Official Luthiers Forum!

I think it was ultimately someone with the handle psl something, that posted a pick for me of his radiusing jig that made the light bulb click in my head (thanks for that psl) and now making my own radius dishes is a snap.

I am hoping for such success on a fretting jig.

I saw a pic somewhere, but can't seem to find the right key words to find it in the archives. What I am looking for is some pics of jigs ya'll use to fret finger boards using the thin kerf blades on a table saw. I recently was given a nearly new blade by a local repair man (6 inch 110 tooth count, super thin kerf) for the table saw.

I remember someone's jig resembling a sled on the table saw with a mark for where the cut is made, attaching a scale guide to the finger board and moving it to align with the cut mark. I am trying to figure out the best way to attach the board to the scale guide, maybe tape?

Pics would be so much appreciated, I guess i am a visual learner.

thanks,

jon

pretty easy to make one that goes with the lmi or stew mac things if that is what looking for. Anyway look at sylvan wells site, he has an article on building the sled. On blade you want one that works with the wire going to use as you already probably know that. A .023 blade is what I think may be used by most you do tablesaw fretslots

thanks for the tip, i will check sylvan's site.

the blade the guy gave me was an lmi blade from a year or so ago, i thin the kerf is .023.

 

thanks

stan

Here's mine... I just use tape to attach the scale. I'd make sure your think kerf blade works out to the right kerf size. I use Stewmac's, and it's worked out great so far, and the frets went in just right. I don't think there's a whole lot of room for error.

I use some high magnification reading glasses (the most powerful I could find at Walmart) to align the scale.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

For sticking fretboards to stuff, barring vacuum, 3M double stick tape is the secret weapon. The stuff is pressure sensitive so really push it down. When I apply it to the first surface, I 'scrape' it flat with something with a hard edge. Then peel the second side and push down your fretboard really hard.

It's as much a safety tip as anything else, as the stuff is freakishly strong if you apply it right, but it can suddenly release if you don't make sure to use firm pressure. Don't ask how I know.

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

Here is my fret slot cutting jig. I just cut some slots today using a template mde by our newest sponsor, St Lutherie. My sled sits really tight in the slots on the bed of the table saw. So tight that it will not slide without some car wax applied to both the table saw and the bottom of the sled. The green stuff you see on the table saw is turtle wax.

Here are 4 shots of my sled. Hope you "get the picture" 

 

i use double sided foam tape to hold the template to the fingerboard. It releases easily when one fingerboard is done and a new one can be stuck right in it's place.

 

Hope this helps.

Ken

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Reguards,

Ken H

Thanks,

the pic I had seen was from jon kendall's website.

his guitarmaking blogspot sitte is really helpful,

thanks again.

Jon, nice to see two people that spell jon correctly

I forgot to mention....

the bolt you see sticking through the rail of the sled is an indexing stud for the template. I kept shaving this down with a file, one stroke at a time, until it just would fit into the slot in the template. VERY precisely. You dont want ANY side to side movement of the sled or your frets will be off.

Also, I got the blade from another one of our sponsors, Shane at High Mountain Tonewoods. It required some blade stabilizers, which I got from my local woodcraft store for $18.

Dont try to cut anything except a fret slot with one of these blades. They overheat quickly and will warp at a moment's notice. They cut fret slots like a champ though.

 

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Reguards,

Ken H

Glad I could help! I think I stole the idea from Sylvan. Thanks for the kind words about the blog.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

Here is my jig.  I tape the scale to the fingerboard and line it up with the notch in the top of the jig.  Works great!

Here's my jig....a radial arm saw!  Index pin stuck into the fence
at table height, used with StewMac fret slotting templates.

Mine (a simple table saw sled) is based on the instructions provided by LMI with their fret slotting templates. I modified the design somewhat. I made a piece of bone to fit in the notches in the template, rather than using the pin they sent. The pin didn't make any sense to me. The bone piece works perfectly. I also made stops which clamp to the saw table, so I can just slide the sled back and forth to the stops.

I don't have any pics of it, and can't promise I'll have the time to take pics and post them, but I'll try.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/