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I plan to inlay a rope up the fretboard from the rosette and onto the head to connect with my anchor logo. It will be a little less than 1/8" wide, and meander up the board, stopping to tie itself into a knot at the 12th fret.

One idea I like is to use a large wound guitar string for the rope, and another is to use an appropriate size and shape of silver jewelry "chain".

If I have a rope or a chain inlaid into a groove set in clear epoxy the groove will have to be a pretty reliably even width the whole length to look any good - I won't be able to fill any defects without obscuring the inlay. Short of cutting a template to guide a Dremel or a router, is there a way to get smooth, even grooves on a fretboard or head?

I see plenty of lovely work, but it is usually in ebony so minor defects can be corrected. I found this vine in a maple board that had to have a very nice line routed - how is this done?

Ed, If I were faced with that challenge, I'd try setting up a platform next to the FB that would hold a template that a lam trimmer would ride along, like a curvy edge guide. But that's just my non-CNC take on it.

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

CNC is the safest bet.

Otherwise use a fresh bit and just do it. Try to move at a constant speed. If you have a scrap of similar wood, use it for practice to find the best speed. Do a dry run to make sure you can do the full length without stopping. It will be easier if you do it before cutting fret slots. Laminate trimmer is better than dremel with router base, which can let the bit wander independently of your motion (mainly a problem in woods with alternating hard and soft grain lines).

Alternatively you could glue two x-acto blades to a popsicle stick and use it to scribe the initial lines, and then use a single x-acto to carefully deepen them, then chisel it out, deepen them, chisel it out, until it's deep enough. But that would take a long time, and have a lot of opportunity for errors.

Using Pat Foster's idea and have the router fitted with a guide bushing. Cut the channel in 1/16" deep passes so you are not thrown off course by the bit grabbing. This kind of a setup would make the job fairly easy and very accurate. There is no way I would ever try that pattern free hand, especially in maple.

You could look into square wire, they make silver in square stock sizes that would look good in a channel and hopefully need no fill in them to work.

A template of acrylic or mdf and a router with a guide collar. One cut with a downcut spiral of the right size. It's a one shot deal.... make a steady deliberate cut from end to end.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

I never would have thought of that! ;-)

With a steady hand and a little practice you could cut the channel with a graver. I practiced for about 10 minutes on a scrap of plywood and used an oval graver (onglette would also work) to inlay a guitar string. I first pulled the graver backwards to scribe the line for the graver to follow and then pushed it with the grain to cut the channel. I tapped the string in place and glued it with super glue. I then sanded the board to smooth things up. The graver is also handy for scratching designs in pearl.

Larger than life size. Cutting a reasonably uniform width channel was not difficult with the oval graver and if left a little tight tapping the wire in can make a very tight fit.