Fretboard radius cutter

Has anyone tried one of these yet?

here on E-bay complete with video demo.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/12-Guitar-Fretboard-Router-Radiusing-Bit-/181665491167

That looks pretty cool Ken. Looks like the easiest solution I've seen yet. Good thing he's got other sizes though as 12" seems a little radical for an uke.

Thanks, Ken. Just ordered the 16" version.

I understand he can supply other radii cutters to order...I came across him on the Aus/Nz luthier forum.

I'm trying to order one too. Thanks for the heads up on this Ken

Where is the option to but the 16" bit? Or did you guys buy them all? ;0

Wow... This is a really interesting tool. Think of the other radiusing application possibilities: Head blocks, tail blocks, bracing... And custom too... Zip, zip, zip. No muss, no fuss... Thanks Timbuck, but has anyone tried it yet???

The wood he used was thick and inflexible, I suspect it won't be as easy with a 4mm fretboard blank.

greenscoe said:

The wood he used was thick and inflexible, I suspect it won't be as easy with a 4mm fretboard blank.

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I'm assuming you'd double stick the fret board to a more substantial piece of wood.

Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:

I'm assuming you'd double stick the fret board to a more substantial piece of wood.

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Obvious ain't it Chuck.....

Nice....I sense a new addition to my router bit collection coming. It would do the heavy wood removal more accurately than my plane and use less sand paper to finish. Its amazing how fast oily rosewood can clog sandpaper.
You would DEFINITELY need to stick the fret board to a good heavy square block for support and safety.

I wonder if the fellow in Australia who sells these is scratching his head and wondering where the surge in orders came from.

I cut my fret slots first so I'd be afraid of tear-out. Still, it might be worth a try.

Flyfish57 said:

I cut my fret slots first so I'd be afraid of tear-out. Still, it might be worth a try.

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I would thing it could be done post slotting.
BTW, does anyone know if these are still available? They seem not to be. I couldn't find a way to order the 16"er anywhere.

He says he's sold out of the 16" ones...So he'll have to make some more won't he

Chuck, I don't know how many he had but I did order one. Got a shipped email today. Mzuch, I'm bettin you are right. Probably a surge in orders for sure.

I would have thought the Colllings solution adopted by Ben at MyaMoe would have been more up your street Chuck - They use a belt sander setup). If I was to use this I would set my router horizontally and mount the fingerboard on a block. Using his set-up you would need a substantial mounting block to stop 'rocking' at the end of the second cut. In all, this is a dangerous tool. Caveat emptor here for me and I will forgo the urge to own one because if I did I'd end up spending a day making a dedicated safe horizontal setup the occasional time when I want a radiused fingerboard. All the best with this and thanks again Ken for presenting us with something interesting

Pete Howlett said:

I would have thought the Colllings solution adopted by Ben at MyaMoe would have been more up your street Chuck -

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I don't even do radiused fretboards Pete as I see no advantage on an ukulele. Thanks for reminding me and saving me some money. It does look like a cool way to do it though. But honestly, it only takes a few minutes to hand sand a radiused board.

Pete Howlett said:

Using his set-up you would need a substantial mounting block to stop 'rocking' at the end of the second cut. In all, this is a dangerous tool. Caveat emptor here for me and I will forgo the urge to own one because if I did I'd end up spending a day making a dedicated safe horizontal setup the occasional time when I want a radiused fingerboard.

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Food for thought and the statement that this could be a dangerous tool definitely got my attention Pete. I'm no engineer and I'm no mathematician, but the stresses on such an eccentric cutting bit must be immense... Still, potentially such a bit would have applications way beyond just radiused fingerboards, i.e. cauls, blocks, braces, etc. etc. How one could actually produce these these things safely though remains a question... Hmmmm...

Thanks guys!

Hey all!

First up thanks to those who ordered! Those 2 have been shipped.

These were the first bits I had from the new factory once they had got the design sorted - that took them several attempts but we got there!

Yes in terms of the video it was just a lump and for fretboard the obvious idea is to attach the blank level to square piece of wood . . . I am actually intending to put up a video of the fretboard I will be radiusing for my son's 80% scale Les Paul I am currently making (making somewhat slowly at the moment!).

Littleriveruke said:

Food for thought and the statement that this could be a dangerous tool definitely got my attention Pete. I'm no engineer and I'm no mathematician, but the stresses on such an eccentric cutting bit must be immense... Still, potentially such a bit would have applications way beyond just radiused fingerboards, i.e. cauls, blocks, braces, etc. etc. How one could actually produce these these things safely though remains a question... Hmmmm...

Click to expand...

Just to cover this - these bits are narrow width even at the widest point, which makes them very safe even to use in the router handheld. I use them in a router table with my Triton router at max speed. When you consider the size of some round over or bullnose bits these really are nothing in comparison to them. I've radiused fretboards by just using a piece of 2 x 4 pine which had been run through the thickness to true off the faces with the fretboard blank attached with some strong double sided tape.

In terms of using the bit on slotted blanks to be honest although I haven't tried it, I would personally think it would not be an issue, the blades are razor sharp and are super fine K01 carbide.

The sudden 16" orders surge was something of a surprise - previously the 10" and 12" were the popular ones with guitar makers! Also as said I can get produced any preferred Radius next order will be including some 9.5" and 7.25" for Tele makers - but on the other hand there is no reason why 18" or 20" could not be produced. But if you do want any funky radius let me know ASAP as I have to do the CAD design for the bits.

I am also intending to produce some binding bits - I had a .060" dedicated binding bit produced for my own use previously and I still use it! - so if you are also looking for binding bits without the eye watering StewMac price tag . . . also I will be get the 1/2" shafts as I believe the vast majority of folks use 1/2" routers anyway.

Cheers

Steve