madhattr88 Posted September 29, 2008 Report Share Posted September 29, 2008 i searched for this, but didn't find anything. anyway.... i have the neck glued into the body and would like to sand the fingerboard using a 12" radius sanding block to make it perfectly flat and straight. (the FB was bought from stew mac with the radius already in it) can someone walk me through this? i want it to be perfect before i fret it. 1) should i put a slight curve in the neck by tightening the rod?...then sand? 2) what starting grit? ending grit? 3) any tricks or hints? thanks guys!!! matt madhattr88@gmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted September 29, 2008 Report Share Posted September 29, 2008 Ideally the fingerboard should be very flat already with no tension on the truss rod when you start sanding. Don't intentionally put a bow in the neck before sanding. When your done you want it as flat as possible. For the stewmac boards that are already radiused I start out with 150 or 220 depending on how many imperfections are on the board and go all the way up to 2000 to make it shine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fookgub Posted September 29, 2008 Report Share Posted September 29, 2008 (edited) Ideally the fingerboard should be very flat already with no tension on the truss rod when you start sanding. Don't intentionally put a bow in the neck before sanding. Why not? I was thinking that putting a bit of a bow in while leveling the board could counteract the neck's tendency to backbow after fretting. Is this a bad idea? Edited September 29, 2008 by fookgub Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted September 29, 2008 Report Share Posted September 29, 2008 I've never had a problem with too much backbow with correctly sized fret slots and tang. But than again I always use dual action truss rods so you could just correct it if there ever was a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted September 30, 2008 Report Share Posted September 30, 2008 is the fretboard already glued to the body? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted September 30, 2008 Report Share Posted September 30, 2008 is the fretboard already glued to the body? Hopefully it's glued to the neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madhattr88 Posted September 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2008 is the fretboard already glued to the body? yes, the fretboard is glued to the neck..AND the neck is already glued into the body. i was told this is the best way to straighten everything. once its all glued together..then flatten the board and attach the frets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaycee Posted September 30, 2008 Report Share Posted September 30, 2008 Like Dan said make sure the fretboard is nice and flat. When you sand start at the end of the fretboard and the front edge of the sanding block then push right along the board until the block comes off the end. Then repeat as often as neccesary, don't be tempted to sand the "normal" way as if you are sanding something smooth, otherwise the middle of the board will get sanded more than the ends as the sand paper will be in contact with that area more. It may be more labour intensive but it saves the dip in the middle. One other thing do not skip grades, using the next one up will result in a better finish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHowell Posted October 1, 2008 Report Share Posted October 1, 2008 Try this when sanding: Take a soft pencil and scribble all over the surface you are sanding. Run your sanding block over the surface once or twice and note if the pencil marks disappear uniformly else the marks on the high spots will be removed first. Keep sanding till all marks are removed then repeat, you should then have a flat board. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boundsteelblues Posted October 1, 2008 Report Share Posted October 1, 2008 Try this when sanding: Take a soft pencil and scribble all over the surface you are sanding. Run your sanding block over the surface once or twice and note if the pencil marks disappear uniformly else the marks on the high spots will be removed first. Keep sanding till all marks are removed then repeat, you should then have a flat board. Keith That's a simple and great trick. Why hadn't I thought of that before? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaycee Posted October 1, 2008 Report Share Posted October 1, 2008 Try this when sanding: Take a soft pencil and scribble all over the surface you are sanding. Run your sanding block over the surface once or twice and note if the pencil marks disappear uniformly else the marks on the high spots will be removed first. Keep sanding till all marks are removed then repeat, you should then have a flat board. Keith That's a simple and great trick. Why hadn't I thought of that before? Thanks It is and is very effective, I have just joined 4 80mm pieces to make a drop top for my latest buid and I did just that, scribbled over the back and sanded the back flat on a sanding board until all the marks came off, then did it again and the second time they dissapeared really quickly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j. pierce Posted October 3, 2008 Report Share Posted October 3, 2008 This is a good trick, but just remember - don't sand more on the areas that are still marked - continue to sand over the entire length - the areas that the marks have been removed are the high spots, and you want the whole board to be even. It's a mistake I've made in the past, and you just end up making the board more even further from level! It's a bit counter-intuitive at first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madhattr88 Posted October 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2008 what about adding weights to the body to simulate string tension..then sanding the board straight??? does anyone do this? it suppose to remove the "hump" at the joint fret that appears under string tension. thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tristan Posted October 9, 2008 Report Share Posted October 9, 2008 Try this when sanding: Take a soft pencil and scribble all over the surface you are sanding. Run your sanding block over the surface once or twice and note if the pencil marks disappear uniformly else the marks on the high spots will be removed first. Keep sanding till all marks are removed then repeat, you should then have a flat board. Keith Great trick! We used it a lot in the organ shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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