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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on May 31, 2015 at 4:31pm

I've been buying Jatoba from a local hardwood supplier.  It is used in flooring and is really really really hard.  Not sure if anybody is making fretboards for sell out of this stuff, but I really like it.

Oh, and I have some Purple Heartwood, too...

The stuff is hard enough to make bridges out of, and I've been using them experimentally for nuts (with a bit of thin CA to stregthen...)  so far so good...

John

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Permalink Reply by Dane Donato on June 1, 2015 at 1:45am

It sounds like you are looking for pre-made fingerboards already slotted for frets. It can get expensive. 

http://www.stewmac.com/SiteSearch/fingerboard.html.

A little lower end, CB GItty offers pre-made and slotted fingerboards, in a variety of exotic woods. But again, not super cheap. 

If you invest in the right equipment, you can make your own out of any wood you wish. I use a thickness planer (low end model, which works well for me), a fret ruler, and a fret miter box and saw. You can also find fret calculators online so you can select any fret spacing you want. 

If you are good with hand tools, you can use just a saw and bench plane to make fingerboards, but there is a big learning curve in this method. 

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Permalink Reply by TN Twang on June 1, 2015 at 1:48am

I always put a couple of frets on crooked so you can tell it's hand made...

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on June 1, 2015 at 4:16pm

Very good point!  Gitty's plastic template works really well, the real trick is having a good miter box (and you won't find one at Home Depot!)  I ended up making one.  The trick is to make a box, then cut it in half with a good table saw or chop saw.  Then bolt it down to a straight piece of wood...  makes a nice tight fit...

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Permalink Reply by TN Twang on June 2, 2015 at 2:05am

Trivia that's a little off topic: The guys at Stew-Mac claim that Martin, USA has been using the same "gang" saw to cut frets for years--even as the blades warp further and further out of line. They propose to date Martin guitars by measuring the amount of error in the fretboards.

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on June 3, 2015 at 12:14pm

I might be convinced to make a fretboard or two... Let's talk...

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