Ace Posted October 27, 2003 Report Share Posted October 27, 2003 Hey guys, I just won an ebay auction on a slab of Rio Rosewood, which I was planning to make a fretboard of. Unfortunately when placing my bid, I did not notice the measurements of the board. It was only later that I found out that the block is only 40 millimeters wide, which of course is not enough for a guitar fretboard. Now here's my question: The block is thick enough that I could cut two boards from it and laminate the fretboard, "bookmatching" it. Have any of you ever done such a thing, is it generally possible, or would you not recommend this? I was thinking to center the lamination, so that the laminated edges are between the d- and g-string, so I won't have to come in contact with the laminated edge with any string (bendings on the g-string nonwithstanding). I was also thinking about integrationg the fretboard inlay by maybe laminating a thin strip of maple in between, from which I could also make position markers directly, although that would be more complicated and require more precision work on the fretboard halves. Are there any chances that I can make a halfway decent fretboard with any of these techniques or should I consider it as expensive fireplace wood? so long ace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted October 27, 2003 Report Share Posted October 27, 2003 I think you would be able to do that. I wouldn't worry about the string comming in contact with the laminated edges since they will all be smoothed together when radiusing the fretboard, right? I think KrazyDerek did something with a multi-piece fretboard - not the same method as you described, but a multi-piece anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted October 27, 2003 Report Share Posted October 27, 2003 i did indeed! although they haven't been put on necks yet, they came from the back of a 3 peice laminate neck. And i beleive wes is planning on doins something similar soon how long and how thick is the peice of rosewood?? sucks that you'll probably only get 1 FB out of it my only advice is joint the edges and glue it together BEFORE you plane it for to FB thickness, you never know, you might be able to resaw 2 FB's out of it if you take your time good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DannoG Posted October 27, 2003 Report Share Posted October 27, 2003 Maybe you could find someone making other instruments (are mandolin's FBs narrow enough?) who would love it and get your money back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted October 27, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2003 It's 16 x 40 x 590 millimeters. I wasn't at home when the auction ended, and the guy had two other pieces of lumber on sale that I was interested in, but one of those was only 400 millimeters in length. The third one had perfect measurements, and I'd have been able to get a couple of boards out of it I think, but sure as hell I was out-bid for 50 cents on that thing. Anhow, for 8,50 + shipping I figure I can just as well give the laminated fingerboard idea a try, and 16 millimeters divided by 2x2 would result in 4 millimeters which would be just sufficient for two fretboards. Thanks for the info guys, if all else fails I'll just keep the piece for smacking myself over the head once in a while for bailing out on that other auction so long ace P.S.: yeah Danno, I thought about that, too already, violin fretboards should be narrow enough, not sure about the mandolin thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted October 27, 2003 Report Share Posted October 27, 2003 this is what i did...kind of like big binding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted October 28, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2003 Slick! Are those three pieces or do you have another pinstripe in there? in the upper part is looks like there's a darker pinstripe in there, but it could also be glue residue (somebody shoot me for that rhyme). What is the wood on the outsides? I'm not yet anywhere near telling woods on eyesight except for telling maple apart from mahogany (although they both start with "ma", go figure) so long ace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted October 28, 2003 Report Share Posted October 28, 2003 that is just the glue.it was still wet when i took that pic. i would be really surprised if you knew that wood by site..it is cherry...maple of course in the middle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted October 28, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2003 Thanks for the info. I have not seen cherrywood used for a fretboard so far, and I wonder how it works out? You did clearcoat the fretboard, didn't you? so long ace P.S.: yeah cool, I was able to tell the maple in the middle at least ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted October 28, 2003 Report Share Posted October 28, 2003 i have not done anything with it yet.it is kind of an expiriment.but yes i would clearcoat it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted November 17, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2003 Hey guys, gotta tell you what happened to me. I got the wood a couple of days ago and I noticed that it had dents on the underside (looks like the wood deteriorated, a juice channel or whatever). Obviously I was a bit disappointed because that limited my use for the board even more, I'd have to work very carefully to even get one laminated fretboard out of it. I wanted to give that guy a negative feedback because I felt ripped off a bit (nothing in the auction about those dents, picture shows the other side), but I reconsidered and decided to shoot him an email first, telling him that I'm not quite satisfied with the wood but can use it with limitations. I also told him that I wouldn't give him negative feedback. A pretty quick response came that amazed me, to say the least. He wrote back "Hey man, sorry that you're disappointed with the wood. Just tell me what you need and I'll send you a replacement piece for free. You don't have to send back the initial piece". I told him that I'd like a 500x60x7 mm board and he even asked me if he should pre-slot it for me. How's that for a nice eBay surprise? I asked him if he also built and he sent me a couple of pictures of his guitars and his workshop. I'll definitely try and get him on here when I mail him back today. Things like that really make my day so long ace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted November 17, 2003 Report Share Posted November 17, 2003 What's his eBay ID? Sounds like a great guy to deal with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted November 17, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2003 German Ebay, mind you. His ID was "trinkweinfix", a spoof of a popular European comic series, "Asterix" meaning "he who drinks wine fast". His items on sale can be found here http://cgi6.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewS...&sort=3&rows=50 but there's nothing listed at the moment I sent him a mail pointing him over here and inviting him to the board. I'd post the pictures he sent me, but although he is a nice guy I want to steer clear of copyright issues, especially with our little ebay issues which are already known. I'm sure he'll post some if he so decides to show up so long ace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted November 18, 2003 Report Share Posted November 18, 2003 now THAT is a killer idea...a wood supplier on the forum that we all could talk to at will?how cool would that be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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