using a CNC to slot and strange fretting

[uethanian]

its my on-going project, collecting instruments and refretting them to microtonal scales. i just got a squire strat today for $40 () and i'm making my plans.

the main issue with this thing is cutting accurate slots in an existing neck. last time i clamped an edge along the neck and used it as a guide. it turned out alright, but i know it could be better. i've contemplated clamping the entire neck to the centerline of a beam, and then running that beam thru a miter box...but there is still a lot of room for error.

it also occurred to me to get it done by a CNC machine (not really knowing much about them). could you, say, give the computer a set of completely custom measurements, and have it slot the fingerboard? how difficult is it to find a shop with a machine?

once thats done, theres the continuing issue of the actual frets...my scale yields some fretlets (frets that don't range across the entire fingerboard). since i'm tuning ADa'd'a''d'', i'll have a few slots that need to alternate between fret/no fret/fret/no fret/fret/no fret

i thought maybe, i could put the entire fret in, and then grind down the part that i dont want...that way, the fret top would be a smooth wavy line. any suggestions for going about this? i thought maybe just a dremel with a grinding bit...but how can i grind them flush to the board without grinding the actual board?

[ehque]

cut the fretlets first, install, then fill with plastic wood, CA+sawdust, or other filler material...

[uethanian]

well thats what i did on my last instrument my microtonal bass
and it plays, but its not a very comfortable fingerboard. plus cutting and shaping the fretlets beforehand is a pain, and is in no way accurate. another factor against me is that i want to keep a 9.5" radius on this guitar (as opposed to the bass, which i sanded completely flat)...i think short pieces of fret would not bend to the curve of the fingerboard, their edges would pop out, or the fret itself may not have enough grip to stay in. and i'm not interested in bending the frets beforhand.

what i'm really looking for is a way to get that wavy fret...what tool, what tool? it needs to be something thin, as i'm dealing with basically the distance between each string. i've considered grinding down the fret before installment...but getting the tang in without the crown would be tricky. i suppose it would work, i just need to be able to grind it down to exactly where the crown and the tang meet...

or as an alternative, i could grind it down even a little further than necessary, install the fret, and then fill the small space left over with putty...but thats providing that the crown-less fret tang will go into the slot...along with the rest of the fret...or perhaps that doesn't matter, i could just tap the peaks of the wave in and it would take care of itself...

sorry just brainstorming...ultimately i guess i'll have to do some experiments. i just want to hear suggestions anyone has (even tho i doubt anyone's done something like this). thanks for reading all this.

[uethanian]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6.../Photo26-1.jpg

thats a pic of the fret layout (i'm only going to the octave fret...and even that i'm not sure about). when the frets are that close together, the playability of the neck is really just the quality of the fretwork. so i want to be as accurate as possible, both in the fret positions and in the width of fretlets.

but aside from that my original post was about CNCs...anyone have experience with these?