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I am looking at making my own fingerboards...I am going to buy the saw blade from Shane at High Mountain tonewoods, the stabilizers from Lee Valley and the templates from LMI...I was thinking about using a sliding mitre saw to do the slotting...Has anyone used a mitre saw for slotting...I realize that there will have to be some modifying to get to this to work....Any thoughts....Larry

I think alot of people use a radial arm saw. I don't know why a sliding mitre saw wouldn't work, as long as you can keep the depth right.

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its according to how you mean it would 'work'...

sure, you put a spacer block across the fence so that when you slide across the blank you get a full depth slot, so that 'works'...

the problem I see is that sliders inherently have an amount of play in them...both left and right and up and down..

I guess the up and down wouldn't be so much of an issue because you are filling the slot with the tang of the fret wire, but the left and right could of course be problematic...I've found the amount of physical and mental energy required to use a slider for making slots/dados/etc to be annoying (but one does what one has to do with what's on hand)...physical energy because I'm always trying to keep my body under control to make a nice straight slide, not push down too hard, and not let the board I'm cutting into move...mental because of the amount of focus required to do the above...

while a radial arm saw is similar to a sliding miter saw they are not the same...the RAS is made for such uses, where the slider really isn't...

I would vote for using a TS if you have one...if not, then go for the slider...

toooo late...edit time has passed...


you know, those blades are 6" diameter....you're right when you say you would have to modify things to use a slider...beyond just adding a block of wood against the fence...according to the brand of saw you use you will most likely have to add a board on top of the table to bring the material up to the saw blade...possibly all brands of saws would require this...

I don't keep up on all the different brands of sliders, only those of the 12" variety, so for all I know there are sliders out there that are made to use blades less than 10" (though I doubt it unless its a cordless model)...many saws are now being made with the ability to make a longer slide cut and this is accomplished by the blade going deeper 'into' the table...this presents other issues, but are not of concern for this discussion...the point I'm trying to get to is that possibly the blade will drop down enough to made the slots without having to add material on top of the saw's table...

I'm thinking most likely you will have to add said material as logically the only saws that would be designed for the longer slide cut/deeper vertical cut are going to be the 12" models which are the ones people get to make 'large' cuts...

also, sliders are not like table saws or radial arm saws...they do not have a switch to keep them on...one of the critical 'times' of a blades movement is when the saw is turned on and the blade starts spinning...it takes a few seconds (or so I have found) for it to start spinning smoothly...with a slider you are going to have to wait those few seconds for every cut...

again, if you have a TS I would advise that route..if all you have is a slider then go for it...

you will need to lock the saw in place securely and also secure the materials used to both life the table up to the smaller blade and also the fence you will most likely have to add onto said material...any movement of the saw or the 'jig' will result in things being out of square...

its definitely do able, but presents some challenges to get there IMO

Thanks mike....Seems like you put a lot of thought into your answers...I am pretty sure that the base will have to be built up to give me the exact dept of cut...The turning on the saw for each cut doesn't bother me too much....I do have a table saw but I kind of like to see the cut as its being made...Maybe i'll have to go with the table saw.

.Did anybody actually try a mitre saw with any success?

I'd say if you have the table saw then use it. That slider is just not going to be as accurate for slotting. When you make the sled for the TS you want to make sure the runners are a good tight snug fit with no sideways play. There's a reason 90% of people are using the TS. Screw up enough fret boards with the slider and you'll be building a sled for the TS.

I'm pretty sure that once you have done one on a table saw you will wonder why you considered any other method.

Good Luck,
Danny

take a look at this thread, Sheldon Dingwal has done it

viewtopic.php?f=10106&t=13485&hilit=Hitachi+sliding+compound+miter+saw

Paul

now that was surely some heavy modification to that saw...

the type of modification that makes that hitachi 10" slider useless for anything else...at least in that state...

surely a nice job though...