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I am working on a lute style (fretless) fretboard and need to angle it by half, that is, one end will be 4mm and the end about 2mm. I am thinking of using a jointer to slowly knock off wood, (planing by hand would take days.) Anyone out there have any other tricks for this? I was going to try the thickness sander at the shop I go to, but I think that would take forever. My drill press roto sander barely scratched the surface.

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Here is what a Parlor Guitar is for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEa8PkjO6_I

Frei, you could create a sled for the planer or thickness sander. Your idea of using the jointer can work too. I am curious why you think it would take long to handplane it? I would think that would be a pretty quick and easy way to do it.

How long is this puppy, by the way?

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Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger

If you have a drum sander cut a wedge to the appropriate angel out of scrap stock. Double side tape it to the bottom of the fretboard. Attach them to a carrier board and sand the fretboard in the drum sander. lots of ways to do this. If you want a radius in the FB you can add that in with a sanding form after reaching the thickness.

I hand planed my fingerboard to the taper 7mm at nut to 4mm on bass side and 5mm on treble side. Took about 30 minutes to an hour. I then used a flat sanding board to make sure it was a clean taper, since it was compound.

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Waddy

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Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Far easier than trying to cut a 2mm thick wedge (or a wedge that has a 2mm difference, and is smooth) is to take a piece of 3/4 ply slightly longer than the fretboard, quick CA a 2mm shim at one end, add a 1mm shim in the middle, and then sled the whole thing thru a thickness sander .....

This shouldnt take more than ten minutes to do, including the sanding to tapered thickness. Planing it wouldnt take much longer either if you have a properly set up and sharp plane.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"