Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey everyone,
I have a new fretboard radius jig that I'm coming out with very soon, and it works flawlessly with a belt sander. No routers needed for this one. The only problem is that it is not interchangeable with different radius'. We may change this later, but for now, we want to offer one radius size to start with. Which one should it be?
Tracy

_________________
Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Tracy, do you mean belt sander as in floor/bench model belt/disc sander or a handheld black and decker belt sander?
-j.

_________________
“If God dwells inside us like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that's what He's getting”
-jack handy

J., I'm talking about something that looks similar to this. I think the only requirement is that it can accept a 3 1/2" thick piece of material, because the jig is 3" tall(plus the fretboard thickness).



I watched a fretboard get radiused in 2 minutes, and it was perfect. If you use 220 grit, then when it comes off the machine, it is ready for fretting, or gluing the fretboard to the neck. This is while the fretboard is in the rectangle state and slots are already cut. But you could cut your taper too and use it just fine. The prototype is completed for a 12" radius, but before I have 20-50 of them made, I need to know what radius people need. I may have 2 different radius' made if there is enough interest in another radius. I was told that Taylor uses 12" radius, and Martin uses 16" radius. So I may just offer these 2 for now.
Tracy

_________________
Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

16" 20" got pictures of them on you site yet?

dang I know the answer Looking forwad to see one

Cool, so any drum sander will work as long as it fits your jig height plus the FB. I'm pretty sure my 16-32 will do the job. I'm anxious to see this thing tracy.
-j.

_________________
“If God dwells inside us like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that's what He's getting”
-jack handy

I typically use a 16" fretboard radius.

I can't wait to see what you have! Long term though, adjustability would be a key feature for me.

Joe

Very cool Tracy and I would be very interested in it too.

I have always been a one trick pony for fret boards with a 16" radius.

Thanks for all the great jigs and tools my friend

Tracy, according to the manufacturer's specs, the performax 16-32, which I think a LOT of people here on the forum have, will only go up to 3". I'll double check the reality of that at home maybe tonight.

_________________
“If God dwells inside us like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that's what He's getting”
-jack handy

Thanks for answering this Poll guys. I'm working with a local builder here who designed the jig, and he uses a 12" radius. But I'll see about having parts made for 12/14/16/20 inch radius'. It is only really 4 parts that need to change between each jig. They are all being cut on a CNC machine.

J., your comment "so any drum sander will work as long as it fits your jig height plus the FB." is correct. If you have a wide belt sander with a 4" opening, you will be fine.

Michael, don't have pics yet of the prototype, but I did see the original jig. I heard the guy who cut it on his CNC made some modifications that make it easier to use than the original. So we want to test the prototype to make sure everything is okay before posting pics. This jig could be built by any guitar builder who has about 4 hours to spare, but it is complicated enough to just buy it. It should be priced anywhere from $99-$150 depending on the cost to produce.
Tracy

_________________
Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

J.,
I just looked it up, and your right, the max thickness is 3". Looks like we will need to adjust this jig to accomodate all you performax users!
Tracy

_________________
Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

My Taylor 414 has a compound radius.  Don't most acoustics also?

_________________
A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

Rich,
You are correct, that this is a very common practice. But this jig is not designed to do a compound radius. We have not done enough testing do determine if it can do a compound radius. There may be a way to do it using this jig, but we haven't tested it enough to determine that. But even if it cannot do a compound radius, you can still do a compound radius after using this jig. Just flatten the upper area by hand. This jig will still save you a lot of work.
Tracy

_________________
Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Tracy, looks promising!

_________________
A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

Thanks Tracy I checked my Performax 10-20 and it has a 3" height limit too.

To borrow an O'Brien term: The clearance is just a "skoshe" over 3", so if any modification could be made for us performax/jet guys, it would be much appreciated.
-j.

_________________
“If God dwells inside us like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that's what He's getting”
-jack handy

Looks like the jig can be modified to accomodate about 2.75" clearance w/
the fretboard, so it should work just fine with a belt sander that has a 3"
clearance. Thanks for all the help everyone! Hopefully we will have this
tested and ready sometime in January.
Tracy

_________________
Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

yeah i have the performax 10/20 to so this wont work for me neither.

_________________
Guitars, guitars and more guitars.

Can't wait to see it, Tracy.

_________________
“If God dwells inside us like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that's what He's getting”
-jack handy

I use a compound - 16 / 20

-Mark

_________________
Pullman, WA

The more I know, the more I know I don't know.

trippguitars.com
OR
Find me on Facebook

I've been using 16" up till the now but I'm going to be going with 14"-20" compound radius with all guitars from here on out.

Sorry I couldn't be of help Tracy. I'm sure what ever you offer will be top drawer, just like the rest of your products.

_________________
My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson