fretboard radius jig
fretboard radius jig
does anyone have plans for a fretboard radius jig???
G'day Brent and welcome to the forum.
There are all kinds of ways to radius a fret board. Some do just a constant radius, others will do a compound radius. I built a couple of different ones that relied on a 1/2 router in a table and had the board run over it in a pendulum type of affair. I gave up that method as I had far to much tear out of our incredibly hard local woods. I don't recommend the router system unless there seems to be no other option for you. You will still need to sand the fret board with all the machining methods that I've seen so I've eliminated the router in favor of Sylvan Wells method of getting the board into a pretty close approximation of the radius I want, then the rest is done with Stew Macs long alloy radius sanding beam. You can use shorter blocks of different radius to make a compound radius board, or just go for the single radius to keep things simple. The beauty of this is that it's really quite fast, and you won't destroy a fret board with some high speed steel.
There are all kinds of ways to radius a fret board. Some do just a constant radius, others will do a compound radius. I built a couple of different ones that relied on a 1/2 router in a table and had the board run over it in a pendulum type of affair. I gave up that method as I had far to much tear out of our incredibly hard local woods. I don't recommend the router system unless there seems to be no other option for you. You will still need to sand the fret board with all the machining methods that I've seen so I've eliminated the router in favor of Sylvan Wells method of getting the board into a pretty close approximation of the radius I want, then the rest is done with Stew Macs long alloy radius sanding beam. You can use shorter blocks of different radius to make a compound radius board, or just go for the single radius to keep things simple. The beauty of this is that it's really quite fast, and you won't destroy a fret board with some high speed steel.
I'm just slotting and about to radius my fretboard as we speak..
I have no jigs as such other than an 8" radius block but my method will most probably be
After slotting the blank I will run the fingerboards through my safe-t-planer on a slight angle towards the centre of the board...then flip it around and do the other side to the centre so that you end up with a slight v shape..
I saw something similar in benedetto's book I think it was?
from there just a bit of elbow grease with the radius block.
I have no jigs as such other than an 8" radius block but my method will most probably be
After slotting the blank I will run the fingerboards through my safe-t-planer on a slight angle towards the centre of the board...then flip it around and do the other side to the centre so that you end up with a slight v shape..
I saw something similar in benedetto's book I think it was?
from there just a bit of elbow grease with the radius block.
Last edited by gratay on Thu Jul 24, 2008 9:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Hey,
I think about this every time I do a fretboard and I love jigs but I can't see how it can be any quicker than hand sanding. I use a hand plane and take the edges off the board, a bit like what Allen is doing but I just eyeball it.
I use the long S-M bar like Allen and have a bunch of different grit sanding belts that I have cut in half to length. They just seem tough and cut these kind of woods well. Normal paper backed sand paper is rubbish for this. I have found this great cloth backed 60 grit stuff at bunnings which is about as corse as you want to go in my experience. This stuff just seems to cut great. I use it for everything. Sanding sticks, radius dishes etc. Then finish with finer grits.
It takes about 10 minutes of sanding to get a nice finish. I cut the fret slots first and I think this helps by clearing the sandpaper a bit. You also get nicely pumped arms which saves going to the gym and can make you more appealing to the other half.
I have set up a jig to hold my fingerboards while working. It is just a flat bar of pine 2x4 a bit longer than my longest fingerboard on its side with pins at each end. My fingerboards start out with 2 holes at each end that are the centreline but outside the finished fingerboard that go over the pins and hold the fingerboard. I can put it in my vice at an angle that makes it easy to work on. I also use the same pin set up for fret slotting.
I'll put up some pics of my system on the weekend if anyone is interested.
Dom
I think about this every time I do a fretboard and I love jigs but I can't see how it can be any quicker than hand sanding. I use a hand plane and take the edges off the board, a bit like what Allen is doing but I just eyeball it.
I use the long S-M bar like Allen and have a bunch of different grit sanding belts that I have cut in half to length. They just seem tough and cut these kind of woods well. Normal paper backed sand paper is rubbish for this. I have found this great cloth backed 60 grit stuff at bunnings which is about as corse as you want to go in my experience. This stuff just seems to cut great. I use it for everything. Sanding sticks, radius dishes etc. Then finish with finer grits.
It takes about 10 minutes of sanding to get a nice finish. I cut the fret slots first and I think this helps by clearing the sandpaper a bit. You also get nicely pumped arms which saves going to the gym and can make you more appealing to the other half.
I have set up a jig to hold my fingerboards while working. It is just a flat bar of pine 2x4 a bit longer than my longest fingerboard on its side with pins at each end. My fingerboards start out with 2 holes at each end that are the centreline but outside the finished fingerboard that go over the pins and hold the fingerboard. I can put it in my vice at an angle that makes it easy to work on. I also use the same pin set up for fret slotting.
I'll put up some pics of my system on the weekend if anyone is interested.
Dom
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Taffy Evans
- Blackwood
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Yep I also do it by hand as mentioed above, plane and sanding. Like Allen said with some timbers one has to be aware of grain tear out. My only move towards jigging some years ago was to stick the fingerboard to a suitably shaped block of timber with double sided tape and use the belt sander, holding by hand pendelum style. I suppose if it had been a good move I would still be using it. I do have a plan for a jig some where, if I find it I'll post it.
Taff
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