Official Luthiers Forum!

Just wanted to let you all know about our newest jig. A NEW and simple way to put a radius on your fretboard using a thickness sander!

It's no secret that one of the most painful jobs of building a fretted instrument is radiusing the fretboard. There are many ways to do this, but if you already own a wide belt sander, like a performax or delta, or grizzly, you can do this job in minutes. It is as simple as sticking the fretboard on top of the jig and sending it through your sander. After every pass, loosen the knobs and move the fretboard about 1/4 inch and send it back through your sander. After about 5 passes, you have a radiused fretboard.


The jig has 4 main parts. A base made out of 3/4" thick MDF, and a fret board rest made out of 2" thick MDF, and 2 end pieces that contain the curved radius' dado so the rest can move in the desired radius. Knobs on the outside of the jig lock the fret board rest into place. We also imbed 2 steel rods in the rest to resist deflection as it passes through the sander. The jig comes with interchangeable end pieces. We offer 12", 14", 16" and 20" radii.

This jig will not do a compound radius.

This jig will work with all Wide Belt Sanders that have an opening of 3 inches or more.

You must use a ¼" thick fret board to get the correct radius. The curves of the end pieces are calculated for a ¼" thick fret board. If you use a slightly thicker fret board you will not get the exact radius, but you will get very close to the desired radius.

Dimensions: 24" L x 2 5/8" H x 6" W
Only $149 plus shipping. You can buy them here: http://www.luthiersuppliers.com/products/p12.html

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Glad to see you are now offering the fretboard radius jig Tracy. I have been using a prototype version of this jig for a few semesters now in my guitar building classes and absolutely love it!!! This jig shaved a bunch of time and a lot of elbow grease off the time and energy needed to build our guitars at the school. Thanks for another great jig that makes my student's lives and therefore my life a lot easier!

Thanks Robbie! Glad the students find it useful. Also wanted to mention that I have video on my website on how to use the jig. Pretty cool tutorial on using it. Enjoy!

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com