Official Luthiers Forum!

I tape the top of the fretboard off first then finish. I lightly sand the edge of the board down to the tape before removing the tape to avoid tare-out. I then scrape what little remains between frets.

Like Mark says, the fret ends will get the finish removed while leveling the finish prior to buffing. I unmask the board before leveling as I dry sand but if wet sanding I would pull the tape and scrape clean before buffing if wet sanding. I buff the board after the rest of the finish is buffed and that seems to make a nice transition from board to finish.

Fred

_________________
Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

Filippo, I know what you mean about touching up the edge of a fretboard...what a pain!.... I do a preliminary level and bevel of the frets, then mask to the edge of the bevel (on the FB) created when beveling the frets (hope that makes sense). Taking extra time to mask right to the edge, so that this tiny bevel will be coated with laquer. After shooting nitro and cure time, I wet sand, then remove the tape on fret board carefully, pulling the tape towards the center of FB. Now I will re-bevel the fret ends starting with 400 grit sandpaper in place of the file in my bevel guide. (I just wrap the sandpaper around a file sized piece of wood). This works great for me by sanding the laquer off the bevel and cleaning up any nitro that gets under the tape and on the fret ends. I wish I could say that I don't ever have any laquer to scrape off the FB, I do, but it is minimal.

Chuck

_________________
_________________

I level and fret after finishing and assembling.
The few times I've done otherwise is with adjustable necks, and now I fret them after finish as well. When fretting before finishing, it's impossible to avoid a bit of finish build-up around the frets edges on the fretboard, even with the best masking job. Scraping that off and rebuffing fretboard and frets is a major time sink. It all depends, of course, of the level of cleanliness one wants to achieve…
I do as Todd says, tape the fretboard about 1/32" - 1/16" from the edge. The key is to break the finish on the corners with a 120 or 220 sanding block before removing the masking tape and levelling the fretboard. After levelling I break the corners again with 220 before tapping the frets in as they can delaminate the finish while going in.

_________________
Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

I've been thinking about going to the "faux" bound board for that very reason-so I can fret after finish. Right now what I do is put a little strip of adhesive backed 220 and 320 on a piece of 1/4" plastic binding and sand off the overspray. (Taking care to sand from the edge to the center) The frets are already beveled so the fret leveling and polishing takes care of the stuff on the fret ends. It is time consuming. When cleaning up around the nut with nitro and sometimes the edge of the board, a little lift is common. I keep a syringe with a 25G needle full of retarder handy and lay a drop into the lift as soon as I see it. I've got the process down to where it works well but it's still a pain in the butt.

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

I do it like Mark. Works just fine.

_________________
Alain Moisan
Former full time builder of Acoustics, Classicals and Flamencos.
(Now building just for fun!)

Level and polish after finishing.

_________________
Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

I finish and buff the neck and box separately, then, level and fret after the neck is joined.

_________________
Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

Me too......or 3 or 4 or 5. Obviously there's more than one way to skin a cat though.

_________________
I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

Well, I haven't built a fretted instrument in, about 18 years,
but what I used to do was, frets pounded in, masked right to the edge,
pressed the tape into the fret-meets-fretboard,
with my fingernail,
yanked the tape off slowly, at a sharp angle,
then sanded the edge of the fretboard with the appropriate sandpaper.
I never had the finish break off.
There was just a trough that needed careful sanding.
Upwards.
I no luthier, but that worked for me.

What is 'faux' bound? I thought it was either bound or it wasn't...?? Def need help on that concept.

Thanks,
Chris

Edit: Pardon the temporary hi-jack....I thought I was pm'ing Todd....haven't had any coffee yet.

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

Faux-bound as in CNC cut fret slots that stop before the edge, thus creating the illusion of a bound fretboard.

_________________
Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

OOOOHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Got it...Thanks Laurent!

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

Terence, or anyone - what's the advantage of using retarder over thinner to get the nitro to lay down again?

_________________
Damon Wack
https://www.facebook.com/LindamonGuitars

I've never tried thinner but butyl cellosolve will wick right under a lift and stick it down. When I'm cleaning up a nitro finished guitar I almost always get one or two. Usually around the nut slot, fretboard edge, heel cheeks, and tuner holes. I keep some in a small syringe with a 25G needle and I can bring a bead up on the tip of the needle and touch it to the lift. It's pretty controllable.

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

Thanks Terence, I will try the syringe - I have just used thinner on a fine tipped artist paintbrush, just barely touching the edge of the lifted area will usually wick the thinner underneath, although a few times there have been some small areas the thinner did not reach, so perhaps using a syringe will get more in and pull it all down. I think if I can do a better job of sanding the edges before removing the tape I will hopefully have less of this problem.

_________________
Damon Wack
https://www.facebook.com/LindamonGuitars