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New to the forum. I am currently on my 4th build. Planning a fretboard and headstock binding on this one.

I searched the forum for an answer to this question. Couldn't find this specific issue discussed.

Since the fretboard is slotted before binding and radiused after binding, is it standard practice to cut the slots at a constant depth across the board to fit the fret tang at the edge of the fretboard after radiusing, resulting in a much deeper slot in the center of the board?

Is there any advantage to attempting to minimize the slot depth in the center of the board by cutting the slot in a radius to approximate the final 16" radius? Any effect on neck and fretboard stiffness? Doing this before radiusing the fretboard does have some difficulties in getting it accurate.
Thanks for any suggestions.

Pat

As long as the slots are cut so that the tang seats all the way on the edges, that is the important part. Having more room in the middle isn't really an issue. As far as stiffness goes, the board will be glued to the neck and over the body, so that shouldn't be of any concern. Trying to cut the slots to the same radius as the finished fretboard would be more trouble than it's worth in my opinion.

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