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Hello all,

I just started to apply a radius block and sandpaper to my fretboard this morning ... first time build too.

Maple is hard stuff to sand.

Just wondering if I should cut the dimensions of the fingerboard first before sanding. Right now it is still a rectangular blank. It would seem there would be less sanding if I cut the fretboard first.

** just another note. I am taking all my measurements off a Les Paul Standard. This has binding on the fretboard. I won't be doing binding, so should I include the width of both bindings in my fretboard?

Thanks again ...

Try purpleheart sometime for some real fun.




I would.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

I did mine after it was cut to width and glued on. You ought to try Ipe for real fun and games.

I have my necks fully shaped before I radius the fretboard to ensure that the fret plane is as regular as can be, sometimes the wood can move some after the back profile is shaped.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Hand planes are good for roughing it out

I'm a little late to this party, but I'll chime in anyhow. Radiusing the fingerboard is one of the last things I do to the neck, typically the last thing I do before gluing in the neck. I don't have any deep reason for doing it like this other than I like to keep things flat and square for as long as I possibly can. For me, building a guitar is an exercise in doing very simple operations in the right order because once a straight line is gone it's gone forever. I can't tell you how many times I've wished for a straight line I ended up shaping away, so just on general principle I keep it as square as I can for as long as I can unless I have a really good reason not to.

^^^^^This is wise stuff, John.^^^^^

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

I'm kinda in this camp, too. One of the reasons I wait until after the frets are installed before shaping the neck. I rout for the truss rod, install it, then attach the shaped and radiused fretboard to the neck blank. I like the thick neck blank with a flat surface behind the fretboard. It doesn't require a neck rest, and it is rock solid when hammering in the frets. I also think it helps avoid back bow from compression when fretting. After fretting, i shape the neck and glue it in.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.