Best Way To Trim A Fretboard Without A Bandsaw?

[sbskates]

I have built a neck in the past mainly i just build bodys and buy a neck. i usually trim the fretboard with a jigsaw and trim it with a router pattern bit to final size. anybody have any better ideas?

[j. pierce]

I've been doing mine with handplane lately, roughing it in with a handsaw when need be.

[NotYou]

Don't underestimate sanding blocks.

Once I have the shape generally cut out I flatten for glueing with a sanding block. I usually cut a strip of 80 grit to about 1 inch wide and stick it in the middle of the block. That way the edges of the wood don't round and you end up with a totally flat surface. It works on the sides pretty well too.

If sanding won't quite work some reason (it'll happen), I use a plane for a little bit.

[boundsteelblues]

I just made my first neck. I was going to use a flush trim router bit with the neck as the guide, but lost my nerve. I used a block and sanded and all went well.

Edited October 20, 2008 by boundsteelblues

[jaycee]

I have noticed on some peoples builds thr fretboard is shaped first and slotted then stuck onto the square neck, which is then cut roughly to size and I prsume the fretboard will then act as a template for the neck using a template bit.

In order to get the fretboard to the correct dimensions, rough cut with a saw and then plane the side to the edge lines

[bluesy]

With all my great experience (3 necks ) ... The neck outline is cut exactly to size firstly by flush trimming against a template . I then rough cut the rosewood fretboard with a jigsaw, glue it to the neck, then use a flush trim router bit to make it match the neck exactly. I don't round the neck until after the fingerboard is on, so the parallel sides of the neck make this easy. In fact, I also put all the frets in before shaping the neck, because this means I am working on a neck that sits nice and flat on the bench while I am hammering in the frets.

[Ripthorn]

I have a very related question to the topic. What do you guys do when you have a neck-thru? It seems the board would have to be perfectly tapered before attaching to the neck/body, since there is no neck profile when the board is on the body and that is risky territory for saws, sandpaper, etc. I have to do this soon, so thought I would ask here as opposed to posting a new topic (since it really is the same topic).