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CBG building "hacks"

We invent new tricks to make building easier and better. Often we hear about them from others or read about them here on Cigar Box Nation, or Youtube videos.

Here are a couple: I read both here on Cigar Box Nation posts

1. When doing a difficult glue joint, like a fretboard or scarf joint, put a tiny tiny pinch of table salt on the glue after spreading it. It does a great job of letting the pieces grip each other without slipping while applying clamps.

2. When installing those tiny screws on the back of the tuning machines, rub the screw threads over a bar of soap or parafin wax to make them easier to drive and lessen the probability of stripping the screw head.

Another one I learned from experience. Gluing pieces together seems like a simple process. But it can become complex. On a difficult glue joint, I finally learned to do a dry clamp before the actual gluing operation. That way, you have all the clamps out and ready to go. You know exactly how to place the clamps so that they will do their job properly and not interfere with each other. Also have the clamp pads set up so you will not mar the wood.

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Permalink Reply by john w on July 16, 2015 at 5:20am

Salt sounds like genius..i've been using small brass pins driven into the face of the join and clipped off. Thanks for the wisdom.

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Permalink Reply by Bullet Head Jeffrey on April 8, 2016 at 1:51pm

Fretboard fret markers:
Guitar picks- pearloid
Single hole paper punch
1/4" drill bit- drill press if available
Drill down a hair past the tip of bit
Use wood glue in hole and press in punched pieces of guitar pick.

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Permalink Reply by gary sheldon on April 8, 2016 at 4:58pm

I use sticky back silver mylar. About the thickness of aluminum foil. punch it out with paper punch, peel the back off and stick it onto the fretboard. The adhesive is strong enough that I have only had one come loose after building 26 instruments. Plus no drilling into the fretboard. The disadvantage is that this stuff is difficult to find. It is used in solar reflectors.

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Permalink Reply by Fomhorach on April 9, 2016 at 4:24pm

Check out 3d fingernail decals. Super thin. Designed to be clear varnished over. Also you can get a truckload for buttons.

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Permalink Reply by gary sheldon on April 9, 2016 at 7:17pm

I hammer the frets in the traditional way. When I glue in the fretboard, I use plenty of clamps and a full length piece of hardwood top and bottom to spread the pressure and prevent clamp marks. Make the top hardwood piece a little narrower that the fretboard so you can see and feel that the fretboard is properly centered over the neck. This method also insures that the frets are all properly seated. I have been using Hide glue on the fretboard in case I ever have to remove it.

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Permalink Reply by Moritz Voegeli on April 11, 2016 at 8:57am

What I learnt from my friend Tyko Runesson, swedish-swiss luthier who builds beautiful guitars and other stringed instruments: shorten the distance from nut to first fret half a millimeter, so the first halftone will not be sharp. This for classic guitars with low action, for high action as preferred for playing with a slide try with a millimeter.

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Permalink Reply by Kigar on April 11, 2016 at 3:54pm

Moritz I saw that somewhere else as well but it was not clear - does it mean to make a normal fretboard spacing with the nut moved closer to the frets a half mm, or is only the first fret shortened and the rest normal as measured from the nut?

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Permalink Reply by JL on April 12, 2016 at 1:13am

cut your fret slots normally, then cut for your nut a tad closer to compensate for the open string being the only note without the extra tension of being pressed to the fingerboard.

a good article about compensation at the saddle and nut is:

http://www.lmii.com/scale-length-intonation

although, trying to measure and cut a slot to 0.5mm or 0.012" accuracy is so tiny, I accept the error inherent in the process anyway.

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Permalink Reply by gary sheldon on April 12, 2016 at 1:53am

Seems like a good idea. Alternately, it seems like you could file a bit on the nut where it contacts the fretboard. Don't file the upper part of the nut, just the lower part, so the nut overlaps the end of the fretboard.. If the results weren't satisfactory, simply change nuts. Better than scrapping the fretboard. Just sayin' . I would like to hear other opinions on all this. On my ukes, the first couple frets seem pretty sharp. I keep lowering the action at the nut and it improves, but I don't know how far to go.

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Permalink Reply by Moritz Voegeli on April 12, 2016 at 3:21am

JL and Gary thanks for clarification: mark the positions of nut and frets as usual but put the nut for low action half a millimeter towards the first fret. The saw you are fretting with is about .6 millimeters so you get the idea.

Gary's idea of the nut protruding over the fretboard is a lot better than the alternative to glue a fine piece of wood or bone afterwards to correct a sharp first halftone...