Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on June 29, 2009 at 1:04pm

Diane,

The curve is the same radius up and down the board, it's just wider at the bottom than at the top, same curved fretwire, just a little longer the further down the neck... I think JuJu made a tool for curving fretwire over on the "tools" discussion... If not, mail him a request for info....

the best,

Wichita Sam

Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on June 29, 2009 at 2:50pm

Cutting the slots is what's hanging me up. How to keep them square when you can't use the edge as a guide? How to saw the slots?

Permalink Reply by Pat Cook on June 29, 2009 at 4:15pm

My suggestion would be to attach the finger board to a "square" Piece of wood, using double stick tape.

Permalink Reply by Richard Sanabia on June 30, 2009 at 12:20am

I would lay out a fret board on blank label adhesive backed paper, using one of the several fret calculators on line, then stick the paper template on the surface to be cut, and saw the grooves right through the paper. Sometimes a miter box won't work for irregular pieces, so clamp a small block on each side of the blade to prevent the saw from cutting a wider groove than necessary.

Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on July 1, 2009 at 4:27pm

Bob, I think this idea wins the prize this time around. I'll post up some photos in the weeks ahead.

Bob E. III said:

What about wrapped frets like those uncle bob guitars use? You could just put notches along the edges of the fretboard to keep the frets in line.

Permalink Reply by HOGS GRUNT on August 20, 2009 at 5:05am

The way I have made tapered/curved fretboards is to mark out the frets when the fingerboard material is still square (before you taper or cuve it). Then cut in the fret slots to about half depth.
You can then taper and curve your board and you will have the fret cuts already there. If you need to go deeper with the groves you can do this, with care, as you have them there as a guide.
With regard to curving the frets if your fret wire fits tightly in the slot you have cut you will find the fretwire assumes the same curve as the fingerboard.
Just my way of doing this which I think is the easiest way.
If you are using an already curved, and tapered board, then revert back to the original ideas above.
Hope this helps.

Permalink Reply by Roger Martin on February 1, 2010 at 2:31pm

This method wont work for those that taper their necks by carving but it works fine if your cutting your taper with a tablesaw or bandsaw in one cut.
After you make your taper cut just tape the part you cut off BACK to the neck to use it as your straight edge while you cut your fret slots.