Fretboard repair

WezV

You need a saw thats 0.022" or ever so slightly wider.  Don't go 0.02" as a tang wider than the slot will introduce back bow into the neck.   

Although you may find one sold as 0.02 is actually slightly wider as manufacturing tolerances and not that great 

WezV

Also  if you can make those aluminum sanding beams at a reasonable price you would probably find a few buyers

ICBM

WezV said:

Also  if you can make those aluminum sanding beams at a reasonable price you would probably find a few buyers

They would be a very good professional tool and I’m quite sure there would be a substantial market for them.

I assume @Jazzthat - you’re a skilled machine tool worker by trade? My dad used to run a small engineering company and employed men who could turn out things like that...

Jazzthat

WezV said:

You need a saw thats 0.022" or ever so slightly wider.  Don't go 0.02" as a tang wider than the slot will introduce back bow into the neck.   

Although you may find one sold as 0.02 is actually slightly wider as manufacturing tolerances and not that great 

I heard someone on other forum saying that it is only a fraction less ( 0.020" )  , but it'll cause problems when you cut all slots like it .

Now I see why this actually might be a really bad idea ...

0.022" slitting saw goes on tooling list !

Jazzthat

@ICBM and @WezV ;

I work as a CNC miller and could make few things myself . 
I have made few proper tools already saving me a substantial amount of money:)

As for that radius sanding block , I made it out of off-cut that was there to be scrapped otherwise .
If I could get more of it , I wouldn't mind making few more for you guys

PeteC

Good on you for taking the plunge and giving it a go.   I’m sure you’ll get a working neck from it - and learn a lot along the way.    +1 on the radius block - you’d definitely get some buyers here and elsewhere.    

Andyjr1515

Yes - mine is a Crown pull-saw and although the blade sheet itself is .021", the kerf (the cutting width from the slightly offset teeth) brings it up to 0.026"   

Jazzthat

PeteC said:

Good on you for taking the plunge and giving it a go.   I’m sure you’ll get a working neck from it - and learn a lot along the way.    +1 on the radius block - you’d definitely get some buyers here and elsewhere.    

Yeah , I do enjoy to get involve in the ' repair ' process . I have thought about to do fretting job for some time on other guitar ( perfectly fine though ) as a trial , but couldn't bring myself to fix something that ain't broken

This is an opportunity to move up the ladder and see for myself what it takes to do certain repairs on guitars that I have always thought it was some sort of wizard job:)))

Anyway ...a step back progress today 



I just couldn't look at those black have decent inlays and got rid of them .
I'll have to think through the next step . Ideally I want to put this on CNC mill and sort this out as the slots aren't straight and there's a lot of glue mess etc .
Other reason for this , is that I'll cut some inlays on the machine ( at least that's the plan ) to make slots and inlays fit nicely together.

ICBM

That was the right decision. The old blocks were a mess, and seeing how badly glued in they were just confirms why... you've clearly got the skills to do a much better job.

I'd be inclined to clean and square the recesses up the old-school way with a good sharp chisel, to be honest. Some black Perspex 3mm sheet would probably make a good substitute if you want to replicate the originals.

Jazzthat

ICBM said:

That was the right decision. The old blocks were a mess, and seeing how badly glued in they were just confirms why... you've clearly got the skills to do a much better job.

I'd be inclined to clean and square the recesses up the old-school way with a good sharp chisel, to be honest. Some black Perspex 3mm sheet would probably make a good substitute if you want to replicate the originals.

Every time I walked past it I had a feeling those inlays have to go
Thanks @ICBM ; for a brilliant solution . I actually have some chisels here , but for some reason not thought about it ! 
As for inlays , I have ordered a sheet in  different colour . I hope they will be the right colour and texture choice .

Jazzthat

And I'd like thank everyone that liked the radius sanding block I made . 
I honestly didn't think this would be of any interest to anyone but me trying to tackle the uneven neck , so I had to come up with something .
It kind of got me thinking of making it available to more people , especially on this forum as I have received a lot of free an valuable advice .
If I get a chance to make that again I'll definitely let you know . 

usedtobe

Have a think, and let us know!

