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Permalink Reply by gary sheldon on June 16, 2016 at 2:12pm

I agree.  We all have our methods and reasons for using different sequences.  It may be due to the tools we have or don't have, our experience level, the different type of instruments we are building, etc.  I am continually looking for and experimenting with different methods of building to ultimately make the build faster and better.

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Permalink Reply by Rick Alexander on June 16, 2016 at 4:09pm

That's true with me, Gary. My methods are based entirely on getting it done with what I have available.

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on June 16, 2016 at 7:08pm

I broke down and bought a fret blade for my table saw, and use a shooting board with a template.  I make 10-20 fretboards at once... I rip the widths, then cut to length, setup and fret...  It saves me a ton of time, and I'm buying 1/4" thick exotic hardwoods from a wood supplier that specializes in hardwood floors...  $60 gets me a good 30 fretboards and scraps to make banjo style bridges...

Then I have a template for marking fret markers.. I drill a bunch of fretboards at a time for inlay...  

I'll glue the inlay dots in, sand them flush on a fine grit beltsander,  Then they get glued to the neck, sanded flush.  I apply 2-3 coats of wipe on poly, then fret....  I finish the frets on the belt sander, then cleanup the edges with a file.  A wipe down with poly on the edges, and the neck is ready to glue to the box, or add a tailpiece, etc.

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Permalink Reply by Rick Alexander on June 17, 2016 at 8:02am

Hey John,  I've seen pictures of  the table saw method, that seems like the best way to get the best results. Do you have less filing high frets and whatnot since you started using the tablesaw?

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