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Thread: Stratocaster Build - From Scratch

  1. #31
    Here's how I did mine. I don't use it anymore because I slot them on a CNC now AND I don't own a tablesaw anymore. My version is a bit more complex and flexible than the StewMac version. It's overkill if you're just doing one but I thought I'd share it anyway

    http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...-favorite-jigs!

  2. #32
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    Johns is a spectacular design. Mine is probably not going to applicable to anyone unless they plan on doing this on a sliding tablesaw I have mine built, but I haven't done a test cut yet, I am going to study John's design a bit. There maybe a redesigned v.2.0 before I make a cut. (Once I have a working jig I will post a pic.) Let me know how the 1/4" base works out.

    Yeah right... Only one John? You know us better than that
    “I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” ~ Albert Einstein

  3. #33
    Quote Originally Posted by Rick Markham View Post
    Johns is a spectacular design. Mine is probably not going to applicable to anyone unless they plan on doing this on a sliding tablesaw I have mine built, but I haven't done a test cut yet, I am going to study John's design a bit. There maybe a redesigned v.2.0 before I make a cut. (Once I have a working jig I will post a pic.) Let me know how the 1/4" base works out.

    Yeah right... Only one John? You know us better than that
    I stole the basic idea from Benedetto. He has a similar design with a stop, but it's a bit more primitive. I updated mine so that I could use more or less arbitrary patterns...even shop made ones...and slide the stop back and forth. That's very useful so you can very precisely set exactly what part of the fingerboard you want to use. It's not uncommon to have blanks that are pin straight for most of the length, but with a grain that has lots of run-out at one end of the other.

  4. #34
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    Thanks for the link John. I was trying to think of something a little more versatile than turner's tape. Your jig gave me some ideas or how to proceed and I won't have to buy any new parts and pieces.

    Yesterday I did something that was long overdue - I routed in two T-tracks for fence hold downs on the router table. And I finally admitted my prototype router fence wasn't a one-and-done prototype. So for routing the truss rods, I dusted an old router fence and attached a couple pieces of MDF to it so I could more easily do the work.

    I took the piece of cherry (for two necks) and routed out the truss slots. Then I chiseled out the wood for the spoke wheel and used a router plane for the final depth of the truss rod. And on to the bandsaw to rough cut the necks. I had the two cherry necks and one QS maple neck to cut. Once that was done, I attached the 1/4" template to the maple and profiled the neck at the router with a compression bit. WOW! That bit left a surface so smooth it almost didn't need any sanding! Then I used the maple neck as the template for the two cherry necks.


    The top neck has mineral spirits applied.

    I found I didn't perfectly align the routing template on one of the necks and the center line was about 1/32" off. Once that turner's tape grabs hold, it's tough to reset and I must have missed I was a bit off the line.

    Here I added the BE maple to the pic I'm thinking of using for the fretboard. Before I milled it, the board looked like it had decent eyes. Now, not so much. I'll have to train my own eyes to see that next time I'm wood shopping.


    Next is the fretboard sled...

  5. #35
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    I took a page out of John's book and started putting together a sled with what I had on hand.


    I liked John's idea of ditching the turner's tape and making something that could take any fret template. I used Rockler's 36" Multi Track as the foundation. I had that and the wood blocks in the pic above on a dovetail jig that never made it to the big time. I drilled in some threaded inserts so I could attach the end guides to the block. I wanted to reduce the chance of the fretboard moving. Once I was satisfied (and checked John's build a few times) I secured the front and back plywood fences to the base.

    When I set the jig on the table saw, I realized the blade would be slicing right through the Multi Track. So I ripped a piece of 1/4" ply and secured it to the bottom of the Multi Track. I also had to attach pieces to bottoms of the end guides. Using the sliding table, I made sure everything was square and made a cut with a plywood blade about 1/8" shy of cutting through the bottom of the sled. The StewMac fret blade is thicker in the middle so I cut clearance for that before installing the fret blade. Once installed, I let the fret blade cut through the rest of the plywood to create a zero clearance surface to lay the fretboard on.





    I used a piece of the 1/4" ply as a depth guide and to make sure I didn't cut too deep and hit the Multi Track with the blade (inset pics).

    Before I tried it on the real thing, I did a test cut on it. It looked great, though I didn't like using the sliding table for this operation. As you can see in the last pic above, the jig has to extend out past the stop on the fence and you lose the stop. With the blocks I have, there is no good way to clamp the sled to the fence. And every time you go to use the fret sled, you have to set it all up again. I'm going to get a couple of adjustable miter slides and attach them to the bottom instead of using the sliding table.

