New fret slotting tool

Pete Howlett

Pete Howlett

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Based on the concept of the Jointmaster made by Bridge City Tools I have at last done away with that nasty, noisy table saw! here it is:



I'm not fully happy with this yet and have ordered a Kataba saw blade which has a l
slightly wider kerf than the Stewmac from Dick Tools in Germany - unfortunate name, great products.
 
Yes, when you hear Dick you really have to think Tracy and not...

OT: In German it's not a very fortunate name either, translating simply to "fat", although in modern slang the declined form "Dicker" is used as a vocative meaning something like "dude".

This is our chief supplier of tools - highly recommended.
 
I was trying to see what the "sandwich" looks like when you are cutting. Fingerboard on the bottom, backing block and the a plexiglass template? Are there holes in the edge of the plexi and the locator pin is in the wooden fence on the cutting table?

I really like all your videos, except for the one where you are "nibbling" the wings on the bridge with the router. That one scares the s** out of me.
 
Seriously, that is a cool tool. Too bad the Bridge City model is $1,300!!! That's ten times what I paid for my 70s model Craftsman saw.

~DB
 
The secret of table routing is sharp cutters... all you are then doing is using the cutter as a rotary plane. When you plane wood you take off thin shavings. You do the same with a router-shaper.

The Stewmac blade has holes for the plexiglass depth stop. These are too near the teeth - there is a juggling act with clearances and stuff so i used a masonary drill to re-drill holes in the saw. The piece for the handle that I clipped is going to make great scraper material. When I get the replacement blade it will need similarly drilling. I'm going to give myself more head-room so I can have a go at making 'squiggle-wood' linings.

If you send me a real email address I can send you a pdf of the schema I have used suggesting 12mm rails and bearings - however these do need to be 30mm if you are using single rails. I didn't want to go the double rail route because of issues with lining up the components.

Kudos/Kitos to my friend Ken Timms who helped out at the initial design stages verifying my thoughts. I just wish I had $1300 for one of the Bridge City doo-daddies...
 
Definitely an improvement over the hand sawing jig but you're right, the Stew Mac blades leave a lot to be desired. I like the sliding bed concept. Now you've got to make one for shooting top and back plates.
Nice job. Still, I'll keep my table saw.
 
Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:
Definitely an improvement over the hand sawing jig but you're right, the Stew Mac blades leave a lot to be desired. I like the sliding bed concept. Now you've got to make one for shooting top and back plates.
Nice job. Still, I'll keep my table saw.
Click to expand...

May I ask if you use a template and index pin when using a table saw to slot boards? I used to use a radial arm saw and I could like things up by eye but with a table saw it a PITA to see where the next cut needs to be.
 
You make up a sled for your table saw and use the LMII indexing jig with one of their blades and ground collars...

That is so doable Chuck. I'll give it some thought...
 
With any method of fretting you need a slotting template and indexing jig to do it accurately. Your eye will never be able to do the job as well as using a GOOD fret template. The jig I use is based on the exact concept Pete is showing but with a table saw instead.
 
Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:
With any method of fretting you need a slotting template and indexing jig to do it accurately. Your eye will never be able to do the job as well as using a GOOD fret template. The jig I use is based on the exact concept Pete is showing but with a table saw instead.
Click to expand...

Pete and Chuck thanks for the tips. I should have known about the templates before but didn't. Pegasus is quite a bit cheaper than LMII. Any experience with the quality difference between the templates? (Pegasys is about half.)

Wish I had know about templates back in the day. (Late 70's) I think we had to make our own. Don't remember Stewmac or LMII having them. But maybe I am wrong. No internet either
 
Pete

You mentioned a PDF in your previous posts. I sent you a PM with a real email address. Let me know if I should resend it.

Thanks
Tim
 
StewMac has two fretting saws, one of which is a japanese pull saw. I have that one and felt it worked very well, until about my 12th fretboard. Now they are starting to feel like work.
 
I've used every fret board template out there and could not find ONE that was accurate enough to please me. I had done a lot of research, talked to many people about it and lost lots of sleep over this topic. To me, scale accuracy is not something I want to leave to chance, and I prefer a template to be laser cut or made with a CNC. Then I found a stainless steel 25.5" Fender guitar template from Stew mac and after I found the scale length I wanted (17.025" or 433 mm), it's perfect. I had to cut the template down naturally in order to use it easily and the only thing left to error on the scale itself are the 20th and 21st fret slots I added, which are seldom needed anyway.
Works for me.
 
The one thing with these templates is there is no compensation at the nut for the saw kerf - I think that is where they go wrong because all measurment is taken from the centre of the slot. If there is no compensation for this, the nut slot is going to by half a saw kerf too short for perfect intonation... My LMII 17" template is odd - it's not 17" but seems to play in tune. I can't work it out because the soprano one is fine...
 
You are correct of course Pete. On the other hand, Mike daSilva is a big proponent of nut compensation (aargh, another topic!). He's convinced me that shortening the distance between the nut and first fret is necessary for proper intonation on the first few frets. Turns out that half of a saw kerf width (.012") seems to be about the perfect amount.
Talk to Mike about it. It gives me a head ache.
 
Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:
You are correct of course Pete. On the other hand, Mike daSilva is a big proponent of nut compensation (aargh, another topic!). He's convinced me that shortening the distance between the nut and first fret is necessary for proper intonation on the first few frets. Turns out that half of a saw kerf width (.012") seems to be about the perfect amount.
Talk to Mike about it. It gives me a head ache.
Click to expand...

I wondered about that... now I feel better.
 
Not that I am too bothered... I can't get technical. This even tempered fretboard is a nightmare without compensation. You wanna start talking about strings :)
 
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