www Posted December 23, 2003 Report Share Posted December 23, 2003 I have seen epoxied fret boards, but was wondering how? I am going to go fretless on the neck of my new bass project. I just was trying to figure out how to do the epoxy. The only thing I can come up with is taping of the fretboard on the sides and poring some epoxy on it, sand it to radius, and polish it. Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted December 23, 2003 Report Share Posted December 23, 2003 Do it just like that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJohn Posted December 23, 2003 Report Share Posted December 23, 2003 What Brian said.And if you want to mark off the frets Starbuck stirsticks usually fit in the slots perfectly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex Luthier Posted December 23, 2003 Report Share Posted December 23, 2003 Intersting. I have sorta heard of hardend fretless boards, but though it would be something like after it's radiused, paint the board with fiberglass resin, which is basically really thin epoxy, which will soak in and really harded up the wood, then sand smooth a little bit for a nice polished feel. That's what I would do, especially if using a softer wood for a fretless board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted December 23, 2003 Report Share Posted December 23, 2003 super glue would make it hard. I guess I'd use the medium if I were to do it that way. Super glue is supposed to be much less of a "tone sink" than epoxy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex Luthier Posted December 23, 2003 Report Share Posted December 23, 2003 super glue would make it hard. I guess I'd use the medium if I were to do it that way. Super glue is supposed to be much less of a "tone sink" than epoxy. The super thin stuff would sink into the wood more, and harded it up more, rether then create a hardened layer sitting ontop the wood. I personally would prefer the fingerboard wooditself to be hardened up, not just have a layer the could eventually flake or wear off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted December 23, 2003 Report Share Posted December 23, 2003 I mean the stuff that's just a little thicker than the "water thin", not the stuff thats as thick as epoxy. I think it would mostly soak in too. Of course if this board has been oiled, waxed, had lord knows what wiped on it, it could be hard to get anything soaking in and staying on the surface. Should be cleaned with naptha, mineral spirits, amonia and water, maybe alcohol, maybe lacquer thinner. There's a certain order of what you use first to last, but I don't have the list near my computer. I would use acetone as the last step, probably, depending on the type of wood and inlays, binding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www Posted December 23, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2003 super glue would make it hard. I guess I'd use the medium if I were to do it that way. Super glue is supposed to be much less of a "tone sink" than epoxy. The super thin stuff would sink into the wood more, and harded it up more, rether then create a hardened layer sitting ontop the wood. I personally would prefer the fingerboard wooditself to be hardened up, not just have a layer the could eventually flake or wear off. Yew, I would use a saturation system epoxy. Also, the fret board is rediused now, so I would just sand the epoxy to do a final radius. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www Posted December 23, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2003 Epoxied fret boards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted December 23, 2003 Report Share Posted December 23, 2003 Oh those are pretty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted December 23, 2003 Report Share Posted December 23, 2003 im currently in the process of building a fretless 4-string with an ebony board... man that stuff is hard as nails! .. is it really neccesary to epoxy the board, or is the ebony tough enough as it is?( i use roundwound strings ) thanks and merry christmas, john. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renablistic Posted December 23, 2003 Report Share Posted December 23, 2003 Epoxied fret boards OMFG!!!! THOSE ARE NICCCCCEEE!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www Posted December 24, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2003 im currently in the process of building a fretless 4-string with an ebony board... man that stuff is hard as nails! .. is it really neccesary to epoxy the board, or is the ebony tough enough as it is?( i use roundwound strings ) thanks and merry christmas, john. The ebony is plenty hard for fretless, but I think eventually there will be string marks indented on the wood. I don't really know that much though. I just really like the looks of the epoxy finish, and it doesn't look that hard to do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted December 24, 2003 Report Share Posted December 24, 2003 Depends a lot on what type of strings. The flat wounds are quite a bit easier on a wood board. Don't forget violins, cellos. acoustic upright basses have ebony fretless boards. I've made phenolic fret-boards. Man, you want a damn hard board, that's it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbkim Posted December 24, 2003 Report Share Posted December 24, 2003 I've made phenolic fret-boards. Man, you want a damn hard board, that's it. Hey! I wouldn't mind a "make your own phenolic FB" tutorial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Posted December 24, 2003 Report Share Posted December 24, 2003 ahhh that would be sooo nice to play on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted December 24, 2003 Report Share Posted December 24, 2003 I've made phenolic fret-boards. Man, you want a damn hard board, that's it. Hey! I wouldn't mind a "make your own phenolic FB" tutorial. It's been 9 years since I did those. 