    The first multi fret cut on a test piece:

    The cuts came out chip-free. If you see what looks like chips, it's sawdust left from the cut. I cut one piece of fret wire and hammered it in place and it fit very snug.

    Next up is making a jig to radius the fretboard. I feel like I'm getting somewhere!

  6. #36
    You trying to show me up?? Very nice, Julie!

  7. #37
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    Quote Originally Posted by John Coloccia View Post
    You trying to show me up?? Very nice, Julie!
    Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

  8. #38
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    Be careful of HOW SNUG your frets fit in. They can,and WILL bow the neck over backwards if they fit too snug. It can stay bowed back,too,under string tension. You can squeeze the tang's teeth down some in a smooth jawed machinist's vise if necessary. Stewart MacDonald sells a jig to file off the teeth some too,I believe.

    Do you know that Fender originally had a guy who would shove the frets in from the side? He was pretty skillful,getting them snug down against the curved fingerboard like that. This was on maple fingerboards. Fender after while decided they could not reasonably expect workers to learn how to do that,and began pressing them in the usual way.
    Last edited by george wilson; 01-03-2014 at 10:18 AM.

  9. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by george wilson View Post
    Be careful of HOW SNUG your frets fit in. They can,and WILL bow the neck over backwards if they fit too snug. It can stay bowed back,too,under string tension. You can squeeze the tang's teeth down some in a smooth jawed machinist's vise if necessary. Stewart MacDonald sells a jig to file off the teeth some too,I believe.

    Do you know that Fender originally had a guy who would shove the frets in from the side? He was pretty skillful,getting them snug down against the curved fingerboard like that. This was on maple fingerboards. Fender after while decided they could not reasonably expect workers to learn how to do that,and began pressing them in the usual way.
    I'm relying on StewMac's claim that their blade and fret wire are compatible. I'm going to install them on the short piece I did and check for bow.

    That's interesting you should mention the side install method on the fret wire. When I first started learning about all this, about two months ago, I was thinking how that would be the best method but couldn't imagine a way to do it by hand. Thanks for the fun fact George. Keep 'em coming!

  10. #40
    Believe it or not, they did it like that until about 1985, or so. Any Fender older than that, you'd be advised to tap the fret out sideways or you'll really destroy the fingerboard getting it out.

  11. #41
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    Making the sanding sled was easy enough. I ripped the bottom piece to the same width as the radius beam, plus a hair, and then ripped some narrower pieces which I attached to the sides. What took the most time was making the handle for the radius beam. I used the handle from one of my planes as a template.


    After about 30 minutes of sanding...


    And I still wasn't done. You can see the sawdust isn't collecting evenly in the fret slots.

    I've read from men little more than half my age say this was bull work. They won't get any argument from me! And trying to keep even pressure is much harder than I expected. I decided I would prefer an easier and more precise method for putting the radius on the fretboard.

    I saw on an acoustic guitar forum, one luthier employed the router method and used PVC pipe as guide rails. It looked pretty simple to make. He screwed the PVC pipe down. I decided to rout half-round grooves in each side of the MDF base and attach the PVC with construction adhesive and let it sit clamped overnight.


    I'm going to use a mortising router bit. This one leaves a very smooth finish. And I'm going to install some sides on the router base and fit one side with a dust collection port. Not sure how much good that will do but it's something.


    You can see the construction adhesive oozing out from the side of the PVC. The half-round groove positioned the PVC exactly straight and parallel to each other.

    I woke up around 3 AM, wide awake. I realized that with the same radius all along the fretboard, after the fretboard is trimmed to fit the neck, the headstock end will be thicker on the sides than the tail end. I was looking into a Floyd Rose trem and learned they supply a locking nut with their trems. While the bridge has a fixed radius of 12", the locking nut has a radius of 10". Making a conical radius fretboard would be difficult. And I couldn't use the sanding beam for fret leveling. But the luthiers I've gleaned most of my information from seem to all use a consistent radius all along the fretboard.

    Do I need to be concerned? Should the side thickness of the fretboard along the neck be the same all the way? Do I need to compensate for that? I'm kind of stuck here.

    Back to the library...

  12. #42
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    You are a good mechanical designer,Julie!

    Stew Mac recommendations or not,if you are bending the fingerboard back a lot,be aware of what I have said. I learned some things the hard way,starting to build in about 1954,without available books.

    I might also warn you that using a consistent curve all the way up the fingerboard will cause the strings to buzz against the next higher fret when you slur them sideways in the higher registers. I recommend a compound radius,or you may find yourself trying to file the frets flatter in their centers in the upper registers. This is the advantage of a compound radius fingerboard. I have had to do this to Fender guitars which have the same radius all the way up the fingerboard.

