Alright...so I spent all monday afternoon working on this cbg for my little kid using scrap wood from a chair I found by the dumpster. I have to admit it was a bit harder than I thought, but not so much that I cant handle.
Alright, so I'm just roughing this out for my kids while I figure out what I'm doing. I didnt angle the headstock, but I'll put backing on it. The real problem is the nut. I got it seated really well, but to know how to level it, shape it, and slot it is tougher than it looks. I got it rounded pretty nice, maybe too low...and my slots suck. I think what I got so far is pretty functional, albeit ugly.
1) any tricks to accurately shape that stupid nut? I used a corian nut blank
2) how high off the fretboard do I want to the strings to sit in the nut?
3) without spending a bunch of money on a nut file / nut file system, what's a good tool?
I figure I'll just use an eyebolt for the bridge and make life easy for now
You need to be a member of Cigar Box Nation to add comments!
I got a dremel now which makes everything very easy. I run the neck on the table saw and cut about a 1/8 deep slot for the blank, seat it, hit it with the dremel till i get a good shape and then hand sand it for the final touches. File the slots with the torch tip and bam...frigen easy and sounds awesome.
whole thing might take me a half hour...dunno if thats slow, but works for me
All my CBGs (and banjo and mandola) since my very first have used bone for the nut. In fact, I still have enough of the original doggie-bone left to make at least one more. About 5 bucks at the pet store; pick one with flat surfaces.
I do it all pretty much by hand; I hacksaw out the rough shape and then use a sandpaper wheel on the Dremel for shaping.
You want it flat at the point the string first contacts the nut, for good intonation, but it can taper towards the tuning machines.
Bone is hard enough that the strings don't tend to bind or catch.
I admit to using a hacksaw blade and a small 3-corner file most of the time, but i did buy one of those clever little torch-tip tools and they're great for getting an exact fit. Lots cheaper than a set of fret files....
Adjusting the action is dealt with in great detail (and good photos) on the Frets.com site.
the old half-pencil trick works very well for a starting point.
Another way to go about shaping the nuts is too leave it long so you have something to work with.It's much easier to handle so you can shape with power tools if you want to or slap it in a vice and shape it with a file or very narrow saw.
As you work keep stopping and check it on the neck to make sure your not going too far.When your happy with the complete shape of the nut, THEN cut it off and glue er in.
It just makes it so much easier to work with if you leave it long until your finished with it.
I keep my slots shallow. If you cut the slots too deep, the string binds up and leads to tuning problems. I cut my depth around half the diameter of the string.
My first cbg was rough...I hit it with a band saw once, put the nut in a vice, leveled it off and then razor sawed it (cuz it too small and I like my fingers), dremel and sand paper. Problem is that I was at a friend's workshop who has seemingly every tool in the world, but lives about 40 minutes away. I have virtually no tools..although I find my collection growing.
Since I got next to no tools, on this second cbg, I just sit the nut a little deeper into the neck...and hit the corian with the sand paper. I bought a torch tip cleaner, but have yet to use it...it has to be better than the hack saw I used at work. I've marked out the frets, but am debating on it right now.
My first cbg was rough...I hit it with a band saw once, put the nut in a vice, leveled it off and then razor sawed it (cuz it too small and I like my fingers), dremel and sand paper. Problem is that I was at a friend's workshop who has seemingly every tool in the world, but lives about 40 minutes away. I have virtually no tools..although I find my collection growing.
Since I got next to no tools, on this second cbg, I just sit the nut a little deeper into the neck...and hit the corian with the sand paper. I bought a torch tip cleaner, but have yet to use it...it has to be better than the hack saw I used at work. I've marked out the frets, but am debating on it right now.
well I decided to keep the nut. It was seated great and looked "ok"...took a hacksaw and worked on the slotting. I was pretty shocked how well the stupid hacksaw worked. I was all excited to get through that problem, but low and behold there's one after another. I dont think I'm going to fret this one because the action is pretty low already...despite the fact that:
-I didnt angle the neck
-I didnt angle the headstock
I did mark out the fret positions using WFret...I like the ability to print it off, lay it out and copy it with ease. I tentatively tested the positions, but didnt have a tape to measure the position of the bridge in regards to scale length...consequently the fretting appeared to suck. Right now I had to put some backing on the headstock to lower the tuners and increase the angle off the nut so i'm waiting on the glue to dry. Tomorrow I'll do up the strings, measure the bridge off and give it a whirl. We'll see where it takes us.
