! How does this work again?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 This is another lesson in guitar building 101. It's not always how you do something, it's also what order you do something. Obviously now you know to slot the fingerboard before tapering it.. lol Lesson learned, schools out.. But the way you did it, is like PRS, Fender, etc. does theirs, with one exception, they have a machine like this that can cut all the fret slots in one pass. You probably don't have a machine like that, and neither do most of us. Another way to get the centerline is to just take the measurement at the nut end of the fingerboard, divide it in half, and mark your centerline at that end. Do the same thing at the heel end, then use a long straightedge to draw your centerline. You could also make something out of wood that would hold the neck at the correct place for slotting perpendicular to the centerline. Did you bandsaw the neck out? If so, find the scrap from the side and try to use it, it might work for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setch Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 You could also use a bevel gauge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 Ugh...brain dead. If it's tapered properly, just mark the two centers at each end. Slot. The End. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hughes Posted April 25, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 dont worry, it turned out good. what happend was i was affraid my fretboard slid during gluing but thankfully it ended up straight. i just want to see an alternative if it did in fact go crooked, thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwigeo Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 Hmm i have a similar problem, i bought some ebony boards from touchstone tone woods in the UK, and the blanks are narrower on one side, almost like it's been profiled, so i have NO idea how to slot it... Yes those pre shaped blanks are a pain....squared up blanks are much easier to work with. Im currently working through a batch of them. When doing up fretboards for my classicals heres what I do. 1. Plane both sides of blank to remove saw marks. 2. Select non show (glue) side and plane roughly flat. 3. Plane show face untill flat and then plane final thickness profile (7mm at nut end to about 5mm at soundhole end for my classicals). I also plane bass string side a bit low from 12th to 19th frets. Then cut blank squre to centreline at nut end. 4. Mark halfway pint at nut and sound hole end of blank and join with a line....this is your centreline. carry centre line on to both ends of the blank. 5. On a length of squared up melamine faced 19mm MDF I run a line along the middle of same. 6. Fix blank to MDF using double sided tape making sure centre line of blank lines up with centreline on MDF. 7. Fix a wooden stop to nut end of blank. temporarily tape a steel rule to the blank making sure it rests shug against the stop at the nut end. 8. mark slot positions with small nicks across centreline with Xacto knife or similar. 9. With set square running along edge of piece of MDF cut lines across fretboard at fret slots with Xacto. 10. Cut fret slots using square resting against edge of MDF as above. You can also rest a squared up piece of wood against the square blade to help keep the fret saw vertical to the fretboard face. Cheers Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 Hmm i have a similar problem, i bought some ebony boards from touchstone tone woods in the UK, and the blanks are narrower on one side, almost like it's been profiled, so i have NO idea how to slot it... Yes those pre shaped blanks are a pain....squared up blanks are much easier to work with. Im currently working through a batch of them. When doing up fretboards for my classicals heres what I do. 1. Plane both sides of blank to remove saw marks. 2. Select non show (glue) side and plane roughly flat. 3. Plane show face untill flat and then plane final thickness profile (7mm at nut end to about 5mm at soundhole end for my classicals). I also plane bass string side a bit low from 12th to 19th frets. Then cut blank squre to centreline at nut end. 4. Mark halfway pint at nut and sound hole end of blank and join with a line....this is your centreline. carry centre line on to both ends of the blank. 5. On a length of squared up melamine faced 19mm MDF I run a line along the middle of same. 6. Fix blank to MDF using double sided tape making sure centre line of blank lines up with centreline on MDF. 7. Fix a wooden stop to nut end of blank. temporarily tape a steel rule to the blank making sure it rests shug against the stop at the nut end. 8. mark slot positions with small nicks across centreline with Xacto knife or similar. 9. With set square running along edge of piece of MDF cut lines across fretboard at fret slots with Xacto. 10. Cut fret slots using square resting against edge of MDF as above. You can also rest a squared up piece of wood against the square blade to help keep the fret saw vertical to the fretboard face. Cheers Martin See, I've routered up and made that slightly simpler, but largely similar: 1) Skim plane faces to pick the pretty one, plane one surface flate 2) Mark centerline, also on ends 3) doublestick to the router radiussing/thicknessing jig, radius and thickness in one go 4) Quick sanding with 220 grit to clean up any router markings. 5) Using centerline markings, line up on StewMac slotting template 6) Cut slot with StewMac mitre box+japanese saw (10-15 minutes, practically no effort in ebony) 7) Mark and plane taper into board (don't like tapering neck blank first, prefer it this way 'round) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwigeo Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 Check out Courtnall's "Making Master Guitars". He marks up fret slot cuts using a bevel. I dont like the method as there appears to be a bit of fiddling around getting the bevel set so its square to centre line of fretboard and this has to be done for every fret. He also cuts frets after the fretboard is glued onto the neck. Cheers Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwigeo Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 (edited) dont worry, it turned out good. what happend was i was affraid my fretboard slid during gluing but thankfully it ended up straight. i just want to see an alternative if it did in fact go crooked, thanks Hughes, Next time you do a fretboard glue up try using temporary location pins to stop fretboard moving laterally while its clamped up. I set up unglued fretboard on the neck and check its all lined up and then I drill 1.5mm hole through fretboard at 1st and 11th frets and about 4mm into the neck underneath. Drill the holes through the fret slot...theyll get hidden by frets when they go in. Next bang in some 1.5 x 25mm brads with the heads nipped off. Release the clamps and carefully lift the fretboard off leaving the brads still in the neck. Spread the glue on your fretboard and then carefully lower the fretboard onto the neck guiding the holes over the brads. Clamp up using a 25mm caul the same length as your fretboard and with holes drilled to clear ends of location brads. Tighten all clamps finger tight before tightening them up fully. Leave clamped up for at least 3 hours cleaning up glue squeeze out after one hour. Remove clamps and caul and gently pull out location pins with pilers being careful not to damege the fretbpard with same. Another tip....after youve smeared the glue on the fretboard scrape glue off from sides of fretboard to about 3mm in.....this will reduce amount of squeeze out when clamps go on. I use a piece of cardboard with corner notched for this. Cheers Martin Edited April 25, 2006 by kiwigeo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hughes Posted April 26, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2006 thanks for your words Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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