Third build - Natural Tele in Idigbo

JGTay

Excellent work Pete and if you hadn't mentioned the dot I wouldn't have noticed... 

PeteC

cheers @JGTay ;
- next step is to recess the string-thru ferrules at the back of the body which I I know will be a challenge to get exactly even. 
Ive been looking for a good quality 8mm forstner bit to help. TBH I am pretty fed up with my screwfix forstrners which are only any good for drilling rough holes in softwood - useless for accurate work.  Might post a general question about good forstner bit sources. 

PeteC

Ferrules drilled - courtesy of more sage advice from @WezV of this parish  

final sanded the rosewood board to 320 grit with the 10” radius block made on the bandsaw 

frets next and the fretwire bender just arrived ! 

Corvus

Tidy! Nice work.
Re the dot Titebond +rw dust of the right colour blends in really well.

PeteC

cheers @Corvus ;
- I can probably live with it - its only very very slightly out, and will be a reminder to do it better on the next one. 

Next small challenge is to cut a good nut slot in the fretboard- so thinking about the best way to do that accurately. 

WezV

do you have a dremel or small router?

I use my dremel in a  stwe mac precision router base.  I pre-saw both sides of the slot with a fret saw.  Then I simply clamp a radius block part way down the fretboard and run the router base right against it.   Just spend a bit of time making sure everything aligns nicely before you start the cuts

PeteC

No - but the taxman fessed up yesterday and decided I'd paid too much tax last year before I semi-retired - so I have a few things on the kit list that I am eyeing up - maybe a small router and precision base might be worth getting. I'm pretty sure I will be doing plenty more builds in the coming years. 

WezV

It's a very handy tool to have, but as you don't have one yet I would do 3 or 4 slots with the fretsaw and chisel it out... Obviously need a tiny chisel for that

PeteC

Many thanks,
I'm thinking I could carefully score the headstock side of the nut slot which is not yet marked ( fretboard side is already cut ) with a straightedge , and then clamp a straight edge just barely inside that, and cut with the fretsaw.   Then clean out with a 1/8th chisel made from a ground screwdriver or something similar. 

I want to make sure I get a nice clean slot and don't go oversized.  I am aiming at 3mm finished slot - I guess if end up undersized I can file it back - or file the nut a bit narrower. 

TJT1979

Sounds like a good excuse to invest in a 3mm chisel! You’ll be surprised at how often you use it. 

PeteC

Found that the Elmer precision base (copy of the Stewmac ) was available for a good price and that it will fit the B&D Rtx Dremel copy I have so I have ordered the base and now looking for suitable router bits.    

Not much achieved past two days due to life stuff but did get the 2mm side dots in yesterday which look good and understated 

SteveRobinson

PeteC said:

Found that the Elmer precision base (copy of the Stewmac ) was available for a good price and that it will fit the B&D Rtx Dremel copy I have so I have ordered the base and now looking for suitable router bits.    

Dremel make a 1/8" bit. B&Q stock them or did last time I looked.

PeteC

SteveRobinson said:

PeteC said:

Found that the Elmer precision base (copy of the Stewmac ) was available for a good price and that it will fit the B&D Rtx Dremel copy I have so I have ordered the base and now looking for suitable router bits.    

Dremel make a 1/8" bit. B&Q stock them or did last time I looked.

Many thanks Steve - I will seek one out. 

EDIT - amazon had the 650 1/8' for £3.67 so bagged a couple. 

PeteC

Small steps this weekend -  had another hour free so got the tuner holes done this pm.  Nice firm fit for the ferrules. 

One thing I have learnt in my 3 builds so far is that I will definitely make mistakes, and the challenge is how you recover from them. 

Maybe some of you following this build saw that I thought I had made the neck very slightly too short ( by 2-3mm) 
Well, I discovered today that I hadn't, and that in fact I'd made a more fundamental error.  The good news is the neck is exactly the right length.

The bad news....

I'd assumed that because the space after my 21st fret to the end of the neck was shorter than it should be that the whole neck was short....well in fact what I have somehow managed to do is to cut the 21st fret in the wrong place - actually at the same spacing as the 20th fret. So I actually have a 21st fret that is about 0.68mm too near the bridge by a quick calculation with the fret position calculator on @SteveRobinson website. 

If you look carefully at the photo below you can see that the spacing of 21st fret is the same as the 20th !  Bugger. 

So.. Do I mix rosewood dust and Titebond and fill the bugger,  or carry on and live with the error ?  Will a filled fret slot be hidden anyway by the lip of the fret once its in the right place - I think it might ? 

WezV

Fill and re-slot.

Given the position, if you still have an offcut from the end I would replace the last section of board as it's hard to get an invisible fix any other way

PeteC

Thanks Wez.    

Like a fool I had a big clean up last week in the shed and have probably thrown it out with the other trash. 
I'll refill though and maybe fix it properly at a later date with another bit of similar rosewood. 

Is titebond and rosewood dust the best bet for filler - or other glue ?   ( I kept a pile of dust ) 

SteveRobinson

0.68mm is about the width of the fret slot and should be hidden under the fret.

WezV

I normally fill with veneer, or dust and thin super glue... But be aware super glue will polish up to a shine and often looks a bit darker

If it all falls under a fret it will be fine

PeteC

Thanks gents.  Even when I have an idea what to do it’s very helpful to get your advice and help - much appreciated.  

Andyjr1515

PeteC said:

Is titebond and rosewood dust the best bet for filler - or other glue ?   ( I kept a pile of dust ) 

I use clear epoxy (Zpoxy) mixed with plenty of dust.  Overfilled a tad and the sanded back down, with ebony it is a pretty much invisible fix and with rosewood pretty good too.  And, as others say, it should be under the fret so shouldn't show anyway.