way too pround of myself

I am so happy - I decided I should be able to make my own fretboard, and used one from Hana Lima as my guide.

I made my own jig, and used it, compared it to the pre-slotted one, and it was indistinguishable, except type of wood.
(And it did not cost me $170) - scrap wood and a funny clamp I already had.
We will see how it plays in about another week.

Now, is there some trick to filing down the edges of the frets without nicking up the edge of the fretboard?

Anne Flynn

if you have a large enough stationary type belt sander (not a hand belt sander) if you are careful, this makes quick work of flushing up the frets, and putting a bevel on them. You do need a delicate touch to do this safely.

Why, yes, I do have a stationery belt sander, and have modified my fingerprints a few times on it. I use it for many things, but had not thought about this. I think I would switch to my 120 grit,???
Anne Flynn

It works great. gotta be delicate though.

I have made a block of wood to act as a jig, that a standard fine tooth metal working file will slid into. One slot to hold the file at 90 degrees to the edge to flush the frets to the board. Another slot that will hold the file at a 15 degree angle to put a bevel on them. Whenever I have students and they get to this point, they always appreciate the guide that it provides. Once you get the hang of it it's easy enough to do it free hand.

The wide belt sander works a treat too. But it does remove an awful lot of material very quickly if you aren't paying attention.

Something else added to the shed.

I've wanted a metal lathe for quite some time, but looking around my shed it was always a decision of where would I put one in the more standard size that is common these days. And I knew that I wanted a precision toolroom lathe, so those offerings are even less common unless you are made of gold.

Well, my wife spotted a Swiss made Schaublin 70 the other day listed locally on GumTree. It's a small lathe that is ideally suited to the space I have available, and the work that I will use it for.

I lusted over the pictures and all the included goodies for several hours. Did some research. Talked to a mate, then did a lot more research. Didn't sleep for 2 days thinking about it, as these things are extremely rare to find in Australia, let alone only 15 minutes away. Made an appointment to have a look, and came home with it.

These lathes are coveted by watch and instrument makers for their incredibly accurate build, and precise machining capabilities. Have been built since the 1920's and still being made today. Says something about a well made design.

Spent the afternoon knocking up a sturdy stand to place it on, with really good casters so that I can move it about. Place it next to the mill and job done.

I think this is posted on the wrong thread but who cares ..It's a lovely piece of machinary ..I have just looked it up on this site http://www.lathes.co.uk/schaublin/page17.html ... and I'd say that design evolved from 1946 to 1950's ... spares seem to be plentyfull in the UK they are alway popping up on ebay.

Have no idea why its here, but the forum has been very buggy for me lately.

The fellow I got it from said a Swiss fellow bought it new in the 70's and brought it out to Australia. He got it from him with the original manuals etc. Looking at the type of headstock though I think it's more likely a touch older.

afreiki said:

I am so happy - I decided I should be able to make my own fretboard, and used one from Hana Lima as my guide.

I made my own jig, and used it, compared it to the pre-slotted one, and it was indistinguishable, except type of wood.
(And it did not cost me $170) - scrap wood and a funny clamp I already had.
We will see how it plays in about another week.

Now, is there some trick to filing down the edges of the frets without nicking up the edge of the fretboard?

Anne Flynn

Click to expand...

Good on you Anne- all who create things that are beautiful and which don't hurt others should be rightfully proud of them selves.

i like your family motto

Allen said:

I have made a block of wood to act as a jig, that a standard fine tooth metal working file will slid into. One slot to hold the file at 90 degrees to the edge to flush the frets to the board. Another slot that will hold the file at a 15 degree angle to put a bevel on them. Whenever I have students and they get to this point, they always appreciate the guide that it provides. Once you get the hang of it it's easy enough to do it free hand.

The wide belt sander works a treat too. But it does remove an awful lot of material very quickly if you aren't paying attention.

Click to expand...

Stew mac sells the same thing as Allen made but using UHMW stuff that is nice and slippery. Either way works great. Power sanders scare me- after making a fret board I would hate to slip a little on one of those belt sanders and ruin it all. It takes me 10 minutes with a file in a block to make them flush and put the bevel on. If you cut the frets really long, you can use a dremel with a cutoff wheel to get them closer before filing.

Also keep in mind that a fretted board might have a back bow before it's glued to the neck. You need to keep it straight if you hold it to a sander or even a sheet of sandpaper on the bench.

for sanding the bitter ends of the frets flush, the curve does not matter. I have a table guide on my sander that is 90 degrees to the belt, with basically zero gap between the table edge and the belt. For beveling, I hold the board frets up, and watch the contact point carefully, again the curve does not matter. This is freehand with no guide necessary. The fact that it is crowned, the fret top/corner ends are just barely 'kissed' against the belt until the desired cut is made. I cut the angle just slightly steeper than what it will be finished at with the file. I use the top corner of the fretboard as a guide of when to stop, the instant the wood makes contact with the abrasive, without cutting any bevel into the fretboard top corner, it is time to stop cutting into the wood.

The sander trick is very easy to do. You can feel when the sander stops cutting just metal frets and starts on the wood also. I want a small bevel on the edge of the fretboard anyway. It feels much nicer to have the edge beveled when playing the instrument. It's one of those small things that make up that last 5%.

Liam Ryan said:

The sander trick is very easy to do. You can feel when the sander stops cutting just metal frets and starts on the wood also. I want a small bevel on the edge of the fretboard anyway. It feels much nicer to have the edge beveled when playing the instrument. It's one of those small things that make up that last 5%.

Click to expand...

It's true! you can feel the change when you are down to the wood

Allen, that is a very nice score! You'd look long and hard before finding a better small lathe.