sdshirtman Posted June 12, 2012 Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 I'm getting ready to start my 4th and 5th builds and at that point where I think I'll be doing this for some years to come. I'm thinking its time to gain the ability to make and slot my own fretboards. Doing a little research it seems I have four options. A. The LMI slotting jig at $180 plus $35 per additional template. B. The Stewmac Fret Slotting jig package at $180 plus $40 for templates. C. LMI Power slotting system with plans for the jig for $193 plus the cost of wood for the carriage. D. The stew mac Table saw blade @ $88.00 plus $40 for the fret scale templates and the cost of woods for the carriage and not very detailed instructions. It seems the cheapest way to go is option D and I'd have to do some configuring to my saw each time I wanted to cut slots. I'd also have to do this with option C. I'd like some opinions on this from those of you that slot fretboards themselves. Remember I'm on a budget ( who isnt?) Also if anyone has plans for a slotting jig that they could pass on to me I'd love to look at them. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linny Posted June 12, 2012 Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 If you have a table saw then option D is by far the best. Its very easy to make a small crosscut sled for the purpose. I have option B and it works very well but if i did have a table saw i would use that. You would have the option to batch out fingerboards for future builds very easy. Watch this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted June 12, 2012 Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 Actually I would do option D with LMI templates as they have more scales to chose from. I use a radial arm saw with Stew Mac Saw Blade and have 2 index pin options. One to use LMI templates and one for Stew Mac templates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ripthorn Posted June 12, 2012 Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 I built my own miter box and use the stew mac fret saw and templates. The miter box took me about 30 minutes to put together from 1/2" mdf and is wide enough to slot a 1 piece strat neck. I have ended up doing enough, though, that I am considering getting the table saw blade and going that route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpm99 Posted June 13, 2012 Report Share Posted June 13, 2012 Here's mine, for what it's worth. I really like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juntunen Guitars Posted June 13, 2012 Report Share Posted June 13, 2012 I use the stewmac table saw blade. My cross cut sled is just a 2x4 flattened and squared that's bolted to the miter guage. For the pin I took a nail and hammer it in above where the blade goes and filed it until it was small enough to fit the pin for my fret slotting templates. LMI sells a special pin that is tapered though I think. ' I get my slotting templates off a seller on Ebay for around $31 that are two sided. They are just like stewmacs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian d Posted June 13, 2012 Report Share Posted June 13, 2012 I just started building a table saw jig for the StewMac blade yesterday. I plan to make my own templates (similar to the way David did, but maybe using a 2mm brad point drill to make the notches in the template with a 2mm dowel for the index pin). I'll get back to the shed over the weekend and take some photos to post. David, I like your jig - great use of cheap resources. I do cringe a bit when I see you reach over the blade to get to the power switch on the video. Can you move the switch to the front? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpm99 Posted June 13, 2012 Report Share Posted June 13, 2012 David, I like your jig - great use of cheap resources. I do cringe a bit when I see you reach over the blade to get to the power switch on the video. Can you move the switch to the front? I could, but I sort of built it backward. At this point, I don't see me making that change on mine, but I'd recommend it for anyone else to tried to reproduce the jig. In the video, I turn it on and off a lot, but when I'm working, it mostly just stays on all the time. I'll be careful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdshirtman Posted June 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 Hey thanks for all the replies. I ended up making a cross cut sled like the one in the video Linny posted. It seemed really useful to have around. Its a little too big for a fret slotting jig so I guess I'll be making another one specifically for that purpose and getting the stew mac circular saw blade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Mailloux Posted July 15, 2012 Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 D was a no brainer for me when I decided to get equiped as its also the cheapest option if you have the power saw. I got the bore of the stewmac blade recut to 30mm to fit my sliding mitre saw and made a little indexing table to clamp on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgmorg Posted July 16, 2012 Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 one thing to watch out for on the stew mac blade~ when they are new, they sometimes have a slight burr on the edges of the teeth, and will cut a little oversize. Most likely this will wear off after a while, just make sure to measure the slots with feeler gauges. What I did was laid a piece of 600 grit paper on the saw table, and carefully ran the sides of the blade over it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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