2 of 'em. I didn't make the phenolic from scratch, I bought it from Luthiers mercantile. You work it just like wood, but it's harder. It's probably kinda like SS frets compared to the standard Nickel silver frets. Carbide is king, for sure in this case, for you're routing bits. Or imagine that really hard synthetic nut material you've probably used, only now you got a fret-board like that (phenolic makes a nice nut for a bass, and that's exactly what I used the scraps for). I used epoxy to glue them to the wood necks. Now for the insane part. On both phenolic board necks, I scalloped the whole neck. Not little shallow scallops, but the big one's just like the one photo in 'Guitar player repair guide'. roughed in the scallops using a drum sander on an electric drill. Measured all the time, not to go farther than I wanted, then cleaned up with files and sandpaper. An oval Bic lighter covered in sandpaper held with carpet tape was great for up to the 12th fret, or so, then round rasps, files, pencils wrapped in sandpaper. The drum sander ruined the frets, which was fine. they were pulled out later and the necks re-fretted. Can't think of any good tips for working with phenolic, other than the warning that it's like working with the hardest, hardwood you can imagine. It's consistant, so you don't have to worry about coming across harder and softer spots, which happens in real wood pretty often. Also, it actually appears to have a slight "grain" because the stuff is made from layers of paper pressed together, then saturated with the resin stuff, then I think it's heated. Something like that, but I'm just going by things I read about how it's made and what it's made of. But I did see the "grain" since I worked with the stuff. The scallops show a very slight interesting "grain", but the stuff is pretty much dead cold black. There very well could be different ways that the stuff is made, so if you were to ever get any, it might not be exactly the same as what I had. It's very tough on small dremel dental type bits and broke many of mine. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbkim Posted December 24, 2003 Report Share Posted December 24, 2003 It's been 9 years since I did those. 2 of 'em. I didn't make the phenolic from scratch, I bought it from Luthiers mercantile. ... Now for the insane part. On both phenolic board necks, I scalloped the whole neck. ... Can't think of any good tips for working with phenolic, other than the warning that it's like working with the hardest, hardwood you can imagine. It's consistant, so you don't have to worry about coming across harder and softer spots, which happens in real wood pretty often. ... Also, it actually appears to have a slight "grain" because the stuff is made from layers of paper pressed together, then saturated with the resin stuff, then I think it's heated. ... The scallops show a very slight interesting "grain", but the stuff is pretty much dead cold black. Hmm... LM doesn't seem to carry it any more. Heh, I scalloped a kramer aluminum necked guitar that had a phenolic FB 20 years ago when I was 16... didn't know what the heck that stuff was. Yup, that stuff was very hard, I wound up using a chisel ... you can imagine how "beautiful" it came out . I remember it smelled REAL BAD, giving me an intense headache... maybe the fumes caused dain bramage . I'm still interested in it for FB use on electrics as I like flat, non-radiused FB's like classical guitars. I should read up on it some more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted December 24, 2003 Report Share Posted December 24, 2003 Yeah, it had this smell like a mixture of newspaper and some kind of industrial glue/plastic mixture. Well, does it cause damage ? I went to a lung doctor in the summer of '02. They put me on a machine to do test to see how my lungs are, and they said I do have lung problems. Phenolic, super-glue, acetone, lacquer. lacquer thinner, etc etc. What can one expect ? If you really want the stuff, it's got to be out there, but black might be a problem. I'm saying that because last time I was in a plastics shop and wanted something in white, they said " no colors". But I think I paid 14 bucks a piece for those phenolic fret-board blanks from LM, which seems pretty damn high for 9-10 years ago. I'd prefer to never have to work with the stuff again, but I've done fret-work on some steinbergers over the last several years, which have phenolic boards. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibum5545 Posted October 4, 2004 Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 Sorry to dredge up this old thread, but I figured better to have one big thread than two little ones (Alice's Restaurant, anyone? ) Anyway, has anyone attempted this procedure? How'd it go? Did you use CA or thinned epoxy or something else? Finally, the link earlier in the thread seemed to be a rather nice result, but I couldn't tell whether the guy did a surface coat or something that soaked in a bit more. If I were to harden by soaking in CA, would I be able to get that glossy look like the guy gets on the earlier website? Finally, I'm probably going to be applying this to a rock curly maple 'board. I don't know if that makes a difference, but I figured I'd throw it out there just in case! Happy Bassing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted October 4, 2004 Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 Won't that effect the tone somewhat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www Posted October 4, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 After re reading the Thor process I did not got with epoxy for the fretboard. I went with acryillic instead. It may or, may not work as well as the epoxy, but it has hardened up very well. If it doesn't end up working well I will do the epoxy saturation method. It looks pretty good. Pics come when the bass is finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibum5545 Posted October 5, 2004 Report Share Posted October 5, 2004 Thanks for the help, www. Just to clarify. Did you put it straight on the surface, or attempt to thin it for soaking purposes? Or do you mean you used solid acrylic plastic for the fb? Finally, one last question. I hope to hard finish the body with 2-part auto poly (hopefully I can find a nearby car paint shop to do it.) Would it work to simply finish the fretboard as well as the rest of the body and neck with the poly, or should I epoxy/CA the fretboard, mask it off, and then poly the rest? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www Posted October 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 I sprayed the acryllic directly on the fret board. It may or may not be tough enough, but I won't find out for awhile. The bass won't be finished for awhile unless we get a warm spell. As far as poly-It should be plenty tough enough. Go ahead an try it. It can always be sanded off later and epoxy used instead. I read a site where they used a thinned epoxy and put a couple of coats on, but they did not mention how the fretboard was reradiused or how or if they polished the epoxy afterward. This is all an experiment for me. I'll learn more the more I do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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