verify the printed paper scale... cannot understate this... one of the first things I was taught when printing from CAD. Very useful vid... thanks for sharing
Andrew, thanks for watching! Great comment. I'm guilty of attempting to use printouts without checking them for dimension...ugh. Glad you enjoyed the vid. Happy New Year man!
So Stew Mac had a special that ends today, where there is 10% off anything you buy, and join Max with free shipping for a year with any purchase for $24.95. I bought something and may buy the template later. I don't have any MDF laying around, but I have a lot of sheet plastic, including Lexan. I will make that my template, after I run one edge through my router table with an offset fence, (unless you see a problem with that). Thank you so much for your videos/template downloads
Ted, thanks for watching! Lexan will work well for templates, I actually have a few Plexi/Lexan templates laying about. As long as you cut where you need to, all will go well. Good luck with your projects!
Love the fret slotting sled! I use a tinier one made for a tabletop table saw, the Mighty Mite from Harbor Freight. This is a direct copy of Del Puckett's that he uses for his cigar box guitars. Instead of an indexing pin a paper fret template is taped to the fretboard and lined up with a line on the sled etc.. it has made cutting frets soooooo much easier and faster! The nice thing with paper templates you can modify them anyway you want, print them and use'em quickly... Great video, dude!!! You're animation of how it is built is terrific!! The interchangeable indexing pins (and storing the extra in a slot with magnets) is genius!!
Hurdygurdyguy1, many thanks for watching! Hey, I've got some sawblades for you, maybe some old tuners too. Send me a message! thenextproject.info@gmail.com Happy New Year!
Thank you sir! I have been using another setup that i found at highline guitars to radius my fretboards. It works but it takes up valuable floor space. Ive seen other versions of this device, but yours was the best explained, and the templates were very helpful. Thanks again.
Thanks for watching and glad the video is of some help. There are a lot of great ideas out there, and I often change the way I work. Sometimes I find a better way, others it is space related as you mention. It's good to know more than one way to do a task, MacGyver everything! Good luck with your projects, and hope to hear from you again soon. Be safe and take care!
You know… you could start a RU-vid channel with this kind of content! The time you’re putting into these Vlogs , not to mention the expertise and ingenuity, you should have 500K subscribers. If not 1M. I’m always looking for them to pop up. Of course working and putting out content doesn’t always go in that direction. Well done my friend. Cudo’s
Hey Mike, thanks for watching and the great comment too! I have mixed feelings about this becoming a big channel. I'm really blessed with the good group of people that watch this channel, and I think most are aware I don't crank out material very fast - I appreciate that. I don't know if I'd feel pressure to produce more if there were a larger audience...I'd need to clone myself, lol. If it grows, I'll just keep chipping away at projects. Hope you are doing well, and thank you again! Happy New Year!
Baptiste thanks for watching! There seems to be a million luthiers online, I've drudged through the forums. They seem to be everywhere 😂 Luckily, I'm not a luthier, rather just a fella who likes to do things the hard way. "Challenged" is my middle name. Hope you are well, be safe and Happy New Year!
Peter, thanks for watching! Simple things are the best, less to go wrong. So when things do go wrong, it's easy to see the issue (it's me typically). Hope all is well, Happy New Year!
Jurgen, thanks for watching and Happy New Year! LOL, I did say "don't make the blade", so you're off the hook. I do wish there were some affordable options out there. A big brand blade company could easily crank out a few thousand of these for pennies. But we need someone else to order and sell them to us. Just not enough demand in the market I guess. Maybe someone will give you a birthday present or some such thing. It could happen. Hope you are doing well, take care my friend!
Hey Bob, good to hear from you! No need to fear, just jump in and learn on the job. Before you know it you've had some fun, made up a few new words, killed a couple trees, developed a new skill and have a beautiful fretboard in hand. Hope all is well for you, take care!
Dexter13601, thanks for watching! I was using a StewMac blade, I believe it has a +/- 0.022" kerf. StewMac: www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-and-supplies/types-of-tools/saws/fret-slotting-table-saw-blade/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAx6ugBhCcARIsAGNmMbgUWYUbFiy-gG0BQcNXSZih1iL941EZIsQ4nFu4xHtv2LCJNnHqkoAaAgwOEALw_wcB LMI also has a blade system: www.lmii.com/fretting-setup-tools/2711-power-slotting-system-blade-58-arbor-023-kerf.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiAx6ugBhCcARIsAGNmMbjmGjfmGEiEuoZaoNLdcd7a9u9Pvh32GU4N_tVaG_XHaxpFO1XG8SUaAs8CEALw_wcB Also Rall Guitars: shop.rall-online.net/epages/61511639.mobile/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/61511639/Products/04080030&Locale=en_GB&ClassicView=1 There may be a few other options depending on what part of the world you're living. Hope this helps, take care!
I was thinking about how to make a fret slotting template and i came to the same method that you are using , making notches to ONE SIDE of the line .. my thought was to actually use a cross cut sled on my table saw and make the notches with the table saw in a piece of aluminum, then cut a notch with the same blade in my miter box and then i can make a pin the same exact width as my saw blade
Darryl, thanks for watching! Sounds like you have a pretty good plan. Aluminum will be a great material for a template, If I had some, I'd use it too! Good luck with your projects, Be safe and take care!
@@theNextProject cheers .. do you need the compensation if you're using a regular nut or is it only for a 0 fret? I couldnt understand it perfectly.. cheers
Darryl, that's a great question and sorry my verbal explanation probably confused things. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-cAoppJqBy2E.htmlsi=3gaaJhTpV1wC1UHS&t=661 The center-to-center of the zero fret and first fret slots should match the calculated for slot-to-slot distance. If using a nut, the face of the nut slot may need compensation to achieve the actual distance from the face of the nut to the crown of the first fret.... what?! Some builders actually place the nut a bit closer to the first fret intentionally. PRS has been know to do this, but I don't know how much offset they use. This is basically nut compensation. I think Ernie Ball Music Man may do this as well, in combination with a compensated nut on some models. Sorry, I think I'm just making this more confusing.
@@theNextProject cheers , ive been racking my brain to understand it but after drawing it out i realized what is going on. If using a 0 fret you just use the actual measurement , if using just a nut , you should offset that pin slot with HALF the kerf of the saw more ❤ Keep up the good work. Im also thinking of NOT making one of the fret slotting blades for my table saw like you did - great stuff !!
Mark, thanks for watching! Great question, and I must confess the depth is different with each fingerboard blank. Depends on the thickness of the board and a guess at final radius material removal. I try not to overcut, and personally would rather touch-up the edges with a saw, than cut too deep from the start. The 34" blank in this video was cut just short of 1/4" deep. The blank isn't quite 3/8" thick, just a smidge under. Once radius is cut, the slots should be pretty close. A little hand saw touch-up may be needed, but easy to do. Sorry, this isn't a great explanation. Hope you are well, take care and have a Happy New Year!
Hey Chris, thanks for watching! Maybe your easy button will work, but not mine. I tried to fix it, didn't work. I only have a "difficult" button now. Hope all is well for you. Have a Happy New Year!
Ah, yes....math, with shapes and symbols and...math. Thank goodness for the smart math people who figured it out and engineering that invented the calculator! I get the octave as half the scale, but then dropping progressively diminishing spaced frets in each half of the octave length...ugh - eye twitch. I'll take the F. Thanks for the link Graham, hope you are doing well. Happy New Year!
