Make your own fretboard dots?

ChuckBarnett

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 3, 2017
Messages
492
Reaction score
3
Location
Arlington, WA U.S.A.
Do any of you make and install fret marker dots? Planning to use birds eye maple for a fretboard for this tenor. Thought about tying in Koa that is being used as accenting by making the dots of Koa. Don't know how to do that, but I'm guessing many of you might.

Gratefully,
 
A plug cutter is designed for making plugs to fill set diameters. Two types straight and tapered. Straight is probably best for set diameter fret dots. The tapered ones are designed for deeper holes and being hammered in place without glue.

Diamond core drill bits will cut harder things like oyster and abalone shell.
Hollow punches and a leather workers rotary punch fill out my arsenal of dot making tools. They work on thin plastic like icecream containers or bread tags.
 
As Tich said, plug cutters are the way to go. Lmi have a set of three for not many dollars.
I use them on all my instruments.

PS. Why do you start dual threads?
 
Last edited:
For the side dots on my uke, I took a scrap of walnut a bit larger than a pencil amd sharpened the end to a conical poit using... A pencil sharpener. Then just dipped in glue and stuck in the hole and cut flush. Worked pretty good! Im hoping this will work for fret dots as well. I have used the plug cutter before and that works ok, too.

For shell dots I have taken a dowel or plug and ca glued a piece of shell to the end. Then sand the shell to the exact diameter of the rod it's glued to. Then cut off witha little wood backing left and inserted into fretboard hole. That was not perfect, but bot bad.
 
Regarding having posted this thread twice, it looks like I have identical wording in both threads. I have found that working from my phone has been a little confusing for me. At times I don't know if a thread actually posted or not. I think that's what happened here.

Apologies once again. I've asked moderators to help me delete the one with fewer replies, so we'll see.
 
For side dots, I've used a round toothpick (not the tapered section) slightly glued in the proper sized hole. They are inserted cut off flush and smoothed over and dyed to suit. The end grain of the tooth pick will dye very dark. Also white round sections are available on line.
 
I like the idea! I haven't tried staining in close quarters like that yet. You don't have trouble with the stain bleeding into the neck?
 
I will usually just make a putty by mixing wood glue with sawdust from one of the accent woods I'm using. Then I drill a hole a couple mm deep at each marker position, fill the hole with the putty, let it dry and sand it flush. It dries very hard and because you make it out of dust from the actual wood you're using on the uke, it's guaranteed to match. That's the easiest way I've found. Here's an example I recently did with a maple board and walnut dots.

2018 05 10 065557_preview.jpg
 
The photo is encouraging given that I'm doing a maple fretboard myself.

You must experiment with the color first? White glue? Tight Bond?

What diameter holes on the face? I'm guessing not more than 3/16" (what, 4.5 mm?) Twist drill, or??

Sorry... I AM taking copious notes on this build and surely hope to not clutter up the forum when I get on to number #2. :)
 
To expand the range more comprehensively
Any roundish plastic from coathangers to lollipop sticks to chopsticks to knitting needles.
Thin round wood including bbq skewers home made and store bought dowels.
Epoxy and superglue mixed with anything from coloured chalk to glitter. The baking soda trick earns a special mention.
Copper wire.
This woodburning kit https://www.bunnings.com.au/tradeflame-wood-burning-kit_p5910279
Screws. I bought a big set of mixed stainless steel screws from Aldi and the smallest screws are too small to use for anything else but fret dots. Brass and gold passivated also look nice.
 
Hi all,
Does anyone know the diameter in mm for Abalone dots for an Alulu tenor uke? I wanted to order some along with one of their tenor uke kits and replace the fret dots that come fitted. Thanks.
 
You must experiment with the color first? White glue? Tight Bond?
I usually just use Titebond. I had a Gorilla Glue brand wood glue, but it seemed to alter the color a bit. I haven't tried white glue, but would be a little nervous that it wouldn't set up quite hard enough. The putty made with Titebond seems to stay true to the color of the wood the sawdust came from, so I have just stuck with that. Definitely try it out a few times on some scrap first to see how it goes.

What diameter holes on the face? I'm guessing not more than 3/16" (what, 4.5 mm?) Twist drill, or??
Whatever diameter looks good to you. I usually land somewhere in the 1/8 to 3/16" range. That's another plus to this method. You don't have to worry about trying to match your drill bit exactly to the diameter of the object you stick in. Whatever size of dots you want, just use that size bit. I usually just drill the holes on the drill press. After the fret slots are cut, but before the frets are placed. That way I can sand the whole fretboard down level after the putty dries.

Sorry... I AM taking copious notes on this build and surely hope to not clutter up the forum when I get on to number #2. :)
Notes? What are those? Seriously though, good on you! I should take a lot more notes. I just end up having to figure stuff out over and over again each time. Oh well, that's part of the fun, right?
 
Thanks, again, for this idea and the specifics! I like the freedom to come up with the right diameter this offers. I like the idea of sanding once those dots are in place as well. :) :)
 
Top Bottom