Hi Folks
Sorry this has formed part of another question I posted but it will get lost as its not the main focus of the discussion.
Anyway...just wondering what people think is the optimal thickness for the fretboard? I am buying wood for the neck and would like to get fretboard wood (cherry/rosewood) too. I always cut my frets directly into the neck previously so not sure what thickness I should specify?
Cheers
Replies
Cheers guys went for 6mm thick cherry wood. Cant wait to get building now.
1/4" is pretty much the standard thickness . I but pre-cut exotic`s from Rockler. They have them in 1 1/2" wide x 24" and 36" lengths. http://woodworking.rockler.com/hardware/Precut-Lumber
Hi Gafferino,
I build my 3-stringer fretboards from 2.2meter x 3.0cm x 0.5cm slats cherry (or sapelli) trim wood, and this 0.5cm "small stuff" works fine for fretboards. For 4-stinger fretboards I have used 3.7cm wide x 0.5cm thick trim wood, but this size is harder to locate and so I only have an intermittent supply. I can also get 5.0cm wide x 0.5cm thick trim wood for more strings, but I seldom build 5- or 6- stringers. If you go beyond 5cm wide the wood gets a bit thicker, but I suppose that would work as well. I usually "paint" on 3 coats of water based polyurethane to toughen the finish. I assume you all are using metric in Ireland, but I don't know if your home building material suppliers are selling wood in these small dimensions. Let me know if they are. I live and build in China, where trim wood is used mainly to trim nicer cement high-rise condo buildings.
-Rand.
1/4" - 3/8" seems the norm i believe
Yup