Binding On Preslotted Non-radiused Fingerboard

[MescaBug]

I usually order pre-slotted, radiused fingerboard from LMII. I'm starting a new build, and the neck will have bindings. Bounded fingerboards are radiused after glueing the bindings. But are slotted before adding the bindings.

My concern is the slots depth after radiusing. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the slots will be deeper at the center of the fingerboard, there is less material removed from the center. You can see the problem... The frets will not be seated properly?? Would it be ok the glue the bindings on the radius fingerboard and simply trim off the extra bindings?

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

David

Edited November 25, 2007 by MescaBug

[thegarehanman]

I imagine lmii slots the radiused and unradiused boards to the same depth, so buying an unradiused board, binding it, then radiusing it should not pose a problem. However, if you put the binding on the fretboard before gluing the fretboard to the neck, you should have no problem at all with the pre-radiused board.

[doug]

Deepen the slots before binding it to make sure the tang will not bottom out.

Get one of these to clean out the slots. I can't imagine working without one. Put a burr on it by sliding it with the hook across 180 grit abrasive every few slots. It works like magic.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Special_...aning_Tool.html

-Doug

[j. pierce]

Doug - I use that tool all the time and never thought about sharpening it or putting a hook on it! Lord knows why this concept evaded me.

Are you talking about like this:

the black at the bottom being the abrasive - moving the tool in the direction of the purple or yellow arrow - or are you talking about using abrasive against the inner curvature? Or am I missing this entirely?

[doug]

LOL! I've had mine for a long time and have yet to change the blade... Slide it in the direction of the purple arrow.

I use it to clean the glue out of the slots, and to verify the depth. With the burr you can also deepen the slot pretty fast. It act like a wood scraper, that's what the burr does; scrapes the bottom of the slot.

-Doug

[Mattia]

Um, why would you bind before radiussing? I always, always radius, then taper, then bind, then do a final scrape/sand to get the binding down where it needs to be.

And yeah, the glue clearing chisel works great with a hook/sharpening (grinding wheel in a dremel and a few seconds of work and you're done).

[guitar2005]

Um, why would you bind before radiussing? I always, always radius, then taper, then bind, then do a final scrape/sand to get the binding down where it needs to be.

And yeah, the glue clearing chisel works great with a hook/sharpening (grinding wheel in a dremel and a few seconds of work and you're done).

I don't think it really matters whether you add the binding before or after radiusing. I've done both and personally find radiusing with binding to be more practical because you're doing the whole thing in one shot.

[Mattia]

Um, why would you bind before radiussing? I always, always radius, then taper, then bind, then do a final scrape/sand to get the binding down where it needs to be.

And yeah, the glue clearing chisel works great with a hook/sharpening (grinding wheel in a dremel and a few seconds of work and you're done).

I don't think it really matters whether you add the binding before or after radiusing. I've done both and personally find radiusing with binding to be more practical because you're doing the whole thing in one shot.

I radius with a router setup, which means its easier to do it without binding, since if you're a little unlucky, you might damage the binding with the router bit (blow-out at the edges). Ergo, radius, slot, taper, bind. You have to level the entire board once its on the neck anyway, so it's not like you need an extra step to level binding on a bound board - ok, maybe all of 2 minutes worth of scraping to get it roughly where it needs to be, but the rest comes later.

[MescaBug]

Thanks for the answers. I'll buy it radiused like I always do and bind it after. That was my concern, but some of you have done it that way, I should be ok.