Hi everybody, my third build is underway and it's time to call upon the wealth of knowledge here in 'The Nation'. I have decided to try a seperate fretboard for no.3 and would be grateful if anybody could help me with a couple of questions?
Firstly, is it best to fret the fingerboard before attaching to the neck, or is it better to sand and shape the neck and fretboard together before fretting?
Secondly, is it sufficient to just glue the fretboard on, or does it need to be screwed as well? I guess it depends a bit on the glue to be used....?
Any advice would be gratefully received.
Regards - Julian

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I cut the neck to width but leave it square, leave the fretboard a little over-width, then slot the fretboard (put in position markers if you are using them), glue it onto the neck (use Titebond or hot hide glue), shape the neck, install frets, trim the ends, level the frets, profile and polish the frets. That's how I do it and it works for me.
ChickenboneJohn +3 (especially the hot hide glue :-) )
I do it the other way around. I cut the neck and fingerboard to the same width, shape the back of the neck, and finish both with tung oil. then I mark, cut and install the frets and markers. Attach the fingerboard and you can never have too many clamps. Sand off the extra glue when dry and touch up the finish. Since I use tung oil, touchups are invisible and blend right in with the original finish.
used to attach the fretboard and then cut the slots and shape the neck but I cut the slots before attaching it now and it works much better...I guess what I am saying is, do what they said. LOL. I believe tightbond 3 should be used to hold houses in tornado alley down to their foundations. I have never used hot hide glue but I would say it is a good idea in some applications because there are times when you don't want a permanent bond.

Travis
For those like Diane that use tung oil, I would love to see some pics of what the necks look like after the tung oil is applied. I was going to try some, but Home Depot wanted almost 20 bucks for a can of it.
Yeah, I would agree to cut the slots first then apply to the neck. After which you can shape the neck any way you need. Since I use a jig to cut the frets with, I have to cut them on the strip prior to attaching to the neck. -WY

Travis Woodall said:
used to attach the fretboard and then cut the slots and shape the neck but I cut the slots before attaching it now and it works much better...I guess what I am saying is, do what they said. LOL. I believe tightbond 3 should be used to hold houses in tornado alley down to their foundations. I have never used hot hide glue but I would say it is a good idea in some applications because there are times when you don't want a permanent bond.

Travis
I am in the slot the over sized fingerboard camp then glue...once I have it glued in place and trimmed to fit I draw lines at an angle, the entire length of the fingerboard, next I take what is a leveling bar ( something like a 2' level that you have taken the time to flatten would work) with sand paper attached and level the fingerboard so that it is dead flat (when the lines are gone you have a pretty good indication you are where you want to be)... Next I install the frets... I find this method saves me a ton of time leveling the frets and cuts down on string buzz... Hope it helps - Jim
Thanks mates, that sounds good to me. I couldn't quite get my head around the best sequence of doing things. I'm learning something new with each build!

ChickenboneJohn said:
I cut the neck to width but leave it square, leave the fretboard a little over-width, then slot the fretboard (put in position markers if you are using them), glue it onto the neck (use Titebond or hot hide glue), shape the neck, install frets, trim the ends, level the frets, profile and polish the frets. That's how I do it and it works for me.
I cut the slots before I attach the fret board. That way I can get the slots square with the fret board. My necks are usually tapered so this is the only way to get then squared. I than shape the neck before attaching the fret board, because there is less chance of damaging the fret board while shaping the neck. Next I attach the fret board and shape it to the neck. After the fret board is glued on and shaped put in the frets. So far I have glued my fret board on using Titebond.
Damn, not a bad idea! almost like a long plane of sorts. This way, you are getting all the highs/lows off at once. Also +5 on the idea of making marks to determine any sway/rock/tilt/level.

-WY

Jim Mitchell said:
I am in the slot the over sized fingerboard camp then glue...once I have it glued in place and trimmed to fit I draw lines at an angle, the entire length of the fingerboard, next I take what is a leveling bar ( something like a 2' level that you have taken the time to flatten would work) with sand paper attached and level the fingerboard so that it is dead flat (when the lines are gone you have a pretty good indication you are where you want to be)... Next I install the frets... I find this method saves me a ton of time leveling the frets and cuts down on string buzz... Hope it helps - Jim
+1 thats how the pros do it with tradtional gutiars.
if you fret first it can cause the fret board to become uneven. if you fret after its all atactched and shaped theres a few advantages 1. if the fret board moves while clampend no biggie to shape it down and fix it 2 you are able to level the fret board and the neck helps keep it stable while fretting. 3 you arnt having to shape a fret board with steel frets in it thats kinda difficult.

ChickenboneJohn said:
I cut the neck to width but leave it square, leave the fretboard a little over-width, then slot the fretboard (put in position markers if you are using them), glue it onto the neck (use Titebond or hot hide glue), shape the neck, install frets, trim the ends, level the frets, profile and polish the frets. That's how I do it and it works for me.
I hadn't even considered the difficulty of shaping the neck with frets in place! Man, am I glad I asked the question!
Thanks for the top tips guys, I feel confident enough to tackle the job now...
Will be sure to post photos of the finished geetarrr if I'm successful!

Tim said:
+1 thats how the pros do it with tradtional gutiars.
if you fret first it can cause the fret board to become uneven. if you fret after its all atactched and shaped theres a few advantages 1. if the fret board moves while clampend no biggie to shape it down and fix it 2 you are able to level the fret board and the neck helps keep it stable while fretting. 3 you arnt having to shape a fret board with steel frets in it thats kinda difficult.

ChickenboneJohn said:
I cut the neck to width but leave it square, leave the fretboard a little over-width, then slot the fretboard (put in position markers if you are using them), glue it onto the neck (use Titebond or hot hide glue), shape the neck, install frets, trim the ends, level the frets, profile and polish the frets. That's how I do it and it works for me.

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