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I have an inlay question...

When you put in a fingerboard inlay that spans more than one fret space, do you cut the inlay and install each piece on each side of the fret leaving a small space in between? What I mean by small space is perhaps a millimeter or two on each side of the fret slot so that the fret will have something to "bite" to and to prevent the inlay (pearl) from cracking. This way the edge of the inlay will be hidden by the fret and the space would not be noticed...

I'm thinking of ordering a peg head inlay from Andy DePaule and installing it at the 12th fret of a board that already has the fret slots cut...

Am I on the right track? Any comments?
Thanks.

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

I've attempted to do that on several inlays, but have been largely unsuccessful. A strip of wood narrow enough to be covered by the fret is so narrow that most of it chips out. The inlays still look fine, but the gap lets the glue from the inlay run into the fret slots, which then need to be cleaned out or recut.
I do end the inlay short of the slot, but under the edge of the fret. I press the frets rather than hammering to avoid damaging the inlays. It's worked so far.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

Rodger,
On one hand you said that the trip of wood narrow enough to be covered by the fret is so narrow that most of it chips out, but then you said you do end the inlay short of the slot, but under the edge of the fret. "It's worked so far..." Is the key is to leave enough wood to prevent chip out, but so that the fret covers the area so that the edge of the inlay doesn't show...?

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

I install it then open the fret slot. You also have to consider the tang . I use a 1/32 bit and open the slot and I will often file them with a slight bevel. The tang can break the pearl.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I install the inlays then clear the slots of glue with a refret saw. Bevel the edges of the inlay with a small triangle file.

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It will probably be alright.

thats the way it done. It is almost impossible to split the inlay and make the slot you have to set it and open the slot as Greg did in his pictures. Nice job Greg

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Thanks for replies guys. It looks like the fret installation could very easily crack the pearl... John - seems like a 1/32" bit is too large for a 0.023" fret slot...

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

The previous posts are much cleaner than my work, but this looked fine with the frets.
I attempted to leave a small amount of wood between the inlay and the fret tang, and cut the inlays accordingly.
Where the wood chipped out, the inlay was not as tight against the slot as Greg's. My inlay has much more shell next to the slot, and is therefore more subject to cracking when the frets are installed.

Here it is with frets...

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

The more shell that crosses the slot, the greater the risk of cracking the shell, especially with abalone. If it doesn't break when you install the fret, it may break if you ever have to re-fret. Better to leave some wood. I agree that it is hard to do, and there is always chipping and breaking but you can super glue those little pieces back in. You can minimize by not trying to get too close to the slot. No one will notice if a bit of the fingerboard peeks out from under the fret. It will be in shadow.

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Kevin Mason
Mason Guitars and Ukuleles on Facebook
http://masonguitars.net

I have never done one but I was thinking it might work well to cut the slot wider that the tang and just glue the frets in as some folks do. Seems like you wouldn't run the risk of breaking the shell.

I do the inlays then recut the fret slot then bevel and file out shell from the slot making sure the frets aren't tight at the shell. Pressing the frets in is an advantage here.

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Michael F Smith
Goat Rock Ukulele
http://goatrockukulele.com

This is my concern as well, especially if/when the instrument needs a re-fret down the road.

When I span frets, I always leave some wood on each side. The rub is that often CA from gluing down the inlays can seep into the fret slot through the pores of the wood so one must be mindful of that.

Here's a closeup of an inlay I did for Tony C a while ago. This would be pretty tough to do by hand I would think!

Another bonus of doing it this way, at least with a CNC is that it turns a big inlay into a bunch of small pieces that can be nested very tightly together saving on material.

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http://www.birkonium.com CNC Products for Luthiers
http://banduramaker.blogspot.com

Would a stew mac fret dam be of help here?

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

the 1/32 bit is only to cut through the pearl so the pearl won't get damaged from the fret tang. you can also use a tri corner file to open it .

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I've never used one but it seems like if you're stopping short of the fret slot it would certainly help. If you're inlaying across fret slots, shouldn't be required.

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http://www.birkonium.com CNC Products for Luthiers
http://banduramaker.blogspot.com

I've used them when doing repairs on old fret boards and they helped. Haven't tried them for inlay.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Whenever I do a fretboard inlay, I cut slices of the fret dam material and put them in all the slots where I will have to route close to the slot. I shave them down flush with the fretboard. They help to stabilize those thin walls next to the slot and they keep the epoxy out of the slot. Yeah, I know it's a lot of extra work.

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Kevin Mason
Mason Guitars and Ukuleles on Facebook
http://masonguitars.net