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I need to make a wedge for a fretboard extension that is going to be quite thin. I can do this in various ways but I remember seeing a method some time ago that I really wanted to try. The method involved a jig made from a few pieces of wood and and then a plane was used to shape the wedge while the jig helped to align the plane properly . That method looked like a great way to make small, accurate wedges but I can't recall how it worked. Can anyone help with this one?

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

HA! more searching and I found it:

Here is a thread about it:http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=42983&p=568557&hilit=making+wedges#p568557

It was originally posted by Todd Stock but that post was deleted. Fortunately Colin North and Tony Karol remembered the details.

Basically double stick the wedge-to-be to a flat wood base at least as wide as the wedge. Use a riser behind the wedge, and some distance from the wedge, to hold the plane at the correct angle. For the mathematically inclined think similar triangles or the fact that the tangent of an angle equals the rise over the run.

As an example, for a 3" long wedge tapering from 1/4" to 0. Line the 3" piece of wedge stock up with the end of the base and attach with double stick tape. Measure back from the the end of the wedge 3" and attach a 1/2" riser. Use a plane (with a sole that is long enough) to shape the wedge and that's it. You can move the riser closer to the end of the wedge by reducing it's height proportionally, for instance, if the riser is 1 1/2" behind the wedge then make the riser 3/8" tall.

The thin and fragile wedge can be easily removed with Naptha.

Maybe this will be helpful to someone else.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Mr Smith:

My apologies for taking so long to post this, but I had to find the pictures, search for text in the repair draft, and then get a thumbs up to post.

Here are pictures and some brief explanation:

The technique makes use of the geometric principle of similar triangles - for a 3.30" long wedge of .070" thickness, a .140" shim is milled and placed twice the length of the wedge, or 6.60" from the thin edge of the wedge. Mount the wedge blank and shim to the carrier board with double-sided fiberglass carpet tape.

Using a finely set, very sharp plane that is long enough to register on the shim for the entire cut, plane off the excess until the wedge is tapered to nothing at the thin edge, then release the wedge from the carrier board using naptha, which will not subject the delicate, thin edge to as much stress as other methods.

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-Mark Helprin, The Oceans and the Stars: A Sea Story, A War Story, A Love Story (A Novel)

Woodie, thank you very much for taking the time to post. Very useful to me and also others no doubt.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Thanks. I was thinking of a jig to make that same shape with a router but I can see that it is much easier with a plane.

Funny, I was just looking for the best approach for a fretboard wedge. And found this post at the top of the list. I love this forum
Thanks a lot!

Wim

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Check out the Dutch guitar buildersmeeting site at http://www.gitaarbouwersmeeting.org (sorry dutch only)

Yep .. you found it !!! I showed this technique to a fellow repair guy when I helped him reset the neck on a '34 national, it definitely needed a shim .. blew him away !!!!

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

I just use my thickness sander.

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Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
https://www.kenfranklinukulele.com

My daughter has her own repair shop (brookynlutherie.com) and I have watched her stick a piece of wood to a piece of plexiglass with double sided tape, then touch it to the belt sander. I am chicken and use Woodie's technique:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/32251043511/in/album-72157671458169080/

scroll to the right

Ed