My problem, if you can call it a problem, is that I made my fret slotting jig as a test of concept using scrap wood and MDF. The MDF started to wobble so I screwed on a bit of 2by4 to the bottom and it fits nicely into the vice making it really solid and works really well. This cobbled together piece of rubish I use with a dovetail saw using the no light seen under blade as a depth guide. I have now done over 50 fret boards with this setup which looks more like a piece of junk than a useful jig. My defence is that if it looks stupid but it works then it ain't stupid. I have to promise myself that I will take more care with making jigs in the future.
The design is ultra simple.
Three bits of wood in a U shape
Make a square cut kind of close to the end not all the way through, just deep enough into the bottom to stick in an indexing blade. I used a bit of snap off razor cutter.
To cut the fretboard you need an original which you stick to the bottom of the new fretboard. When the bottom fretboard is seated on the index blade the cut on top duplicates the correct position. Depth as I said is right when no light shows under the saw blade.
...so I made this set set up.
