| Official Luthiers Forum! http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/ |
|
| Maple wood dowels for fingerboard position dots? http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=18759 |
Page 1 of 1 |
| Author: | Ron M. [ Thu Sep 11, 2008 8:06 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Maple wood dowels for fingerboard position dots? |
Instead of using pearl dots, I would like to inlay the position dots with maple from wood dowels. It seems that the maple dowels that are available at my local hardware stores are made from end grain. and doesn't sand too smooth. Also, I'm concerned about the wood dowel inlays shrinking. I should mention that i would like to inlay the maple position dots in a fingerboard for a Weissenborn Style guitar. Your thought regarding this approach is welcomed, and appreciated. Ron M. |
|
| Author: | Rod True [ Thu Sep 11, 2008 8:24 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Maple wood dowels for fingerboard position dots? |
The end grain of the doweling isn't to hard to sand smooth however it does tend to pick up the dark dust from an ebony, rosewood fb (or any other dark wood too) and it's nearly impossible to get out and make look good. My father in law did that on his guitar and honestly it didn't turn out to great. He's considering pulling them out and installing pearl. |
|
| Author: | Dave Livermore [ Thu Sep 11, 2008 8:28 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Maple wood dowels for fingerboard position dots? |
I think your thoughts echo mine. While maple might make great inlay dots, the end grain will prove to be a real booger. If it is maple you like, you might try getting some maple veneer (even hobby shops have this) and a plug cutter. If you can't bring yourself to buy "ANOTHER" tool, use a short piece of pipe with an inside diameter equal to or close to the dot size you are after. Rough up the end of the pipe and chuck it in a drill. good luck. Dave |
|
| Author: | Bob Garrish [ Thu Sep 11, 2008 8:39 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Maple wood dowels for fingerboard position dots? |
You could also buy stabilized maple from Lee Valley or similar and cut into sheets/dots. The stabilization process means it won't suck up the ebony/rosewood dust. |
|
| Author: | ncovey [ Thu Sep 11, 2008 10:10 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Maple wood dowels for fingerboard position dots? |
Hi Ron; I use maple and other woods for fret markers and find that a plug cutter if decent quality works great. They cut a slight taper in the plug and can be pressed or tapped in tight with glue. Several sizes avilable. Actually I have never bought any ready-made fret markers, if you cut slow you can make nice ones in shell and pearl too. I find a nice variety of colors and patterns in ink pen acrylic blanks from places like Woodcraft inc. Again plug cutting them out, one $3 blank will make about 40 markers. HTH-- nehemiah |
|
| Author: | Rod True [ Thu Sep 11, 2008 11:44 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Maple wood dowels for fingerboard position dots? |
The other thing you can do is cut a piece of maple so you can chuck it in your drill and run it med fast and make your own doweling by holding a file or course grit sandpaper against it while it spins. Maybe make a steady rest somehow. Also cut the wood so that the end grain is being turned. You could make some reall nice curly maple markers that way, or maybe some koa ones or.... 
|
|
| Author: | Ron M. [ Fri Sep 12, 2008 7:17 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Maple wood dowels for fingerboard position dots? |
I knew there had to be a better way other than using dowels. I found three different kinds of plug cutters. Which plug cutter would be best for the job? (link below) http://www.ostartools.com/products/forw ... cutter.htm Bob Garrish wrote: You could also buy stabilized maple from Lee Valley or similar and cut into sheets/dots. The stabilization process means it won't suck up the ebony/rosewood dust. Is stabalized wood only available in Burl? I would like curly maple to match the other parts of the guitar. Thanks Bob & thanks to everyone for your great suggestions. Ron M. |
|
| Author: | ncovey [ Fri Sep 12, 2008 9:24 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Maple wood dowels for fingerboard position dots? |
Ron; I use titanium coated tapered in 1/4" and 3/8" but I also have several different types, the round or barrel cutters in 1/8" and 4mm. Places like HomeDepot ,Lowe's and hardware stores in general should have a pretty good selection. I have dulled some of them cutting shell and hard materials, but it's rather easy to re-sharpen. Leave them in your drill press and hold a wet stone or diamond hone at the correct angle and turn it at a slow speed. I always test them in a scrap piece of the same wood to make sure the hole drilled is correct for the plug size. After installing, I use a fine tooth (no set in the teeth hardly) Japanese pull saw to saw them off flush to the board, this is after fret slots are cut, but before radiusing and installing the frets. HTH --nehemiah |
|
| Author: | Ron M. [ Fri Sep 12, 2008 12:29 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Maple wood dowels for fingerboard position dots? |
Thanks Nehemiah for the information. Ron M. |
|
| Author: | Bob Garrish [ Fri Sep 12, 2008 3:09 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Maple wood dowels for fingerboard position dots? |
Ron M. wrote: I knew there had to be a better way other than using dowels. I found three different kinds of plug cutters. Which plug cutter would be best for the job? (link below) http://www.ostartools.com/products/forw ... cutter.htm Bob Garrish wrote: You could also buy stabilized maple from Lee Valley or similar and cut into sheets/dots. The stabilization process means it won't suck up the ebony/rosewood dust. Is stabalized wood only available in Burl? I would like curly maple to match the other parts of the guitar. Thanks Bob & thanks to everyone for your great suggestions. Ron M. Look up 'stabilized curly maple' or 'curly maple knife scales' (or pen blanks) on Google or eBay and you can come across some natural maple blanks as well as ones to match any colours you might use. A lot of knife places carry all kinds of stabilized wood for knife scales and they're pretty much the perfect size to cut little guitar stuff out of. You can also contact Larry Davis at Gallery Hardwoods, as I'm sure he'd know where to go. |
|
| Author: | Ron M. [ Fri Sep 12, 2008 3:41 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Maple wood dowels for fingerboard position dots? |
Thanks Bob, i will. |
|
| Author: | Alain Moisan [ Fri Sep 12, 2008 7:12 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Maple wood dowels for fingerboard position dots? |
Hi Ron. I use maple dots on all my guitars. I don't use maple dowel though because of the end grain. I just use a 1/4" plug cutter to make the dots out of boards I cut myself. I glue them in with CA and add a coat of thin CA when everything is leveled to avoid durt to get into them. Works for me! |
|
| Author: | Chris Paulick [ Fri Sep 12, 2008 9:04 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Maple wood dowels for fingerboard position dots? |
I was going to suggest sealing it with CA too. Larry Robinson seals all his wood inlays in fretboards with a coat of CA to keep the dirt out and he also seal over his engraving's ink with CA on fretboards since he uses liquid water colors for his engravings. |
|
| Author: | Ron M. [ Fri Sep 12, 2008 10:26 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Maple wood dowels for fingerboard position dots? |
Thanks Alain and Chris for the additional information. Do any suppliers sell pre cut maple dots? Ron M. |
|
| Page 1 of 1 | All times are UTC - 5 hours |
| Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group http://www.phpbb.com/ |
|