olddog Posted June 19, 2007 Report Share Posted June 19, 2007 I want to make a neck witha bloodwood fretboard, but I noticed that LMI will slot, but won't radius a bloodwood board. My question is, how hard is it, or more importantly how accurate is it to radius a board using sandpaper with an 8" long radius block? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 19, 2007 Report Share Posted June 19, 2007 I found it difficult on the first attempt as it was difficult to mark progress, which is why I plan on "coarse radiusing" my next difficult-to-radius-sand board with a 1/2" round-nose router bit to reduce the stock removal needed. I'd be interested to hear any ideas on technique people have for this one short of longer radiused blocks or router jigs.... I think the 8" radius blocks are more designed to fine-tune router radiused boards, and to help level frets etc. as opposed to doing "coarse" stock removal work on unradiused boards. Quick answers: - How hard is it? I found it very hard work as it needed a lot of elbow grease and... - How accurate is it? It wasn't. I had a dip in the centre as you naturally pull the block over it twice and the ends a lot less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted June 19, 2007 Report Share Posted June 19, 2007 Quick answers: - How hard is it? I found it very hard work as it needed a lot of elbow grease and... - How accurate is it? It wasn't. I had a dip in the centre as you naturally pull the block over it twice and the ends a lot less. Sounds about right, youcan do it with an 8" block but it might take a little longer so best to do it in a few sessions for a particularly hard fretboard. You have to allow for sanding technique to make it accurate i.e.sand the whole length backwards and forwards, then the ends, probably swap between them a few times - then sand the whole thing in just one direction when you are close Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suicidecustom Posted June 19, 2007 Report Share Posted June 19, 2007 lmi wont radius probably because they sand the radius by machine and bloodwood burns very easily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j. pierce Posted June 19, 2007 Report Share Posted June 19, 2007 Actually, they state on their page that they won't radius because they often have tearout no matter how sharp the blades on their radiusing machine. Which is interesting, because my build last year had a bloodwood board from LMI and was pre-radiused. I just radiused a board with longer radius block (I purchased it from a member here a year or two ago) and had no problems. The two key things that helped me were setting up runners along either side of the fretboard, (to aid in keeping the radius block perpendicular and centered over the fretboard), and stopping and checking my progress frequently to make sure I was level over the length of the thing. I actually ended up doing a fair bit of the work with a smaller block from Stew Mac as well, as I needed to hit some areas a little more because of my inlay. With the runners in place to keep things centered and perpendicular, it's not really any more difficult than sanding any surface flat. I worked with 80 grit to start getting the bulk down, and then moved to 100 grit to finish up as the 80 was putting scratches in the inlay that have been a hassle to sand out in the past. Keep on eye out for high spots and low spots and take your time. If you just start running the sanding block back and forth like a madman, things can go awry and you end up having to do even more sanding to level things up again. One of my runners slipped position, and I started to sand out line, so the left side of my board was ending up lower than the right - by catching it early, it was relatively easy to fix. The longer block certainly does make it easier, but I've done it without. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted June 20, 2007 Report Share Posted June 20, 2007 I radiused some Wenge and Padauk by hand, and plan on doing an ebony board by hand soon. Will it be accurate? Set up a jig and it will be precise. Prepare for one hell of a workout for the more dense woods! I use an iron L-shaped piece of metal and hold it in place with 2 C clamps. I measure the center of the radius block and mark those dots on the table / work surface. Then I mark the center of the fingerboard and use double-stick tape to hold it in place. Then I sand the fingerboard with 24 grit and go work by way up to 150. 24, 50, 80, 100, 150. By the time I reach 80 grit I'm 100% radiused. If you completely radius with 24 grit sandpaper you're going too fast! If you progress through the grits properly you wont lose as much thickness. Here's how I do it: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 20, 2007 Report Share Posted June 20, 2007 24 grit?! I've never seen that....it must have the texture of Celcon aerated concrete block!! Perhaps this is why I went hell for leather starting at 80 :-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted June 20, 2007 Report Share Posted June 20, 2007 Yeah, 24 grit feels just like concrete. Maybe I can make a radius block out of concrete?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prs man Posted June 20, 2007 Report Share Posted June 20, 2007 I have made a blood wood finger board with no trouble. slotting it first then roughed it out with a hand plane then went to the radius block using 80 grit. then inlay and finish it off with 120 grit then 180 and so on until your at a nice smooth finger board. Jon good idea using the L-shaped piece of metal for a guide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 Bloodwood is just as hard as gabon ebony, so yeah....eats yer spinach and think Popeye forearms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikevirok Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 Here in Atlanta, 2 of my fellow luthier students and I are all working on projects with bloodwood fretboards. I'm sanding the radius in by hand today using the radius bars in the shop at which I am being taught. So far, the bloodwood does exhibit very hard attributes (as well as being extremely heavy - so one of the students here discovered while making a solid bloodwood V !!!), but it should not be a problem to radius. Just take your time. One thing I learned about bloodwood is that it tends to clog machinery as well as quickly dull tips of routers. Be sure to replace your sandpaper along the way to make sure that it's not all clogged with bloodwood dust. I used canary wood for the neck of one of my projects and paired it with a bloodwod fretboard and both woods clogged the oscillating sander's spool as well as the edge-sander. The fingerboard looks nice though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olddog Posted June 28, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2007 Thanks for the ideas. I got my slotted f-boards and started sanding, I used 1/2" square tubing for my rails and screwed the board down with countersunk drywall screws at the ends of the board. It wasn't quite as bad as what I figured, but it did take a solid hour of sanding. On the next board however, I WILL cut the board to the approximate size before radiusing, as it seems the bulk of the sanding was on the part of the board I will cut off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheIRS Posted July 1, 2007 Report Share Posted July 1, 2007 I wanted to make a neck eventually and I spied this gorgeous bloodwood fretboard on ebay, it ends in less than a day from now and I'm wondering if i should buy it or not. Here is the link, please PM if you have a response to this http://cgi.ebay.com/Guitar-Fretboard-BLOOD...1QQcmdZViewItem thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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