Official Luthiers Forum!

I'm working on my first guitar, and am nearly ready to do the fretboard.

I have an ebony blank, Ivoroid binding and a "Sivertone" position inlay marker set from DePaule Supply

My question is, what is the right order to do the various steps to build the fretboard?

My initial take is:

- Square up fretboard blank and cut to length
- Cut fret slots
- Lay out position markers and scribe outline
- route cavities for inlay so that the markers are level or slightly below the surface of the fretboard
- Glue in inlay
- use radius block to sand radius (16")
- Cut taper on sides of fretboard
- Check fret slot depth, deepen if necessary
- glue on binding
- level binding to fretboard, finish sand surface
- add side dots
- install frets

My concern is around whether I should radius the fretboard before or after the inlay? If I radius first, then cut the inlay cavities the bottom of the cavity won't be flat and the inlay pieces could rock. On the other hand, if I inlay and then radius I'm concerned that the outer edges of the inlay might get too thin.

Any advice here?

_________________
========
Blog on Making Stuff: http://www.McGlynnOnMaking.com

Radius first, then route for inlays. You shouldn't need to worry about the inlays rocking.

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

Thanks Rodger. I suspected that was the better approach so I'm glad I asked.

_________________
========
Blog on Making Stuff: http://www.McGlynnOnMaking.com

My sequence is

1 True up one edge of the blank and one face on the jointer and thickness with the thickness sander.
2. Cut to width.
3. Slot on the table saw and cut to length
4. Taper (Using the Sylvan Wells/Tony Karol method
5. Radius with a router jig or in your case radius sanding blocks.
6. Inlay.

For the taper check out "An Elegant Taper Jig" in the articles section of Sylvan Wells' site wellsguitars.com. I started using one based on his concept 12 years ago and never looked back. You pay a small sum for access to the premium articles but it is money well spent. Everything he says works. Tony Karol made an adjustable one using the same principle.

Good luck.

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

I do the same as Terence and would put the binding on after his step 4, not 5 like you have in the original post.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

_________________
Insta - https://www.instagram.com/cbcguitars/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/cbcguitars

Just a thought, but could be a long and tiresome chore with ebony.
Judicious use of a suitable plane (or a drum sander if you have one, with tape to lift each side) could spare the elbow grease quite a bit.

_________________
The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

The inlay routs will be flat-bottomed whether you radius first, or whether you don't. You can radius any part of the inlays standing proud later on. I was in a similar situation (but with a flat tenor banjo fretboard) and I routed and installed my inlays first.

Could be, I've never done this before. I can certainly get it close with a plane if it's tool ridiculous doing it with just sandpaper.

I need to order a radius block now...

_________________
========
Blog on Making Stuff: http://www.McGlynnOnMaking.com

I have sometimes used a plane to help things along, but often not. Starting with P60 stuck to a radius block, even ebony goes pretty fast. I do this after the fingerboard is on the shaped neck and adjusted dead flat.

I inlay into the rough radiused FB, usually with epoxy to accommodate any unevenness in the cavity. Final FB finish work after leveling the inlay.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I rout for inlay after radiusing also, but the bottom of the cacity is crved, not flat. I usually use recon stone as inlay material. With a little heat fom a heat gun the material is softened enougb th press into place following the radius and seating nicely in the cavity.

I always radius first, then route the inlay pockets .. the tiny bit of rock, if any, isn't worth worrying about.

_________________
Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Been wrestling my brain trying to understand this.
What benefit is there to cutting the inlay pocket after radius?
Seems like I'd have to radius again after inlay?
How do I cut a flat bottom pocket on a radius-ed board?
Always trying to improve my methods, maybe I'm missing something here.
Sincerely,
Dan

_________________
wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

Depends on the thickness of the inlay. Most of mine are 0.050" to 0.060". My boards are only radiused to 16" so I inlay then radius. If I was working with a 12" or 10" radius then I might radius first, especially if the inlays were closer to the edge of the board. If you have an inlay that can't be sanded then it becomes more critical and you would have to radius first.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I used to sand the radius into my fingerboards, but since I've started having adverse respiratory reactions to Ebony dust (probably brought on by sanding fingerboards), I've been roughing them out with a block plane, checking up and down the board with a radius gauge, marking high spots with a white pencil and a backlight. I further dial in the radius with the block plane, then finish it off with narrow hardwood sanding beams. Takes a little longer, but I'm getting better at getting in the ballpark by eye and knowing which areas tend to need special attention. It may be a moot point though, as I have on order a couple of common radii shaper bits, which should greatly speed things up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

_________________
Mountain Song Guitars www.mountainsongguitars.com