Slotting the Fretboards (Video)

Timbuck

Timbuck

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Just a short Video of the way I slot fretboards on my home made rig ..This set up can be used with fretboards loose, or glued to the neck, or straight into a neck without fretboard.
 
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luvzmocha said:
Timbuck,

Where did you source your blade?

Thanks,

George
Click to expand...
I use some Slitter saw blades I got from a Car Boot sale 20 years ago They are 4" dia 1" bore and .025" wide ..The're sometimes found on E-Bay.

And Yes Pete, a Tile cutting machine can be adapted to do the job also.
 
well I couldnt hear the video cuz of my sound, but I can tell you that your video was under two minutes...done. It takes me a painful amount of time to fret a board, comparatively
 
thistle3585 said:
What do you think the RPM's should be for cutting slots in a board? You can get jeweler blades at .023 thick, which matches StewMac slots and fretwire, from online industrial.
Click to expand...
My drill setup cuts at 2500 RPM with a 100mm dia: blade...It's ok with Rosewood, but drags a bit on Ebony but still do's the job....The HSS blade is designed for slitting steel and other metals at lower revs and feeds, but at high rev's it handles the fingerboards quite well...And due to the small diameter of 100mm there is very little harmonic viberation in the blade and it reduces the problem of the slot opening up at the edge as the blade enters or exits the slot.
 
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Timbuck said:
My drill setup cuts at 2500 RPM with a 100mm dia: blade...It's ok with Rosewood, but drags a bit on Ebony but still do's the job....The HSS blade is designed for slitting steel and other metals at lower revs and feeds, but at high rev's it handles the fingerboards quite well...And due to the small diameter of 100mm there is very little harmonic viberation in the blade and it reduces the problem of the slot opening up at the edge as the blade enters or exits the slot.
Click to expand...

What are the advantages of shaping the fingerboard first and slotting second?
 
None really..but my set up was originaly designed to cut slots on the fingerboard fitted to the completed neck..at that time I was using fretboards at 2mm thick, and to slot them at that thickness on their own resulted in them falling apart when the frets were pressed in...I like the set up I have now co's i can slot necks with F/ boards fitted...Slot F/boards without necks fitted... and slot necks that don't have F/boards.
 
Excellent jig. I would have to get the indexing template machined somewhere. I'm using the LMI template right now but I'm thinking this might actuall be a time saver. Something to keep in mind. Thanks Timbuck!
 
Has anyone seen a HSS Jeweler's blade with a 5/8 bore, or am I stuck with the stew mac blade at $75.00?
 
Vic D said:
Excellent jig. I would have to get the indexing template machined somewhere. I'm using the LMI template right now but I'm thinking this might actuall be a time saver. Something to keep in mind. Thanks Timbuck!
Click to expand...
I used a strip of alluminium angle marked it out with a vernier calliper and a magnifying glass...carefully punched with a prick punch followed by a centre punch and drilled with a 1mm bit followed by 2.5mm bit..if you're carefull you can be within .005"
 
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