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Laguna burger build

#341
I'm cheap. I'm having a hard time spending $60 on a saw that I know dam well is made in china, they pay $8 for and isn't worth a penny over $20 retail!
You'd have better luck extracting one of my teeth with greasy fingers, than getting $235 out of my wallet for that jig.
Although it is nice and if I start doing this regularly, I probably will invest in one. For now I'm going to do what I've been doing and just make something to get me through this build. I'm glad you posted that. I remember that pic and was thinkin it was you, but couldn't remember and didn't feel like searching. Got any more pics of it?
 
#345
But since you're going freehand this time around.
At least buy one of these fretslot depth guages. So... you know... consistency.
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#347
As much as I appreciate the mastery of that miter box, I wouldn't bother with making it too fancy. Use something hard wearing like maple, just make a three piece box - bottom and two sides. Use the saw in question to cut a slot through the sides and you're done. It'll take a couple dozen fretboards cut to wear the slot to the point where it's too sloppy to be accurate. If you think you're going to do more than a couple dozen boards, then yeah use the rollers!

Although that raises another thought - anyone considering dropping the coin on stewmac or LMI's fancy miter box should just go get a cheap 8" sliding miter saw and make a power slotter and be done with manual sawing. Spend a few hours setting it up with the right blade and some templates and you're set for life. I know you guys are probably sick of me talking about my slotting setup, but it's transformational. It was a lot cheaper than the fancy manual boxes and now I can make a perfectly slotted fretboard in any scale length from bass to soprano uke in about 3 or 4 minutes without printing templates or breaking a sweat.
 
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#350
I radiused a wenge blank, hit it with the shinto, 120, 500, 800, then a few passes with 1000.
That shine is just the wood. The smooth parts are like glass (this stuff is wild), but the openings in the grain are far more extreme than other fingerboard woods. It looks exaggerated in the pics and isn't as noticeable to the eye, but I'm concerned with tiny slivers and filling with gunk over time.
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#352
I'm a big fan of the table saw setup as well. Its highly repeatable, consistent, and fast. Assuming you already have a tablesaw of course. The smaller diameter and high tooth count blade is also very useful for cutting small parts and veneer that a normal blade might blow apart.

I do use a fretsaw in the process though. If your fingerboard is radiused then this method (or the miter box) will leave more space under the center of the fret than the ends because the bottom of the slot is flat. I cant prove with science that it makes any difference in sound or feel but I like the space between the bottom of the slot and the fretwire to be consistent. I feel like it helps keep the attack and tone more consistent across the board and it leaves more meat in the center of the fingerboard for the truss rod to push against. I start by cutting the slots with the table saw jig but maybe 1/16" less than the depth of the fret wire. After I radius the fingerboard I set a depth stop on the fretsaw to the final depth and just use the slot as a guide to cut away that last little bit of material leaving a slot perfectly radiused to match the fingerboard.
 
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#353
I agree on the table saw rig for regular building. Shoot, it would be nice even if I only made one. Currently I have a small blue ryobi table saw in the shop at work. I rescued it along with the band saw. But the table isn't true. I bought the small newer green model for home, but it's small and the motor has no ramp up. It fires up at full speed with an unsettling jolt. If/when the time comes, I'd like to make a little shop of my own and I will have a nice saw section built into a bench.
For now, I have a hand fret saw on the way and for no good reason, I radiused my board already. It's an extra step, I know, but I'm considering making a radiused miter box so the slots are a consistent depth. I have a 16" radius on my board, so the center may not be that much deeper if I cut the slots flat.
Not sure yet. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
That's assuming I don't get lost and actually find the bridge.
 
#354
Btw, since I'm waiting for a fret saw, I stayed late last night and started shaping the body wings.
Whoever's idea it was to do compound contours on walnut,....my shoulders hate your guts this morning. My wrists and elbows aren't real happy either, but they don't have an attitude or hold a grudge like my shoulders. They'll be mad for a few days.
They're gonna be even more pissed when they find out we're doing it again tonight.
 
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#356
RichterScale said:
Btw, since I'm waiting for a fret saw, I stayed late last night and started shaping the body wings.
Whoever's idea it was to do compound contours on walnut,....my shoulders hate your guts this morning. My wrists and elbows aren't real happy either, but they don't have an attitude or hold a grudge like my shoulders. They'll be mad for a few days.
They're gonna be even more pissed when they find out we're doing it again tonight.
Click to expand...
Pics, or they have nothing to be mad about ;)
 
#357
ctmullins said:
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I composed a piece on bass once with 14 chords and 7 key changes when the band was going through a jazz fusion period and that's what the guitar player named the composition; "No Pain No Gain":woot::roflmao:;)! I wrote another with several time signatures and varying syncopation which he coined "We Don't Do Windows". He had a knack for naming my offbeat work.
 
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#359
Reedt2000 said:
Pics, or they have nothing to be mad about ;)
Click to expand...
Every night, I clean everything up and pack up all the bass stuff in a roll around plastic tool bin and hide it under the bench. If I left everything out, one of these guys would probably grab a body wing and use it as a hammer, or a door stop.
The boss is out today, so I'll probably pull it all out a little early and I'll snap a few pics.
 
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