Fret Slotting Miter Box

[spindlebox]

Anybody have any experience with these?  Obviously StewMac has a super expensive one, and then there are others by Amplified Parts and Elmer guitars  I'm sure they all produce good results, but if there's any other advice you have.  

I was SUPER SUPER careful measuring and it seems as though I still mucked it up slightly.  Not really sure how.  I used my small square to help me get the slots started, but even that was difficult due to the fact that I stupidly tapered the sides of the fretboard so I didn't have a square beginning point.  But also, the wood that I bought was not square to begin with, so I thought perhaps a miter box solution would be helpful.  Anybody build one?  Just looking for some ideas folks!!!  I'm not made of money, but I also don't want to stress getting this part right.  It's kind of important!!! 

 

[Bizman62]

Those and their alternatives have been mentioned in several threads. There's also a review of one that looks surprisingly similar to that:

 

14 hours ago, spindlebox said:

a miter box solution would be helpful.  Anybody build one?  Just looking for some ideas folks!!! 

As always there's many ways to skin a cat... You can cut fret slots with just a saw, carefully marking the location preferably with a knife to get a starting groove. A square block can help keeping the saw straight. That's the cheapest option. The next less expensive version is a simple mitre box with a slot going through two side walls. That can be modified with bearings that keep the saw blade from both cutting the mitre slot wider and also reduce friction. Other DIY modifications have also been seen. The single slot type mitre boxes usually come with a notched template - you stick your fretboard on the template and go notch by notch on a guiding pin. Yet another approach is a mitre box with slots for each fret. A laser cut one was recently shown in a building thread.