    I have always just hand planed my fingerboards into the radius,leaving them flatter higher up the neck. What I have done takes skill. I plane an angle up the edge of each side of the fingerboard,making the width of the angled area the same all the way up. Then,planed the peaks off the angles,gradually making the fingerboard rounded. This practice,if your planeing has been done consistently and accurately,makes a compound angle fingerboard. It also makes the edge thickness the same all the way up.

    I actually knew Herb Sunshine,the guy who coined the name "Orpheum" for banjos. He was working for Guild Guitars when I knew him. He was pretty inventive,and was bothered by the fact that the fret slots on a curved fingerboard are deeper in the center than at the ends. So,he invented a curved drum to lay the fingerboards in so they'd roll while having the fret slots cut on a gang saw. I think I'll Google him and see what turns up.

    I also knew Jerome Zoeller(sp?),an old Gibson salesman. He appointed me an authorized Gibson repairman in the 60's. They had some of these scattered around to help avoid shipping delicate instruments all the way to Kalamazoo.

    Edit: I Googled Herb Sunshine Guild guitars. Herb Sunshine by itself gave no yield. I was reminded that Herb also invented the "frequensator" tailpiece(which I doubt made and difference in the guitar's playing,and the attachment places were prone to breaking). More importantly,he also designed the adjustable pole pickup. He worked for Epiphone earlier.
    Last edited by george wilson; 01-03-2014 at 1:09 PM.

  13. #43
    Details, details You've done it right. With a straight radius, the edges of the fingerboard at the heel will be thinner than at the nut. You CAN make a conical radius, but the reason has nothing to do with the edges of the fingerboard. It was advantageous to have a conical radius on Fenders because their 9" radius (and earlier on, 7 1/4" if you can believe that) was so extreme that when you bent notes higher up, you would fret out because the string sees a rising fingerboard as it bends towards the center. Solution? Make the radius conical so the string mostly sees straight lines no matter where it is. It's really not necessary on radiuses 10" and higher though some people do it anyway. It's a matter of preference.

    The way you make a conical radius (what we've come to call "compound" radiuses in the biz) is sand along the lay of the strings instead of parallel to the center line, and you would level the frets the same exact way. It's easier done than said, actually, and in the end the exact radiuses really just don't matter that much just so long as you're reasonably accurate and you've sanded somewhere between parallel to the centerline and along the lay of the strings. Just stick with a straight radius for now and keep that sanding bar dead straight with the centerline when you're leveling the fingerboard and frets. It will feel funny at first because the sanding bar will run off the neck near the nut before running off the heel end. That's CORRECT.

    Ignore any difference in radius at the nut for the Floyd. Just be sure the shelf you make fits. I forget now, but I think the bottom of the nut is radiused too, right? I believe Floyd nuts only come in 2 radiuses: 10" and 15". I think you have a 12" radius, right? With the 10" radius nut, the center strings will be about .005" higher than ideal. Not bad for a mechanical contraption, so don't worry about it too much. I doubt you'd do any better than that by hand for your first couple of dozen bone nuts, so everything looks good to me
    Last edited by John Coloccia; 01-03-2014 at 12:58 PM.

  14. #44
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    You echo what I just wrote about the strings buzzing when bending notes higher on the fingerboard. I have always just naturally made my fingerboards compound curved. I don't know when factories started also doing it. Doing a compound fingerboard precludes the use of a radiused sanding stick.

    I tilt my block plane a bit,and plane a slight angle along the edges of both sides of my fingerboard about 9/16" wide. Then,gradually plane off the peaks and sand smooth. I can't tell you the angle. I just do it by eye and long practice. Like John said,the exact curve isn't important. The compound angle is superior in the higher registers. I have examined D'Angelico guitars from the 50's,and believe they were done the same way.

    You are correct John: The bottom of the nut is radiused.
    Last edited by george wilson; 01-03-2014 at 1:19 PM.

  15. #45
    Quote Originally Posted by george wilson View Post
    You echo what I just wrote about the strings buzzing when bending notes higher on the fingerboard. I have always just naturally made my fingerboards compound curved. I don't know when factories started also doing it.
    Fender's been doing it for a while now, though you can still get a "vintage" radius....but you get 9", not the real vintage 7.25" monstrosity. I think you can get the real one now too if you want it. Gibson is a straight 12" radius. PRS is a straight 10" radius (on a 25" scale). I believe Taylor is a straight 15" radius. I forget what Martin does. I refretted an OM a year or two ago, and I seem to recall it being very flat....16" maybe. A lot of the Fender style builders use, or at least offer, a conical radius, but most others tend to use a straight radius.

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