Nice job! In order to adjust the depth of the router base, you could also use the inlay material to get the right depth instead of eyeballing. Just put the material on a flat surface. Use several pieces, so the base can't wobble. Then put the router on top and lower the router bit until it touches the surface.
Great work! Why not mark a centre line on the fretboard with sharp white pencil. Then mark centre line on inlay. Line up the marks and the inlay must be central on the fingerboard. Take the fret to fret measurement (which you have when you cut the slots) and subtract the inlay dimension and devide this by two. Set calipers to this measurement and set top of inlay to fret above (or bottom of inlay to fret below). Job done. Why guess when you can measure?
Perhaps therapeutic is the word you're looking for. I like to rub some white chalk over the scribed lines, then wiped off the surface to help see the lines while routing.
What an informative video! I really love that you've shown different techniques, and discussed the pros and cons of techniques that other luthiers use. Very concise information. Thank you!
I bought an Epiphone Dot-Studio (or what most sellers list it as a Epiphone ES-335 Studio.) I like the guitar. I like the neck thickness and the sound is also good as well. Since I got it so cheap, I am going to put either inlays like this, or perhaps just Dots. Either way I believe it'll increase the value if I ever decide to sell it. I'm used to playing it without any fret inlays but I can see that most folks would be turned off by the fact that there's no inlays, so with that said, I'll watch a few more videos before deciding which type of inlays I go with. Great video.... Thanks for uploading this one, it does help....
+Crimson Custom Guitars wouldn't it be quicker to put masking tape everywhere you want to inlay, trace each inlay in position, then cut over your pen mark with your scalpel rather than taping the back of each inlay, gluing, then waiting for them to dry?
I dub thee Deity of Masking Tape, because I've seen you use it for so many things that I've actually forgotten all your uses for it over the years. Also, I still can't help but cringe in a horror-fueled anticipation when I see you use blades. I know you won't cut yourself. But wow, does it make me think of myself in the situation slipping up by accident. Luckily it is you holding those precision tools. I don't think I've ever gotten the chance to comment, but I appreciate the podcasts. I remember asking my teacher and trying to research online, as well as in some books about the angle of a guitar neck. I couldn't find anything but a calculator. I wanted a detailed explanation. One day I happened to come back to your channel to catch up, only to see you explain it. For that, I thank you!
Do you have any tips when inlaying a maple fretboard? I have no idea how to fill the gaps without it leaving a really noticeable mark. I know some mix wood dust and glue, but it doesn't look right to me..
Can you please do a tutorial on replacing inlays? I have a vintage les paul that needs them and there are no luthiers in my area. Im an amateur and i dont want to try this blindly
I have a question... I'm going to make inlays for first time so... Firstly I need to make fretboard radius and then inlays or firstly inlays and then radius?
Are these the same stickers you can just buy and put on any fretboard? Or when you buy say a Les Paul that has these already, are they somehow different or more high quality than a sticker?
where do you get your inlay material? i only know of tourist shops (i live in cornwall) that sell fancy seashells with MOP on them but where does one get those big lumps i see luthiers with?
+Mikail Elchanovanich Well the Wildlife a Fishery Dept in the U.S.A. Banns selling shell etc to people overseas....not really a problem as 95% of the shell you want is sourced from Australia or New Zealand, which is where the U.S.A. get's their shell. Here is the best Australian /NZ source I have found, very good to deal with...just remember to use the currency converter before you start shopping. Whole shell orders.mopsupplies.com/c/4545277/1/shells-.html Cut shell blanks by the ounce. orders.mopsupplies.com/c/172969/1/shell-inlay-blanks.html This stuff comes cut but not polished ....select shell, cut for inlay, then start wet sanding at 240 grit to level....get ready as if you want a amazing 3D depth to your shell, it going to take sanding with another 14 grades of sandpaper/micro mesh...., don't worry , as it doesn't take long. Wet sand next with these grits..P320,P400, P600, P800, P1200, - now you are hitting specialised Micro Mesh Sanding papers ... 1500, 1800, 2400, 3200,3600, 4000, 6000, 8000, 12000 ...each sandpaper is just removing the scratches left by the previous one.....10-15 seconds with each paper over 1500 if sufficient to get a great result You can get a polish down to .05 micron after 12000 micros mesh if you use liquid polish....overkill IMHO.
yeah that's a little excessive i think, i tend to go to like 800 grit and then use 0000 steel wool after that, and then polish with Brasso if necessary, gets it more than smooth enough for me, mirror finish on steel. also i meant the Cornwall in England haha, i thought if anyone knew where to get good MOP in the UK, it'd be Ben.
+Mikail Elchanovanich Well think about it, none of the shell is sourced from the UK, so it has to be imported into the UK. The link to the shell supplier I gave, is probably the cheapest option ....cuts out the Middle man, so to speak. It's the cheapest option for me to buy shell, and I live in OZ
Yes, I've seen people do it or use a cnc with a proxxon/dremel style bit. Problem is they break really easily and it is very very delicate work. Makes for nice hidden fret tangs if you can do it though!
how do they do it exactly with the proxxon/dremel? I've seen CNC machines do it but I don't have a CNC machine. for a hidden tang, I suspect there'd be a jig with a stop that lands 1/16th shy of the fretboard edge. Thanks for the response!
Les paul inlays look horrendous and would look 100 times better if they used the same shape but route only the border so the middle retains the wood(similar to what it looks like at 9:38 here)...of course iam a strat guy so you may scratch out that idea already..lol.
You have this all wrong!! You need to do it like Gibson, where you route out a cavity 30% bigger than an uneven inlay at a random position in the fret. Then slap in a piece of perlex plastic and fill the gaping ravines each side with what looks like black paint! Seriously Ben, everyone knows that on a 1k guitar your inlays are supposed to be squiffy! lol
As good as your technique is... So why not just produce a template for each of the positions? That can hook into the fret routings. You'll have an easy to reproduce outline and you have an awesome product to sell?
Because I hadn't even considered selling templates, it is a damn fine idea though! We could make it double sided with slots for several scale lengths maybe. It would have to be laser cut perspex though.. Mmm, thank you!
+Crimson Custom Guitars TIP - Try thin Brass sheet as templates, you could possibly stamp them out if you wanted to make them available as a tool.....I've bought tools from you. You could also make a Tuner peg alignment JIG in the same manner, one for 6 a side , another for three aside....just a suggestion as I have annoyingly stuffed up this simple procedure, then broken a screw in the headstock trying to fix it. REQUEST -if you haven't shown already. How do you remove unloved block fretboard inlay to replace with REAL MOP [it's fretted KIT guitar[s] necks I'm looking at doing this to , and have used tools bought from you to get the frets as good as possible -worked well ]. Problem is, the current inlay will look out of place with the finish I've chosen for the Guitar, plus the Inlay I intend to put on th headstock. I have a Dremel 4000 and a Stewart Mac hand router inlay attachment / plus straight edge Guide. All videos I've seen has shown fretboards without frets when using these tools .... will fret removal be best practise, prior to inlay removal? or is there a way to avoid doing this now they are nice and level ?
