Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Alan Roberts on April 5, 2010 at 8:19am

The two most popular woods for fretboards (rosewood and ebony) are banned from the woodshop I use. I just use a dark wallnut.

Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on April 5, 2010 at 8:26am

Woodcraft also has 1/4" stock. I pair that up with their 1/2" maple for necks.

Permalink Reply by Jason Nelms on April 5, 2010 at 8:28am

What is the usual length you order? Do you do some math based on scale length? I am looking at 1/4' thick 2 inches wide(I am assuming). Not sure about the length though.

Randy S. Bretz said:

If your going with a 1x2 for your neck you can buy pre-cut exotic`s and domestic wood`s at Rockler.com they carry a nice selection at a great price.

Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on April 5, 2010 at 8:32am

My usual neck for a 3 string is 1.25ish, so I have to rip that off whatever stock I buy.

You can lay a yardstick on your work bench, lay the box next to it and get a rough idea of how long your fingerboard will be, based on your chosen scale length. I cut the fingerboard to final length once the neck is all cut and finished, and dry fit into the box. Fret it up (or not), glue it on and sand smooth.

Jason Nelms said:

What is the usual length you order? Do you do some math based on scale length? I am looking at 1/4' thick 2 inches wide(I am assuming). Not sure about the length though.
Randy S. Bretz said:

If your going with a 1x2 for your neck you can buy pre-cut exotic`s and domestic wood`s at Rockler.com they carry a nice selection at a great price.

Permalink Reply by Dave Breault on April 6, 2010 at 4:01am

Interesting, I assume you rent shop time. I've never heard tell of a shop banning a wood species, I can understand why they might due to the issues surrounding those species, but to be honest it also means you can't repurpose used products of that species either. I personally only use salvaged ebony and rosewood.

Alan Roberts said:

The two most popular woods for fretboards (rosewood and ebony) are banned from the woodshop I use. I just use a dark wallnut.

Permalink Reply by Jason Nelms on April 6, 2010 at 4:02am

Where do you look for salvaged pieces?

Dave Breault said:

Interesting, I assume you rent shop time. I've never heard tell of a shop banning a wood species, I can understand why they might due to the issues surrounding those species, but to be honest it also means you can't repurpose used products of that species either. I personally only use salvaged ebony and rosewood.

Alan Roberts said:

The two most popular woods for fretboards (rosewood and ebony) are banned from the woodshop I use. I just use a dark wallnut.

Permalink Reply by Dave Breault on April 6, 2010 at 4:40am

It really depends on where you live and how big of a piece you are willing to work with. By big I should really say small, I get my ebony from pianos headed for the tip, not all the black keys are ebony but the older ones are. You can even score some ivory if the piano is old enough. Rose wood is very hard to find and you really have to know what you are looking at, but estate auctions sometimes sell items of furniture that are beyond repair however you can salvage some usable stock from them.
I also will scan yard sales for rose wood pieces, but there again the finds can be few and far between.
Jason Nelms said:

Where do you look for salvaged pieces?

Dave Breault said:

Interesting, I assume you rent shop time. I've never heard tell of a shop banning a wood species, I can understand why they might due to the issues surrounding those species, but to be honest it also means you can't repurpose used products of that species either. I personally only use salvaged ebony and rosewood.

Alan Roberts said:

The two most popular woods for fretboards (rosewood and ebony) are banned from the woodshop I use. I just use a dark wallnut.

Permalink Reply by Alan Roberts on April 6, 2010 at 8:57am

Dave Breault said:

Interesting, I assume you rent shop time. I've never heard tell of a shop banning a wood species, I can understand why they might due to the issues surrounding those species, but to be honest it also means you can't repurpose used products of that species either. I personally only use salvaged ebony and rosewood. (Roars with laughter) Yep, I by a term pass at the local Univesity. The Banned Woods are on the list more for health reasons. I could tell you about the time I wanted to make native drums out of Alaskan yellow cedar, and found out that about half the people in the shop had strong allergies to that wood. Most of them didn't know that either, until the sawdust was in the air...
A lot of tropical hardwoods are mildly toxic. Some not even "mildly." I'm having a senior moment... not cocobolo, but a different bright red hardwood ... was making people SICK and staining equipment. If I came along a day later and used the belt sander on a piece of hard maple, it would turn PINK. Even the bansaw would hold onto the oils from that hardwood.

One of the downsides of sharing workspace....

Permalink Reply by Buffalo John on April 11, 2010 at 2:49am

home Depot has oak and poplor in fretboard size.

Permalink Reply by Deltahaze on June 17, 2010 at 7:10am

some woodshops ban certain species due to them being so hard and dense they can break the bandsaw blades...other than that, I can't imagine why they'd ban them...

Dave Breault said:

Interesting, I assume you rent shop time. I've never heard tell of a shop banning a wood species, I can understand why they might due to the issues surrounding those species, but to be honest it also means you can't repurpose used products of that species either. I personally only use salvaged ebony and rosewood.

Alan Roberts said:

The two most popular woods for fretboards (rosewood and ebony) are banned from the woodshop I use. I just use a dark wallnut.

Permalink Reply by nick tyson on June 26, 2010 at 12:55pm

Can anyone in the UK suggest a place i can get wood for a fretboard from, its going on a 2x1 neck.What thickness would be best for a fretboard.

Permalink Reply by Jason Nelms on June 26, 2010 at 3:34pm

1/4 inch or 6.5 mm for the folks in the UK. =)

nick tyson said:

Can anyone in the UK suggest a place i can get wood for a fretboard from, its going on a 2x1 neck.What thickness would be best for a fretboard.

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