Tips for making a Finger Board!

jtrom

jtrom

Nov 22, 2008
263
247
4,571
Kelowna BC
#1
Loooong story short: 15 years ago I pulled the frets out of the neck and put a whole bunch of epoxy on it... 'cause that would make me sound like Jaco right? :meh::p now I want the frets back in. I don't want to spend money on a neck and I want to be able to build an instrument from scratch one day (so this would be good practice). Last night I, quite easily, pulled the old fretboard off and plan to use a piece of hard maple flooring for my new neck.

Question du jour: what is the best way to lay out a neck for an existing instrument? A lot of the threads I've read up on show how to do a new build, which has been helpful. But as far as I understand, I need to calculate the length, go to Fret Find, print/glue template and cut with surgeons hands. I was thinking, because I have the old fretboard, would it be a good idea to trace out the fret markers on the old board and trace them onto the new one?

Any tips or tricks for this project would be happily received!

IMG_4227.JPG.jpeg IMG_4228.JPG.jpeg
 
#3
That is a good idea. However, being a Canuck that would cost about $100... which, if my attempt fails, I would be willing to invest! But again, I'm looking for the experience. I have a 10" radius sanding block in the mail ;)
 
#4
You could just mark the locations on the new board with the old board, but depending on how old that board is, it might not be terribly accurate.

When I am slotting my own board, I always draw it out in CAD, print a template full-size, attach the template to the fingerboard, and cut the slots through the template. If you have a really good ruler and steady marking hands, you could use StewMac's Fret Calculator to find the position of each fret relative to the nut, measure, mark, and cut the slot.

Here's a picture that should basically show how I do it:
eGEAnPa.jpg
 
#5
nice,

that's more or less what I was thinking of doing. I'll have to take a look at different printing methods to ensure that it's the right scale etc. At least I have an old neck to reference!
 
#6
I have also tried to use Fret Find 2d... but i can't seem to print anything off, it's just the numerics. Is this a mac thing? I have heard that it can print off a template for you but I can't find that option
 
#7
jtrom said:
I have also tried to use Fret Find 2d... but i can't seem to print anything off, it's just the numerics. Is this a mac thing? I have heard that it can print off a template for you but I can't find that option
Click to expand...

Download Google Chrome and use that to print out Fret Find 2d. For some reason, Safari and Firefox don't like the code on that page. Yes, it's a Mac thing. I run into the same issue.
 
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#9
Hmmm, still having issues in Chrome...

Totally different question I thought of while sleeping:
Because the neck is already shaped, how do I make sure the fretboard is square to the neck and the body? I imagine being even 1/32" out could be an issue. Any tips for this other than bolting the neck and using a laser or plum line, marking neck centre sans fretboard, marking centre of fretboard, aligning etc.?
 
#10
Sprinkle a small amount of table salt onto the glue, then put the board on and get it lined up, then clamp it down.

The salt will act as an abrasive to stop the board from scooching around under clamps for a while, and then dissolve into the glue. You really don't need much though.
 
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