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Permalink Reply by Paul Doug on July 12, 2009 at 4:19am

I've tried several different ones. Found a coping saw pretty hard to control, used couple of those Japanese saws that cut on the pull stroke, I like them and use then on lots of projects, my favorite is a 8" Crown Gent Dovetail saw like these:

http://www.hartvilletool.com/product/11126

I made a jig like pictured in the post RL Mott directs you to and use the 8" saw and I'm a happy man.

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Permalink Reply by RL Mott on July 12, 2009 at 7:23am

Being a "newbie" , I haven't tried it yet (first neck) , but I'd guess my Japanese Ryoba(?) will work (may even be too thin for an actual fretgroove (gotta "dial-mic" it & see) , and something like my 12" Crown would be better for nails or toothpick/bamboo skewers since you want a larger/rounded "groove" for em to get glued into ?

The jig is way cool , wish I'd thought of it before . My homemade miterbox is gonna get reeeal dusty now .
If you've got both types of saw , just make a "kerfcut" for each blade thickness .
That same jig with a little tweaking would make a dyno-mite "mini-router" jig .

+1 on Hartville , also love Lee Valley's stuff .

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Permalink Reply by Al Allen (Hangten) on July 12, 2009 at 1:48pm

Gang, thanks for the great ideas. I still didn't see if anyone had tried that Great Neck saw? So maybe I'll give it a whirl and report back. Loved the little homemade jig. That looks easy enough even for me to construct.

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Permalink Reply by Al Allen (Hangten) on July 12, 2009 at 1:51pm

Paul, that saw looks great. I may give that one a try also. Thanks again

Al Allen

Paul Doug said:

I've tried several different ones. Found a coping saw pretty hard to control, used couple of those Japanese saws that cut on the pull stroke, I like them and use then on lots of projects, my favorite is a 8" Crown Gent Dovetail saw like these:

http://www.hartvilletool.com/product/11126

I made a jig like pictured in the post RL Mott directs you to and use the 8" saw and I'm a happy man.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Doug on July 12, 2009 at 4:27pm

If I can post this picture, this is my current setup for cutting fret slots. It is modeled after the one referred to in the post RL Mott did. I used metal rods and they are run through brass tubing, just for a little smother action. The pieces of wood on the sides are adjustable to the width of what ever saw blade I'm using. I really am happy with the way it works:

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Permalink Reply by Al Allen (Hangten) on July 12, 2009 at 5:20pm

Paul, That's just a great looking little jig and it gives me inspiration to build one also. Thanks.
Paul Doug said:

If I can post this picture, this is my current setup for cutting fret slots. It is modeled after the one referred to in the post RL Mott did. I used metal rods and they are run through brass tubing, just for a little smother action. The pieces of wood on the sides are adjustable to the width of what ever saw blade I'm using. I really am happy with the way it works:

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on July 13, 2009 at 6:57pm

I've just bought a Japanese Dozuki saw (that's the style, not the mfr..made by Kubota Kogyo), and it's great for fret slot cutting..and lots of other jobs that need a fine accurate cut. It wasn't cheap (in the UK around GBP 30 that's 50 bucks), but it's paid for itself after just a couple of weeks..just wish I'd bought one years ago. I'm thinking of buying another, keep one just for fretting and the other for general work...it's going to get blunt some day, and it really is such a nice tool to use, so can't imagine being without one now. It's far superior to my old Gents backsaw (even in the days when it was new and sharp).

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Permalink Reply by Paul Doug on July 14, 2009 at 4:37am

You are right about those saw, I have several and use them a lot. There is one fo rsale today on the Rockler "deal of the day" site. I find the best ones for fret grooves are the Dozuki. At least for me. The one on sale is not the dozuki.

The reason I wanted to try the Crown Dovetail is the backbone is parallel with the saw teeth. I'm thinking I can use that to come up with a way to set the depth I cut with the saw. Haven't spent the time to come up with it yet.

ChickenboneJohn said:

I've just bought a Japanese Dozuki saw (that's the style, not the mfr..made by Kubota Kogyo), and it's great for fret slot cutting..and lots of other jobs that need a fine accurate cut. It wasn't cheap (in the UK around GBP 30 that's 50 bucks), but it's paid for itself after just a couple of weeks..just wish I'd bought one years ago. I'm thinking of buying another, keep one just for fretting and the other for general work...it's going to get blunt some day, and it really is such a nice tool to use, so can't imagine being without one now. It's far superior to my old Gents backsaw (even in the days when it was new and sharp).

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Permalink Reply by RL Mott on July 14, 2009 at 6:51am

Just use a clamped thin strip of plexi/whatever and have it land on the top of the "miterbox"
instead of on the board.
You could use different up/down spacing for the through-holes for the 2 rods (say for a 1/4" fingerboard as opposed to a 3/4" regular neck) .

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