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Permalink Reply by robert jones on March 9, 2014 at 11:35pm

That is probably going to have too wide a kerf to be useful for fretting.

You can easily make a miter box for the Japanese saw from scrap neck and fret board cut offs.

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Permalink Reply by Jon Leslie/Runaway Veal Music on March 10, 2014 at 4:33am

Yeah, 1/32 specs on the saw.
Can't wrap my head around the homemade Miter box ? Yet. I understand the concept of the middle slot but the other slots on the base of the homemade miter box box what are they for ???? Thank you looking for a pic to explain what I mean

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Permalink Reply by Jon Leslie/Runaway Veal Music on March 10, 2014 at 5:13am

How can you see your neck thst your cutting the slot into with the view being obstructed ? Something I'm not getting

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on March 10, 2014 at 8:30am

I removed one of the two top pieces on my miter box.  The real trick to making that Miter box is to use a good chop saw/table saw to cut the unslotted box in half, then screw down the two pieces to another base.  That let's you adjust the slot width to a nice smooth fit on the saw.

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Permalink Reply by robert jones on March 10, 2014 at 9:26am

The two pieces across the top in the photo are there as a depth gauge of sorts that contacts the stiffener on a gent saw. You have a Japanese or flush cut saw so you do not need those two cross pieces.

Building the miter box is simple:

1. screw two scrap pieces of fret board to a scrap neck piece
2. make sure you do not have any screws in the middle
3. cut the miter box in half with a chop saw
4. screw one half to a base
5. place the saw between the attached piece and the unattached piece
6. adjust the unattached piece so the saw moves freely back and forth but not side to side
7. mark the location on the base and use a fret board or neck blank to align the two pieces
8. screw the second half of the miter box down
9. double check that everything is square and the saw can move freely
10. adjust if necessary
11. make fret boards to your heart's content

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Permalink Reply by Jon Leslie/Runaway Veal Music on March 10, 2014 at 3:02pm

Thanks ...this helps quite a bit.

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Permalink Reply by Comrade Paul on March 11, 2014 at 11:38am

another way is just to take a corner-square over your pencil line and cut along the corner square.  it actually goes pretty fast.

I take a strip of wood 1/4 inch or so thinner than the neck and use it along side the neck to lay the long end of the square on.  I did make a miter box but found this way faster.  Not for the professional, but effective and easy.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Woods on March 12, 2014 at 10:31am

I agree w/ the other posters, probably too wide a kerf.  The smooth sides of the cut of a japaneese backsaw makes it want to bind, so a miter box & clamps help a lot.  My homemade miter boxes are very simple.  a 1 x 2 x 1' scrap with (2) approx 3" high scraps on each side.  I then make a couple cuts with my Radial arm saw to but not through the bottom board.  I ahve filled the kerf in on one side with thin strips to take the play out, but I find I can put a little pressure holding the saw to one side of the kerf fine. - I am often cutting the kerf for the frets directly into the neck.  Make a couple matching wedges of 5 or 10 degrees to jam the neck / fretboard to the front & clamp the whole thing down to the bench - much easier.

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Permalink Reply by Shawn on March 12, 2014 at 1:21pm

I added a razor blade in the slot bottom of my miter box ( built just like Roberts) to act as an alignment pin.

I can tape one fret board ( already slotted ) to a fresh one and slide it into the miter box the blade falls into pre fretted board and make a copy exactly like the first one every time.

I got the idea from a video I found on line late at night.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on March 12, 2014 at 1:59pm

http://sixgunguitars.com/fret_slotting_jig.html

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