stereordinary Posted October 18, 2008 Report Posted October 18, 2008 After multiple complicated jigs, I've decided that radiusing fingerboards with simple radiused sanding blocks is the easiest way to go... But god, it takes for frickin' ever doesn't it? Maybe it's just me, or I need to use grittier paper, but it just seems like it takes way too long to perform this necessary operation. So I was thinking that maybe I could adapt a SurForm or a MicroPlane blade to do it. I'd really like to be able to do conical radius fingerboards as well, so I thought maybe this could get me there. Anybody care to throw in their 2 pennies on this? Quote
Geo Posted October 19, 2008 Report Posted October 19, 2008 I would only ever use a surform to rough out a neck or body carve. It sounds like a nightmare to me to use it on a fingerboard, but perhaps I have a crappy surform. You'd still have to do a lot of cleanup with sandpaper, starting with a coarse grit to remove all the unevenness left by the surform teeth. At least, that's how I envision it. Quote
Blackdog Posted October 19, 2008 Report Posted October 19, 2008 After multiple complicated jigs, I've decided that radiusing fingerboards with simple radiused sanding blocks is the easiest way to go... But god, it takes for frickin' ever doesn't it? Maybe it's just me, or I need to use grittier paper, but it just seems like it takes way too long to perform this necessary operation. So I was thinking that maybe I could adapt a SurForm or a MicroPlane blade to do it. I'd really like to be able to do conical radius fingerboards as well, so I thought maybe this could get me there. Anybody care to throw in their 2 pennies on this? I think a surform will be too rough, leaving deep marks behind... I have done it lately with just the sanding block and sandpaper. Try 60grit first, but be careful, it goes faster than you think. At least iit does with RW, have not tried it something harder like with ebony yet. Quote
jaycee Posted October 19, 2008 Report Posted October 19, 2008 So I was thinking that maybe I could adapt a SurForm or a MicroPlane blade to do it. I'd really like to be able to do conical radius fingerboards as well, so I thought maybe this could get me there. I cringed when I read this. NO Quote
guitar_player Posted October 22, 2008 Report Posted October 22, 2008 Use rougher sandpaper? Make a router jig (why wouldn't that work?) If you have a stationary belt sander you could make a jig like grizzly has too? Quote
stereordinary Posted October 22, 2008 Author Report Posted October 22, 2008 You guys are funny. Calm down, it's just an idea. Seriously though, if I had a way to control the depth of the deepest cut, do you still think the idea big no-no? I mean, obviously I'd still finish it off with some rough sandpaper and go into finer grits, but I'm just talking about rough cutting the basic shape. Quote
fookgub Posted October 22, 2008 Report Posted October 22, 2008 I read about a guy that uses a Wagner Safe-T-Planer to cut a trapezoid-like shape into his fretboards, just for bulk removal. He follows up with a radius block. I suppose a surform could be used in much the same way, but it would be more difficult to control. Quote
DC Ross Posted October 22, 2008 Report Posted October 22, 2008 <5 minutes with 60 grit paper on a radius block works like a charm for me. Even with a sureform, you'll still need to hit it with some very agressive grits. Honestly, I can't see it taking less time or being easier or more accurate. Quote
verhoevenc Posted October 22, 2008 Report Posted October 22, 2008 I just picked up the GREATEST way of doing it. Get a nice sharp block plane (like a good Lei Nielsen) and plane the edges til they're down about 1/16" or so (depending on what radius you're doing for of course) and have that depth curve up into the center... essentially radius it in with a plane. Sounds weird, but I got it SPOT ON the FIRST time I tried it... not hard at all. And then, to perfect the radius, a sanding block for literally 2 minutes finishes the job. Total time? Less time than setting up and using a router jig. Chris Quote
j. pierce Posted October 22, 2008 Report Posted October 22, 2008 +1 on what Chris said. Although if you haven't gotten your handplane skills down, I wouldn't start with you super pricey fretboard. And I'd do this before slotting for frets if that was the method I was using. When I did it this way, I checked my work constantly with a radius gauge as I plane so I don't make the sanding worse. Quote
stereordinary Posted October 22, 2008 Author Report Posted October 22, 2008 Yeah, I really wanna try that method. I just don't have anything to practice on. Quote
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