DevinTacheny Posted December 15, 2014 Report Posted December 15, 2014 Hey everyone i've been looking into getting some luthier tools and was wondering what the difference in radius blocks are? Is there a general size that basically everyone owns or what? Quote
killemall8 Posted December 15, 2014 Report Posted December 15, 2014 You want at least an 8" block. The shorter ones are useless for building from scratch. Quote
DevinTacheny Posted December 15, 2014 Author Report Posted December 15, 2014 what about the Radius? Quote
killemall8 Posted December 15, 2014 Report Posted December 15, 2014 The radius is entirely up to you and what bridge type you are going to use. A Tune o matic bridge obviously isnt available, and you have to use a 12" radius to match. Quote
DevinTacheny Posted December 16, 2014 Author Report Posted December 16, 2014 How do i know what kind of bridge goes with what kind of radiusing? And can you tell me what are the necessary tools to do fretting? Quote
killemall8 Posted December 16, 2014 Report Posted December 16, 2014 The bridge will either be adjustable to any radius or fixed bridges like TOM style bridges are only one radius. Quote
DevinTacheny Posted December 16, 2014 Author Report Posted December 16, 2014 Ok well what are the essentials for doing a fret job? im just getting into it really Quote
ScottR Posted December 16, 2014 Report Posted December 16, 2014 Assuming you have a way to slot and radius your board, you need a good straight edge at least as long as your board to make sure it is flat along each string path and a long flat sanding block to fix the areas that are not. You need a way to cut your frets to length after your fret wire has been curved to a radius an inch or so shorter than the fretboard radius. Then you need a way to tap or press your frets into the slots. (Those slots need to be lightly beveled with a triangle file.) You need that long perfectly flat sanding block again to level all the frets to the same plane. Then you need a way to crown the frets--that triangle file can be used if need be. You need a file to bevel the fret ends. And you need a way to polish the frets after they are crowned and dressed. You can go to StewMac and find a ton of specialized tools to do this if you like....and after looking at them, you can probably think of things out in the garage you already have that would also get the job done. SR Quote
DevinTacheny Posted December 18, 2014 Author Report Posted December 18, 2014 Thanks guys Ive been looking at StewMac and have found some of the basic essential tools and am going to purchase them soon and then i am going to start a project. Quote
ScottR Posted December 18, 2014 Report Posted December 18, 2014 Looking forward to seeing your project. SR Quote
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