Well, one of the best parts of making stringed instruments is learning that there are very few mistakes that aren't fixable and that everyone makes mistakes.
I'm currently making a multi-scale Taropatch Harp Ukulele and became increasingly aware that the 11th fret is slightly out on the bass side. It was probably within bounds of "player intonation" but it annoyed me. The problem was with a bound fretboard attached to a carved neck how could I fix this? So this is what I did. I have some ebony veneer that is about 0.6mm wide and a single flute router bit that is 1.8mm. A slot routed with this bit and filled either side with the veneer would leave a perfectly sized fret slot in the middle and be covered by the fret. So first I clamped the neck in my old Workmate, took out the 11th fret and filled the gap with a piece of the ebony veneer glued in using CA glue:
The insert was scraped and sanded flush:
I measured the position of the new slot on the fingerboard ends and clamped up a fence for the laminate trimmer in the correct position - this was a cork backed sanding block:
I then carefully routed the fret slot using my laminate trimmer with multiple passes lowering the depth fractionally each time until the fret slot was 3mm deep - this is a very small and fragile router bit and will break easily. This required a lot of concentration and a steady hand:
Here's the result:
The ebony veneer strips were glued in on each side of the new slot using CA gel, being careful not to get any of the glue in the centre of the slot and using two razor blades to hold it all in place while the glue dried:
When dry I scraped and sanded it flush:
Some hot hide glue was put in the fret slot and the new fret was hammered in using a 16" radius fret caul:
The fret ends were cut flush and the bevel filed in the ends.
Job done - now that was satisfying and hopefully may be of interest to some of you
_________________
Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010
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