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Here is my fretboard. I used a plug cutter and cut out a bunch of plugs on the sap line of some Granadillo (to match the back of the guitar this is going on).

My question is this....the plan I am using calls for a thickness of 188 thou. Currently this board is at 179 thou and HAS NOT had the radius block put on it yet. Will this fretboard still be acceptable after I put the radius on it? Also...the fret slots...the depth on the edges of the board will change...what then?

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There is no difference between the man that thinks he can....and the man that thinks he cannot.

.179 is a pretty thin fretboard. .250 is more typical. My fret slots are usually about .125-.130. After you radius it you may be getting a little shallow at the edges for fretting. You could test on scrap to see. I usually inlay after doing the radius. What plan calls for a .188 fretboard?
A possible bail out would be to run an ebony fretboard blank though your thickness sander to appropriate thickness and veneer it to the back of your board to bring the thickness back to specs. With ebony I doubt the joint line would be visible.
Terry

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

The Scott Antes OM plan calls for a 188 thou fingerboard. Also...the depth of my fret slots is only around 60 thou. That's what the plan calls for. I am not opposed to something different though.....

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There is no difference between the man that thinks he can....and the man that thinks he cannot.

Wow, 0.179" sure seems thin to me. I think most aim for 1/4" (0.250") for the center thickness, I shoot for 7/32" (0.219") at the center.

If the board is not to have a compound radius, than the soundhole end of the fretboard will be even thinner at the edges than the nut end.

The edge of the board at the 12th fret (2-1/4" spacing) with a 16" radius will be 0.144" thick. Most fret tangs need 0.060" min depth of fret slot to seat properly.

So, technically, you should be ok. Doesn't leave much room between the bottom of the fret slot and the underside of the board. Also it doesn't leave much room for future leveling of the board if it's ever needed.

The other thing that you may need to change because of the thinner fretboard is the height of the bridge. But really, you should just set the neck based on the bridge height anyway, so ignore that first comment about changing the bridge height.

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I added two layers of fish paper to the bottom of a fretboard that was to thin (IMO) than I bound the edges, no one can ever see the shims. Good suggestion Terry.

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

I have some bloodwood laying around somewhere. If this turns out to be to thin...which it sounds like....I could laminate the appropriate thickness of bloodwood to the bottom of the fingerboard before I glue it to the neck....

I don't have any more EIR for fingerboards.

Just a thought...

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There is no difference between the man that thinks he can....and the man that thinks he cannot.

So what makes it too thin? Wasn't it Rick Turner who said his fretboards are often so thin the fret slots go right through to the base material?

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Wes McMillian
Santo, TX
http://www.wesmcmillian.com

BTW, I'll add to those who say you can laminate the bottom of the fretboard. Works great. I did that on my last with black and white paper under the fretboard and continued under the headstock overlay. Looks sharp, too! The fretboard on the one I'm building now is also very thin and I chose to go with it without building up the thickness.

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Wes McMillian
Santo, TX
http://www.wesmcmillian.com

Medium fret wire has a tang length of .055 and I like .02 absolut min clearance from the bottom of the tang to bottom of the slot.

So at the 20th fret and a .188" thick flat fretboard your slots would need to be .099" deep in a flat fretboard just to acomodate the tang with zero clerance after you sand in the a 16" radius. Add in the .02 clearance that 119" deep in the flat. that only leaves .069 " of wood below the slot. Good luck fretiing, if you fret before you attach the neck to the body. Sounds like a broken fB extention to me

I've seen several Froggy Bottom guitars with fretboards near that thickness, and am working on a Martin style 1-18 from LMI plans that has a fingerboard of about that thickness. It makes me very nervous but in theory if not a thing goes wrong with radiusing the fretboard it should be OK.
I hope.

Michael P - Thanks for that information. I was going to go out to the shop tonight and radius the board and THEN measure what was left. If I had done my way first....I would have had to make a new board all together. Instead I am now going to re-cut the fret slots by using a print out from Wfret for my scale length...and then add about 80 to 90 thou of Bloodwood to the bottom side of the board..attach to neck...and I'm golden. The guitar is bound in Bloodwood anyway so it should look good. I really want to finish this first guitar this weekend...which is why I am not just simply ordering another fingerboard.

Thanks to all for the input.

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There is no difference between the man that thinks he can....and the man that thinks he cannot.

Antes again. I'll repeat my usual question: has anyone ever seen a guitar built by this man?

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

No need to repeat Howard...I really don't think he has made any guitars. However it's the plan my not-experienced decision making led me to. It's got all kinds of 'flaws' in it...according to the forum members here. This fingerboard is just another one I have to deal with.

Here's my fix....cutting the slots again will be difficult but not impossible...

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There is no difference between the man that thinks he can....and the man that thinks he cannot.

That'll look real nice. Shoot for .250 or a tad less and it'll help as well when you set the neck. You'll be able to use a more conventional neck angle to get proper bridge and saddle height.
Terry

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.