tsl602000 Posted December 15, 2003 Report Posted December 15, 2003 I was reading the fet leveling thread and noticed that soapbarstrat to level the frets following the path of the strings. What if I'd do that to a fingerboard that has been radiussen to 10"? Wat Compound radius would I get? Quote
soapbarstrat Posted December 15, 2003 Report Posted December 15, 2003 Depends on the fret-board width difference between the nut end and last fret at the body, and the exact path of your sanding block is going. If you level exactly in line with the strings, it can be pretty subtle, like 9.5-10" at the nut and 11-12"" at the last fret at the body end. If you make a little more effort to exaggerate the path of the outer strings, it will make the radius difference between the nut and body end greater. You have to use radius gauges and check what's going on, so you don't sand more than you should. I hated always having to make a real effort to keep radius sanding blocks lined up with the neck center-line while sanding with them. I never did buy stew-macs wood radius blocks, because I made my own. But I wondered how straight theirs were, and thought they probably warp a little after a while. It's much easier to check a flat block, plus a longer block (13"-18") that is dead flat, makes a more buzz-free neck, than using 4-8" wood radius blocks that could very well have some kind of twist/warp that is hard to detect. Of course I'm not the only one who feels this way, because stew-mac has come out with those sanding bars, long after they've been offering the radius blocks. Quote
GuitarMaestro Posted December 15, 2003 Report Posted December 15, 2003 Look here and here in order to get answers to all your compound radius questions. HTH, Marcel Knapp! Quote
tsl602000 Posted December 15, 2003 Author Report Posted December 15, 2003 Thanks for the replies! The main reason I'm asking is because I'm far from happy with the results I get with the radius blocks. It's almost impossible for me to make a 100% straight fingerboard with those. I'm trying to use very little pressure, but I always end up with some area of the board that is higher or lower than other areas. I kinda figured out that pre-radiusing with a radius block and then make the board 100% level with a dead flat longer block would be more precise. Because of the taper of the fingerboard, block sanding parallel to the centre line would be impossible... and if you'd go with the string path, you'll end up with a CR... Quote
GuitarMaestro Posted December 15, 2003 Report Posted December 15, 2003 @tsl: I once had a good idea on how to produce perfectly straight compound radius fingerboards. It is a method often used for shaping the profile of RC Plane's Wings. I did not try the idea myself, because after thorough research discarded the idea of a compound radius fingerboard and went with cylindrical fingerboards. The idea works like this: 1. Make metal templates for the both ends of the fingerboard, which have the desired radius and shape you want on each end. 2. Take a long fret leveleing block or a long and not too wide sanding block and sand along the run of the strings, until you have sanded the wood down to the metal templates on both ends. Greets, Marcel Knapp! Quote
tsl602000 Posted December 15, 2003 Author Report Posted December 15, 2003 Danke, Marcel... I have no clue how to make metal templates.. other than that, I don't like to get stuck to one fingerboard radius. And making several devices doesn't sound practical to me. Thanks for the tip though! Quote
tsl602000 Posted December 15, 2003 Author Report Posted December 15, 2003 However.. all this does raise another question: How can I achieve a prefect fingerboard radius without a CNC cutter? Whenever you use a radiusblock.. there's just no way you can keep the same amount of pressure on the block, resulting in a fretboard that's not flat. Quote
GuitarMaestro Posted December 15, 2003 Report Posted December 15, 2003 Making the metal templates should take about 10 minutes for every template. You cut it out from thin(about 3mm) metal with a a metal scissor(dont know the correct word in eglish) and sand it to perfect shape. This method would also work with a cylindrical fingerboard and would give you the perfect results you are looking for. There are many well-known builders which do their fingerboards with radius blocks though. I think practice makes perfect here. You draw a center line on the fingerboard and always guide your radius block along that line. Change the orientation of the fingerboard several times during the sanding in order to avoid uneven results. Sand down until the center line begins to dissapear. And always check the flatness of the fingerboard with a straight edge during the process. I have to admit that I did not radius a fingerboard myself though. But the method I described above is used by most builders and is recommended in most good books about guitar building. If you are not happy with your results you can still buy the fingerboards pre-radius from lmi or stewmac. HTH, Marcel Knapp! P.s.: Are you German or did you learn it school? Quote
westhemann Posted December 15, 2003 Report Posted December 15, 2003 i think coen speaks all languages...much like the robot on star wars Quote
westhemann Posted December 15, 2003 Report Posted December 15, 2003 btw i too had problems getting that radius block to be effective....i think glueing the paper on helps...i didn't do that but i will next time Quote
tsl602000 Posted December 16, 2003 Author Report Posted December 16, 2003 Marcel, No, I'm Dutch... I get my fingerboards flat eventually, but it takes alot of time. I like to use Brazilian rosewood and those boards can't be bought pre-radiused. I was thinking of making a jig like this: Quote
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