Changing Neck Radius

[legiticus]

Say I wanted to change the radius on a neck. Is it just a matter of removing the old fretboard and replacing it with a new one that has the desired radius?

[SwedishLuthier]

No. The best way is to remove the frets, re-sand the fretboard to the correct radius, probably deepen the fret slots some (in the middle if you are flattening the board, at the edges if you are making a more narrow board), re-fret, refinish if you have a maple fretboard and finish of with leveling, crowning and polishing the frets

Removing the fretboard is a much larger job. It is guaranteed to make you refinish the neck even with a rosewood or ebony fretboard.

No intention of being a bully, but as I read your post I get the feeling that you missing some important knowledge. if you don’t have this sorted out, it might be a little early to go for this type of projects (removing fretboards). Read up a little more, ask the questions (ok you have started with that, that’s fine) and then have a go at simpler jobs first.

[sexybeast]

Are you trying to change the radius of the neck or fretboard?

[radrobgray]

Are you trying to change the radius of the neck or fretboard?

there is no "radius" on the neck. the neck has a profile, the fretboard has the radius.

[legiticus]

Having to refinish the neck after replacing the fretboard is a good point that I hadn't thought of. I was concerned that pulling the frets and sanding the fretboard would be problematic because of the inlays. Not sure how luthiers do it.