Slotting Fingerboard Already On The Neck...

[Blackdog]

While I'm still waiting for the neck I commissioned for my number 1 build (it should be ready, but they say they need at least 4 more weeks), yesterday I scored something interesting:

I got at a guitar show, from a former builder, a rough neck that might be just the ticket: One piece heavily flamed maple with an amazing quilt/bridseye maple fingerboard.

It's rough cut, the back is still squared, it has already been profiled and has a paddle headstock already thicknessed, and it even has a veneer applied already. The TR has been installed and the fretboard is already glued on.

This last thing might be the problem though, since the fretboard must still be slotted and radiused but the sides are not parallel anymore....

I was considering making some kind of miter-box for my future fretting jobs, but I always though of rectangular fretboards, any ideas on how to do this in this case ??

Thanks for your help.

[low end fuzz]

easist way to do it is with a bevel gauge and another fingerboard;

hold the boards together and mark the frets on the blank board (on the edges)

then get your bevel and copy the "angle" of each fret in comparison to the edge

draw the line and cut it freehand

[orgmorg]

I was considering making some kind of miter-box for my future fretting jobs, but I always though of rectangular fretboards, any ideas on how to do this in this case ??

If you draw a line down the center of the fingerboard, you can find how much the sides taper. Then you can cut a strip of wood with the same taper, and temporarily glue it to the side of the neck stock with the thick end of the strip at the nut end of the fingerboard. Now, when you put the neck in the jig, the centerline will be parallel to the fence.

[Blackdog]

I was considering making some kind of miter-box for my future fretting jobs, but I always though of rectangular fretboards, any ideas on how to do this in this case ??

If you draw a line down the center of the fingerboard, you can find how much the sides taper. Then you can cut a strip of wood with the same taper, and temporarily glue it to the side of the neck stock with the thick end of the strip at the nut end of the fingerboard. Now, when you put the neck in the jig, the centerline will be parallel to the fence.

Mmm, I'n not sure I follow.

A strip of wood similarly tapered (a fretboard template for instance) side to side with the fretboard (opposite taper) will indeed render both sides parallel again, but the fret slots would end up at an angle, not perpendicullar to the sides of the piece. Right ??

LEF: I don't know what a bevel gauge is (any pictures or links ??), but I think I get the idea. It's reassuring to know that cutting free-hand is not necessarily considered sacrilege...

Thanks for the replies !!

[low end fuzz]

sorry, what i meant was a t-bevel;

its like a square that is moveable to any degree;

freehand isnt the best, but when you gotta;

just make sure you make your first bit of cutting real slow and real accurate, this will give you the guide to stay straight on your board, and keep checking that your not going a crazy amount down on an angle.

maybe not nesessary but i would opt for fret wire with a bit wider tang than usual to account for any wobble your saw has had

good luck

[low end fuzz]

I was considering making some kind of miter-box for my future fretting jobs, but I always though of rectangular fretboards, any ideas on how to do this in this case ??

If you draw a line down the center of the fingerboard, you can find how much the sides taper. Then you can cut a strip of wood with the same taper, and temporarily glue it to the side of the neck stock with the thick end of the strip at the nut end of the fingerboard. Now, when you put the neck in the jig, the centerline will be parallel to the fence.

i dont understand this?

what kind of fret slot jig do you have?

it must be a power saw system that you turn the board upside down to slot?right?

this is how i do my truss rods with a taper neck or when i have wings on the headstock; so i was just wonderin

[Blackdog]

sorry, what i meant was a t-bevel;

its like a square that is moveable to any degree;

freehand isnt the best, but when you gotta;

just make sure you make your first bit of cutting real slow and real accurate, this will give you the guide to stay straight on your board, and keep checking that your not going a crazy amount down on an angle.

maybe not nesessary but i would opt for fret wire with a bit wider tang than usual to account for any wobble your saw has had

good luck

Thanks LEF, it's pretty much what I figured.

This situation is unlikely to happen again, next time I'll slot the fretboards untrimmed and out of the neck. So maybe I'll try to make some jig to use as a saw guide at a fixed angle (the proper angle, of course) to clamp to the neck for sawing the slots. I have to think a bit, but I might come up with a workable solution.

[orgmorg]

i dont understand this?

what kind of fret slot jig do you have?

it must be a power saw system that you turn the board upside down to slot?right?

Yes, but it would work just as well in a miter box type jig with a hand saw.

Mmm, I'n not sure I follow.

A strip of wood similarly tapered (a fretboard template for instance) side to side with the fretboard (opposite taper) will indeed render both sides parallel again, but the fret slots would end up at an angle, not perpendicullar to the sides of the piece. Right ??

Maybe I wasn't too clear. What I was trying to describe was a piece of wood tapered to bring the centerline of the neck parallel to the fence of the jig. It would be half the total taper of the neck, or the taper of one side of the neck, which is why I mentioned the centerline of the fingerboard.

[Blackdog]

Maybe I wasn't too clear. What I was trying to describe was a piece of wood tapered to bring the centerline of the neck parallel to the fence of the jig. It would be half the total taper of the neck, or the taper of one side of the neck, which is why I mentioned the centerline of the fingerboard.

Understood. A piece of wood half the taper of the neck will definitely do the trick.

Thanks for the clarification.