DartmoorHedgehog

That radius block is certainly impressive!  I've only ever made one radiused fretboard and then I made my radius block by sticking sandpaper to a big oil drum and rubbing a block of wood on it until it took on the curve of the barrel.  Also, FWIW, I borrowed a proper fret slot saw from a friend but the slots ended up far too tight for the fret wire I had - a junior hacksaw blade did a much better job (and just a bit cheaper!) - worth a try on a scrap of wood before you buy a proper saw.

Jazzthat

DartmoorHedgehog said:

That radius block is certainly impressive!  I've only ever made one radiused fretboard and then I made my radius block by sticking sandpaper to a big oil drum and rubbing a block of wood on it until it took on the curve of the barrel.  Also, FWIW, I borrowed a proper fret slot saw from a friend but the slots ended up far too tight for the fret wire I had - a junior hacksaw blade did a much better job (and just a bit cheaper!) - worth a try on a scrap of wood before you buy a proper saw.

Thanks buddy . 
I do have a junior hacksaw , and was thinking to check the size of it . Haven't got round this yet though and first I'll need to get fret wire and all that jazz .

At the moment sorting out inlays . Yesterday I managed to clean that mess and I am slowly getting ready to cut some inlays . 
Hopefully I'll get that done this weekend .



If you look closely there's a  small chip at the last inlay slot . I am not too bothered about it too much , and possibly fret is going to cover most of it . 
I might use some wood filler or super glue , but we'll see
Also while I was at it I notice the fingerboard is slightly moving ( lifting) on one side by nut along first fret only . 
Unless there are better options , I'll try to clean it up a bit and glue it.

ICBM

That looks miles better already.

I would glue the fingerboard back at this stage - some superglue should wick in easily if you open the crack a little with a knife blade.

Jazzthat

ICBM said:

That looks miles better already.

I would glue the fingerboard back at this stage - some superglue should wick in easily if you open the crack a little with a knife blade.

Lovely , I'll use super glue then

Jazzthat

Step forward ...

It all seem relatively easy and simple to do , but it is not , is it ? 
Having now gone through inlays installation , all I can say , it's quite an intensive task and require at least good skills to accomplish it and to have it look nice and detailed .

Perhaps there are ready to go inlays and you may have a neck that has been already pre-cut with required slots etc , but if you don't ! then it's not going to be a quick job by any means.

I fear to think to cut and sand ( at least square and similar shapes ) by hand . This is definitely not a fun.

I am lucky in the way , that I can use CNC machines and cut things just right .
But even that , things can get complicated and turn quickly into a mare ...
 
Basically , what happened was , the material I have ordered from Rothko and frost was supposed to be 4mm thick , but it turned out to be just around 2.7-2.9 mm . 
I knew exactly what was coming , but there was no going back
  
Ouch !

After this happened I had managed to save few bit already cut out and cut more with junior hacksaw and cut on small jig on machine one piece by one ...

Eventually I did manage to make complete set of SIMPLE inlays , and inserted them in effortlessly .
 
After that , it was just like going downhill in neutral , fast and furious .
I still had to be careful with sanding and took quite a time ( inlays were sticking out about 1mm at lowest spot ) but got there in the end .
 
Here you have few pics in different light conditions . 
The colour goes from dirt gold to striking green and I quite like the way it matches the maple board . 
 
 
 
 
Next step is to order fret wire and ... I was thinking to make a fret bender . Otherwise I'll need to buy one .

ICBM

Superb. Best block inlays I've ever seen on a maple board!

Probably worth finding a chip of maple and fixing the missing bit at the 21st fret or it will always bother you when it's done...

Jazzthat

ICBM said:

Superb. Best block inlays I've ever seen on a maple board!

Probably worth finding a chip of maple and fixing the missing bit at the 21st fret or it will always bother you when it's done...

Yeah I think it looks lovely too . I was thinking to go with MOP but I couldn't find a sheet I wanted in a reasonable price . 
And thanks for the super glue hack . That's done now as well .

I don't have any maple bits so it's going to be hard source a 1mm or so chip of it . I'll figure it out at some point .

PhilKing

they look really great, much better than the originals