I've had a few quarks...a little frustrating lol. Despite all the problems and setbacks (or maybe because of them) I'm having a blast.
1) band saw, dremel, sandpaper... in that order...
2) depends... if you're fretting the board and fingerpicking maybe the thickness of a dime, if you're playing slide over frets, much higher, maybe the thickness of a quarter or even more, if your playing slide fretless, then anything goes... I like a "zero fret" on a fretless neck that barely lifts the strings off the board, but that's just me... most players like strings higher to play slide.
3) get a set of acetylene torch tip cleaning files (less than $ 10 at Sears or any welding supply house), they come in a set of various sizes. Just keep widening your slot, until the string rests in the slot without being pinched.
hmm, i never stopped to think about a zero fret or anything like what you did...I'm still pretty much "in the box" thinking right now. Thats a good idea...I'll add that to my list.
I looked up the price on a torch tip cleaner...I'm gonna have to invest a few buck in that. I saw something like that on ebay, but it was $30, but I think it was more luthier-ish.
I was thinking, why couldnt I just hit the corian with a router and roundover? it might just be too small a piece to work with, but I'm not a "tools" kinda guy at the moment.
Replies
whole thing might take me a half hour...dunno if thats slow, but works for me
I do it all pretty much by hand; I hacksaw out the rough shape and then use a sandpaper wheel on the Dremel for shaping.
You want it flat at the point the string first contacts the nut, for good intonation, but it can taper towards the tuning machines.
Bone is hard enough that the strings don't tend to bind or catch.
I admit to using a hacksaw blade and a small 3-corner file most of the time, but i did buy one of those clever little torch-tip tools and they're great for getting an exact fit. Lots cheaper than a set of fret files....
Adjusting the action is dealt with in great detail (and good photos) on the Frets.com site.
the old half-pencil trick works very well for a starting point.
As you work keep stopping and check it on the neck to make sure your not going too far.When your happy with the complete shape of the nut, THEN cut it off and glue er in.
It just makes it so much easier to work with if you leave it long until your finished with it.
Just another way to skin the cat.
the best,
Wichita Sam
spencer said:
Since I got next to no tools, on this second cbg, I just sit the nut a little deeper into the neck...and hit the corian with the sand paper. I bought a torch tip cleaner, but have yet to use it...it has to be better than the hack saw I used at work. I've marked out the frets, but am debating on it right now.
-I didnt angle the neck
-I didnt angle the headstock
I did mark out the fret positions using WFret...I like the ability to print it off, lay it out and copy it with ease. I tentatively tested the positions, but didnt have a tape to measure the position of the bridge in regards to scale length...consequently the fretting appeared to suck. Right now I had to put some backing on the headstock to lower the tuners and increase the angle off the nut so i'm waiting on the glue to dry. Tomorrow I'll do up the strings, measure the bridge off and give it a whirl. We'll see where it takes us.
I've had a few quarks...a little frustrating lol. Despite all the problems and setbacks (or maybe because of them) I'm having a blast.
1) band saw, dremel, sandpaper... in that order...
2) depends... if you're fretting the board and fingerpicking maybe the thickness of a dime, if you're playing slide over frets, much higher, maybe the thickness of a quarter or even more, if your playing slide fretless, then anything goes... I like a "zero fret" on a fretless neck that barely lifts the strings off the board, but that's just me... most players like strings higher to play slide.
3) get a set of acetylene torch tip cleaning files (less than $ 10 at Sears or any welding supply house), they come in a set of various sizes. Just keep widening your slot, until the string rests in the slot without being pinched.
hope this helps,
Wichita Sam
I looked up the price on a torch tip cleaner...I'm gonna have to invest a few buck in that. I saw something like that on ebay, but it was $30, but I think it was more luthier-ish.
I was thinking, why couldnt I just hit the corian with a router and roundover? it might just be too small a piece to work with, but I'm not a "tools" kinda guy at the moment.
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next