Official Luthiers Forum!

Anybody here use a simpler fret slotting jig than the one Sylvan Wells is using (shown in the jigs and fixtures section)?

I'm wondering, is it really necessary to have a skid underneath the fb that's being slotted? What would a minimalist jig consist of?

I can see why it would be nice to have the skid, cuz one could clamp the fretboard and template against the skid, if necessary, using DeStaCo toggle clamps, or something similar.

Best,

Michael

_________________
Live to Play, Play to Live

Mine is just a rectangle of plywood that has guide rails on the bottom. the front face is perpendicular to the blade and there is a small guide pin in the front face that index's the template. The template is double taped to the back side of the fret board and the fretboard lies face down on the table saw. After setting the blade height, you just push it thru the blade and remove the fingerboard/template before pulling it back and then move to the next slot index and repeat till done.
Here is a picture, I know, I don't use the table saw insert with this jig because I don't want any interference with the blade or the jig.
The template is from Stewmac and comes with instructions for the jig and the index pin. One side is 24.9" and other 25.4".
John How38897.5600578704

_________________
Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

That's about as simple as it gets. Me likey.

Thanks, John, for your minimalist example. I was thinking of something similar, but worried that it might not be secure enough. But since this simple jig is good enough for you, well . . .

So I built one.



As observant minds will note, my table saw is a Ryobi BT3100, which I bought this past December in large part due to recommendations from folks here. I'm quite happy with it, but the lack of a mitre slot bothered me, so I made a piece from MDF, to which I inset a 3/4" mitre channel. It just sits on the saw's rails, although it is snugged up against the outer moveable table. Still, when I did the actual cutting, I clamped it down on one end to eliminate a tiny bit of play it had.

I cut a piece of oak to fit the mitre slot, but left the length untrimmed until I mounted it to the underside of the jig's sliding crosspiece.

Next, when laying out the jig's sliding piece, which I cut from some good 1" ply, I was very careful to true it up with the sliding mitre, checking for perpindicularity against both the blade and the mitre slot. Then, I clamped it down and drilled it and the oak "runner" at the same time, then mounted the runner to the slider with deck screws. Next I trimmed off some of the length of the runner, but left it long to insure greater stability.

For the index pin I used a 3D 1-1/4 finishing nail, which was almost the exact size necessary for the Stewmac template I have. I nailed it in place, clipped off the excess, and filed down the tip to a more rounded shape to fit the template a little better.

Next, I cut a dado in the slider with the saw's regular blade, then changed blades to the one that Shane got for us a few months back. (Stiffeners came from Woodcraft)

Using a piece of plywood scrap, I tried out the new jig. I did this not only to get a feel for the jig, but to set the blade depth.

Then, like John, I used double sided tape to mount the template to the fingerboard, muttered a few prayers to my favorite diety, and began sawing away.

An after photo:



Everything went smoothly. No "oopses". You can see the freshly cut 10-string fb sitting atop the saw.

Lemme tell ya, 10-string fbs are a major PITA to cut. Because of the extra width the saw tends to sieze up in the cut and often will even flex, resulting in curved fret slots. Not good. I figured it took me about the same amount of time to build this jig and cut the fb than it would have taken me to cut the fb using my manual Stewmac slotting jig. What a time-saver!

Now, instead of dreading the prospect of slotting a fingerboard, I'll be looking forward to it!

Best,

Michael

_________________
Live to Play, Play to Live

Well there you go dude. Your saw is a little different than mine, mine has two miter slots and I use them both on this jig but yours works so your there. I will be needing a new blade before too long I think. I just take my passes slow and steady and I get a good tight and straight slot. Happy slotting.

_________________
Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

[QUOTE=Michael McBroom]
Everything went smoothly. No "oopses". You can see the freshly cut 10-string fb sitting atop the saw.
[/QUOTE]

Not!

If you take another look at the fb I cut, you'll see that I managed to cut the underside! Hey, way ta go!

Yup, the angle is supposed to be on the bass side. Oh well, I'll salt this one away for a special request for a lefty 10-string. Hey, it can happen!

Good thing about this new setup, though, it took me only a few minutes to cut another fb. Whew.

Hey John, yeah that's the big drawback about the BT3100, the way I see it. I would like to have mitre slots on both sides too. Eventually, I'll make another slotted insert and install another runner in this jig. I prefer this method over relying on the sliding mitre table (and in fact, I really don't).

Best,

Michael
Michael McBroom38897.7626157407

_________________
Live to Play, Play to Live

Michael, mine took me a couple of hours to make and that's because i had to redo it and i'm slow, my first guide rails were poorly made out of wood and would jam in the slots, i then redone it with those miter thingies and it works great now!



Serge