Official Luthiers Forum!

Quickly, just lookin for what some of you do:

What thickness do you make your bridge plate if you use rose wood or coco?

What do you use for pore filling on the neck and fret board, and do you finish the fret board before fretting it?

And does anyone else have ideas or links for a simple jig or way to make my own kerf, I have so much extra mahogany I could make kerf for years. I don't mind buying it, but I can't bring myself to throwing wood away, and I have a lot of spare mahoganey.

Bridge plate:
Two ply, maple and Brazilian, .100 thick.

Neck filler is LMI's micro bead.

No filler on fingerboard.

Mark

do you finish the fret board with anything?

I am progressing well on my first, but now am about to begin approaching the fretboard. I am having nightmares about neck angles and setups, but am hoping it will be as fun and interesting as the rest of the building process.

I was planning on using some cocobolo that i resawed for the fretboard.

Jon-
For kerfing jigs, try a search of the forum archive (here at OLF) for 'k sled' and you will turn up some info.

I haven't done this myself, so I can't offer any specific info. However, it's a common area for jigs and schemes, so if you search around (try the MIMF archives as well) you will find more ways of doing slotted linings (aka kerfing) than you can imagine.

Cheers
John

It is not usual to finish a fretboard.

_________________
David White, Toronto

"All my favourite singers can't sing."

Rosewood bridge plates .09
I've been using epoxy for pore filler on the neck just wipe it on with a paper towel.
like the others no filler on the fingerboards.
As far as linings go, use solid linings about .170 thick or so. I typically use Spanish Cedar for this.

_________________
Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Thanks,

With the solid linings do you just bend them like the sides, in the bender?

As for the fret board, I was just trying to figure out what prevents it from breaking down from the acids in our fingers and sweat. So ya'll put nothing at all on your boards? (Just checkin)

I have seen the k sled stuff, and been talking with larkim about it, but the plans are currently offline (and honestly, i was hopin for something simpler  )

John, just bend the lining in your bender.
I don't fill my finger boards but I do put some oil on them. usually some linseed oil or tung oil. Lots of folks just finger board oil or mineral oil.

_________________
Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

[QUOTE=Jim_W]John, just bend the lining in your bender.
I don't fill my finger boards but I do put some oil on them. usually some linseed oil or tung oil. Lots of folks just finger board oil or mineral oil.[/QUOTE]

Thanks alot, so just bend em in the bender, and then glue together.

Thanks for all the help,

I seem to get so much answered so quickly here, as opposed to searching for days through books.....

You might need to practice a little as the lining is about twice as thick as sides. I soak the spanish cedar for about 20 minutes or so and wrap in paper.

_________________
Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Thanks,

like I said, i have a lot of mahoganey scrap to play with, I will pick up some cedar at the wood yard next week too, and see what works. In the mean time I am still going to figure out a simple jig to make some kerf.

I know you said about .170 thick, but how many layers thick is it when you actually use it?

I use just one layer, this gives a bound surface of just about a 1/4 inch wide.

_________________
Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

0.17 + 0.08 = 0.12

is that not about 1/8 "

 

Sorry,

I am an idiot, been a long time since college and all,

0.08+0.17 =0.25 or a quarter inch,

thanks alot

No problem, we all have those once in a while.

_________________
Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

And i found a quick and easy way to make kerf in the archives, took all day, but it would have taken longer for a k sled.

So now I have 2 new things to work on, solid linings, and this method of making kerf linings.

This is an old link, but so many cool jigs......
http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11468 &KW=RADIUS+DISH#forumTop

Now if I only I could make the perfect jig for radius dishes, my ghetto version is in need of an overhall.

the only fret boards i can think of that are finished are the maple boards on electrics. the maple doesn't need filling. sealer and finish are applied after fretting, then removed from the frets, sort of. this process is just one of the things that can make re-fretting maple fret boards more difficult and complex than ebony, rosewood, etc.

If you have a table saw, you can use it to make reverse kerf style lining very easily, and its fast - I stack 3 thin kerf Diablos on the arbor and can make enough for one guitar in about five minutes - the jig rides in the mitre slots, and has a nail on the fence that sets the kerf spacing to the same delta as that between the blades on the arbor - for blade spacers, I simply cut some 5/16 aluminum into discs. Its a simple cross cut sled.

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

Do not fill pores on FB use only a drying oil on FB. I like Boiled linseed oil, some use Walnut oil and processed FB oils from StewMac and LMI

[QUOTE=TonyKarol] If you have a table saw, you can use it to make reverse kerf style lining very easily, and its fast - I stack 3 thin kerf Diablos on the arbor and can make enough for one guitar in about five minutes - the jig rides in the mitre slots, and has a nail on the fence that sets the kerf spacing to the same delta as that between the blades on the arbor - for blade spacers, I simply cut some 5/16 aluminum into discs. Its a simple cross cut sled.[/QUOTE]

Tony, you have any pics? maybe I should check your site.

thanks

 

Will have to take some pix Jon .. havent had that out in a few months now ... doing binding an necks right now.

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