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Router Fretboard Radiusing Bits - Anyone Interested?


SJE-Guitars

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Hurrah - my internet link is working . .. . for now!

Well all being well tomorrow I will have the 12" radius bit! There hasn't been any news from the shop saying they can't do it - so no news is good news! :D

Woodenspoke - yes you are right in saying there is a fair chunk of carbide used for the cutting blade - plenty of sharpenings can be got from it! As for the green - I don't think they'd ever heard of Grizzly tools - I didn't even know there blades are green but all their bits are green. I emailed you on the email address you PM'd but it came back unknown.

All being well I'll have something more to report tomorrow - my internet link has been incredibly flakey the past few days hence I've not been online (Carl - will sort out the promise pics shortly!).

Tomorrow I hope to have a 'doing' day opposed to keep getting dragged to do things I don't want to be doing! :-/

My stainless steel parts wil hopefully be in progress tomorrow (still waiting for quote) . . see the 8 string blog thread for details about them! :D

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Well I've got it! :D

A bit delayed as sods law yesterday there was major power problems in downtown Vientiane when they were supposed to make it. Anyway it was finished early this afternoon - I phone and there were just sharpening it so I jumped in the car and went get it. Straight back to the house to pictures of bit and radiused the blank side of the block I did the 6" radius on before . .. . came out perfect!

Now you might wondering why you ain't seeing pictures - because my 'wonderful' internet link still isn't fully working downstream traffic is just about managable (hence I can post) but upstream to ftp the pics on my hosting just ain't happening tried it about 10 times already! :D They came out and scratched there arses looking at the my link today and the outcome was I need a longer pole (it's a wireless link) - the reality was they didn't really know what they were looking at in the db stats on the router - although I won't bore you with that!

So as soon as I can upload the pics they will appear!

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Well there is more than one way to skin a cat or upload files using ftp in other words! :D Old school dos ftp client with the proper flow and error control unlike the crappy integrated Vista FTP and we are done!

So here we are . . .

The bit - okay I know it's not painted or finished the same as before but like I said I collected it as soon as it had been sharpened - otherwise it much the same with a nice thick chunk of carbide for the blades

newbit.jpg

As said before I did the oppose side of the previous 6" radiused block - I hadn't use my router since the 6" run so the height was exactly the same .. . .. however I promptly forgot and lower the bit slightly to the line (the line which of course is off centre!). But this actually got a better result because the bit was slight lower it allowed it to cut the radius across the full half opposed to leaving the ridge (stupid luck really!). So this was the outcome with a couple of gentle passes:

example1.jpg

Which compared to a Stumac 12" radiusing block - sorry don't have one of the metal radius checkers (although I was thinking I better I could get some made) - it looks like this:

example2.jpg

Yes that really is unsanded as the bit cut.

Here is what the surface results looked like (yes still unsanded!):

example3.jpg

Apologies for the slightly off focus pics in the first 2 . . I don't take my SLR to my workshop just the compact.

All in all personally speaking I am very impressed, obviously as demonstrated by me accidently moving the bit slight lower there is some leeway in setting up the bit height/depth for the cut you want.

Oh also forgot to mention the actual length of the radiused cutting bit before it levels at the top is 55mm - so you can radius blanks 110mm wide - which should be sufficient for even the biggest fret boards.

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Woohooo I have a nice new shiney WiMax link so I am fully back online! :D

erikbojerik - will be in the post either tomorrow or most likely Monday

Pricing as said before will be $49 + P&P :D

The standard radii would be 10, 12, 14, 16 & 20. Other sizes can be ordered but I want to try to place orders together since they can make them quicker making in batches as the machine will be setup for the one size. Any order for different radius from batches will take longer to make.

