Double Bass scraper plane for fingerboard leveling

[Matthew Tucker]

I can't envision the blade reground. It seems that that blade is thick and at an angle that wouldn't take a scrape but rather a shave. Could you explain?

Yeah ... the 103 has a 20 degree bed - You'd have to grind the blade virtually square! And use the plane backwards! Is this what you mean?

I also use a jig to precisely achieve a very accurate dip ( if you want to know the method I'll tell you.)

Sure, I'm interested to see how everyone else does things!

 

[360guy]

To achieve a perfect dip I use a 42" x4"x 3/4" board of Baltic birch plywood that has an arch ( I use .0984" mostly but I have 3 others made up). I roundover the long edges slightly. I chalk the arch edge and rub the fingerboard and this tells me exactly where to scrape. No need for straight edges and looking for light. I can get the action very low with no buzzing.

 

[Matthew Tucker]

( I use .0984"

That'd be 2.5mm, right?

So, you use the same arch for all four strings?

 

[360guy]

That's right on, 2.5mm, over a 42" span. I do use the same dip across the board, e to g. Of course the strings set different heights due to the cut of the bridge.

 

[360guy]

The other "dip board gauges" are for different styles of playing, such as orchestra or bluegrass.

 

[basswraith]

I hope this doesn't sound arrogant, but I have owned and used just about every tool made for flattening and removing high spots. I have the L-N scraper plane James refers to above, and it's okay for super fine work, but also very finicky to set-up just right. And you can't really re-graduate a fingerboard that needs major changes with that tool. The only tool we'll use in our shop for laying out a fingerboard is the Lie-Nielsen standard angle block plane, with the throat set nearly shut. We have about 4-5 blades and change them out almost daily. Blades are hollow-ground to 30 degrees with a secondary (tip) bevel of another 4-5 degrees. Rarely is tearout a problem, and when it does happen it is shallow and gets removed by the hand-held scraper used in the following step. The same plane is also invaluable for truing the surfaces of both neck and fingerboard for glue-up. I think that when problems occur with planing ebony it is either a dull blade, one that is ground to a too-shallow angle, or the throat of the plane is too open.

I do the same thing with the same tool. What difference. Its worth taking the time to prepare the blade as described above. I use the Japanese water stones Arnold gave me and they put a lazer sharp edge on my blade. Sharpening just before ebony Work is a must.
Michael Hartery
Link Removed

 

[Schoolhouse]

Like Arnold and Michael, we use the LN standard angle block plane (my pre-war Stanley died) for all of our fingerboard work followed by a curved scraper, then by a 4 inch section of a mill bastard file. Keeping it sharp is a must. Tom

 

[basswraith]

One trade trick...if you have tear out or any problem in the ebony , you can mix some ebony dust and some superglue and fill in those areas. After fine sanding the blemish will be invisible. I use this same trick for nut grooves that have been cut too low. I level them with ebony glust (glue+ dust). and then re file them.
One more thing...always, always, wear a dust mask when sanding the FB. Vacuum often.

 

[Cody Sisk]

While Michael and I have had our disagreements in the past, I agree with him about the ebony/CA glue fix. As Robert Spear said, sub-par materials are an unfortunate reality these days. I've had to put down the sharps and surrender to sandpaper sometimes on these super-cheap ebony boards.

I'm embarrased to say that I have a Stanley 12-960 that I've tweaked the crap out of. My blade is sharpened at 20° with a microbevel. Again I agree with Michael about the japanese stones. You can't get a sharper blade without them. My Stanley has worked great so far to put in scoop from scratch. With an extremely light touch, I typically get perfect tiny little ebony balls with very little tear out. I then finish with cut glass scrapers and finally a razorblade as a scraper.

Again as Michael said, wear a dust mask! I've been guilty of not wearing one and the irritation in my sinuses/lungs always causes me a nasty cold. Ebony dust is a carcinogen!

 

[Cody Sisk]

It would show up more often, and more intelligent discussions would also arise, if only the wannabe experts would occasionally pipe down and let the truly experienced pipe up. Several highly knowledgeable makers/repairers have moved on because they feel like this part of the forum is often hijacked by folks with small knowledge and big egos. Hopefully you guys remember Bollbach, Branstetter and Lloyd?

It's good to see you still hanging in there Arnold! I have learned quite a bit from your input here. Please don't let the braincell-killing threads scare you off!

I have an uncle who lives on Roosevelt Island (remarkably with a guest room!) and has offered to let me stay over in the past. I've yet to meet you in person and I'd love to come up and pick your brain..

 

[JoeyNaeger]

Since we are talking about fingerboards, I was wondering if anyone had any ideas for dealing with really minerally fingerboards. We occasionally get basses in with this problem and its very difficult to deal with. Its like planning through sandpaper. No matter how sharp my plane is, it just tears the edge up. Even using multiple blades I have difficulty finishing without really chipping up all my blades.

 

[PaulCannon]

Lie-Nielsens are nice, but I like to finish boards with a chunk of broken glass.

 

[Treyzer]

It would show up more often, and more intelligent discussions would also arise, if only the wannabe experts would occasionally pipe down and let the truly experienced pipe up. Several highly knowledgeable makers/repairers have moved on because they feel like this part of the forum is often hijacked by folks with small knowledge and big egos. Hopefully you guys remember Bollbach, Branstetter and Lloyd?

Arnold, thanks for your what you do and your knowledge. Great to read about this stuff and marvel at the time and craftsmanship it takes to be a truly qualified luthier. Hope you stick around.

 

[powerbass]

Lie-Nielsens are nice, but I like to finish boards with a chunk of broken glass.

How do you do this?

 

[Cody Sisk]

How do you do this?

Use a glass scoring tool and get some cheap window panes from a hardware store. The scored side won't make a good cutting edge, but the other side will be a nice sharp edge that you can do light scraping with. Be careful not to use too much pressure or you'll buckle the glass edge.

 

[powerbass]

is this better than a simple hand held scraper well sharpened?

 

[Cody Sisk]

It probably won't last as long as a well-burnished metal scraper. I find it easier sometimes to just score and cut some more glass rather than burnish my metal scrapers. It just depends on how dense the wood is or better, how lazy I am that particular day.

 

[Matthew Tucker]

i like using glass for scraping the ebony/maple joint and for scaping back varnish, and for fitting bridge feet. very useful tool. not all glass works the same though.

 

[powerbass]

learn something new every day!

 

[Cody Sisk]

i like using glass for scraping the ebony/maple joint and for scaping back varnish, and for fitting bridge feet. very useful tool. not all glass works the same though.

It seems sometimes that luthiers have to dabble in anything from metalurgy, chemistry, physics, botany, wood turning, joinery, sculpture masonry, epoxy molds etc. One area I can't say I've explored yet is glasswork. I've been using cheap window pane replacement glass. Is there something that holds an edge longer out there? This stuff I have seems to buckle easily especially on ebony..