But anyway I'll start taking orders once erikbojerik has passed his expert opinion! B)

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Woohooo I have a nice new shiney WiMax link so I am fully back online! :D

erikbojerik - will be in the post either tomorrow or most likely Monday

Pricing as said before will be $49 + P&P B)

The standard radii would be 10, 12, 14, 16 & 20. Other sizes can be ordered but I want to try to place orders together since they can make them quicker making in batches as the machine will be setup for the one size. Any order for different radius from batches will take longer to make.

But anyway I'll start taking orders once erikbojerik has passed his expert opinion! B)

Ok - didn't get chance to post it today - but will in the morning after that is I've used it to radius a fretboard! Well it'd hardly be fair to send it away before I got a chance put through its paces for real! ;)

A lovely Burmese Rosewood fretboard is in the need of a radius . . . pictures will be provided of course. :D

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Ok well the bit is winging it's way as we speak over to Erikbojerik - about 1 week is normal for postage to the US.

From that I can that the postage for any order to the US will be $7.50.

So for US orders the total will be $56.50 for a single bit inclusive. I would imagine to the UK & Oz it will be much the same but will double check that when we orders are placed.

Didn't get chance to use it in anger on my fretboard but any way I'll be ordering myself a couple of bits tomorrow to do what I need. :D

So when it arrives Erik please give the bit a review!

Cheers all.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Strange - it took four days, six hours and forty-five minutes to get some dudes from earth 238857 miles onto the moon yet it takes over a week from Pacific Asia to Maryland (approx. 8502 miles).

Yeah but don't forget NASA spent billions on shipping! :D

<pros: specifically this much>

Edited by Prostheta
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  • 2 weeks later...

Sorry guys - I've been out of town, just back for a day, and out of town again tomorrow until next week. But I did receive the bit last week, and I put a micrometer on it this morning. Hopefully I'll have a chance to radius some wood this evening.

The bit looks well made; the carbide is sharp and the edge is smooth. The brazing to attach the carbide to the steel shaft is quite a bit cleaner than my other bits which show some small gaps.

The top bearing is a regular 1/2" bearing, the measured diameter is 0.512" which is standard spec for these bearings. Like my other bits, it can be removed and replaced if it ever wears out.

The diameter of the cutter just under the bearing is 0.494" so a little smaller than the bearing.

The depth of cut is a little over 2" so you can do a 4" wide board no problem.

The diameter of the bit at the 2" cut depth is 0.79" - with the measured top diameter, this measurement should be 0.846" (0.494" + 2*0.176") for a 12" radius. So the bit is a little flatter than 12" - when I CAD it out, my measurements suggest a radius of 14.3" - but when I hold the cutting edge up to 12" and 14" radii printed from CAD, it looks like the radius is just fine at 12". So it could be that the bottoms of the cutters themselves are ever so slightly tilted out of parallel toward the center of the shaft.

At the 2" cut depth, it doesn't take much to be off by a few hundredths and there is a big error magnification on the radius - in this example, if both of the cutters are off perpendicular by 0.028" that translates into a difference of 2.3" on the effective radius - an error magnification of almost 100. It is not an easy job - if you mill the radius on the carbide cutters before you attach them to the shaft, then you need a very accurate jig to weld them on straight and parallel to the shaft, and have both cutters the same distance from the center of the shaft (to within a few thousands of an inch). It is far more accurate to attach the cutters first, true them up, then mill the radius, bevel and sharpen.

My original bits are a bit better than this (±0.3" on the radius) but even still, they do leave the usual tool marks on the board that require some touch-up with a radius block - and it would not take much at that point to knock the radius down from 14" to 12". I'll try to mill some wood this evening and evaluate the bit "in action".

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  • 2 weeks later...
SJE-Guitars, is it possible to make a bit with 8mm shank?

Erm yes. :D

Although it would cost more due to the extra work of milling the shank to size.

Erik - have you had chance to try the bit on timber yet?

Basically I am waiting for a bit of a pictorial of it in use then I'll get an order run underway. If anyone wants to pre-order drop me a PM with the sizes and once photographic proof of the original sample in action is provided and everyone is happy then I'll place the orders at the shop.

Cheers all :D

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