Fretboard flattened, smoothed and polished. Frets marked but not yet cut. Putting in a silver ring for a 12th fret marker. Ring is now sanded and polished down flush.
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C. J. The fretboard was sanded on a belt sander after being cut on a bandsaw. Once glued to the neck it was sanded a bit more on the sander before being hand sanded. I use a piece of thick glass (a shelf from a bathroom cabinet that I was replacing) with sandpaper (2 grades) stuck to both sides with spray mount. Because the glass it very flat it is possible to get the fretboard very flat too.
Once it is really flat and smooth I take it down with very fine steel wool and Danish Oil. I have a problem with wood dust so I try to avoid making very fine dry dust if possible, so much of my finishing is done with steel wool and oil.
I am not sure if it shows, but I left the edges of the fingerboard oversize. This gets trimmed down only after the fret slots are cut (so that if the saw tears out anything at the ends it won't matter.
Thanks for the comments. The reason for only putting one in is that I will be using the side markers for playing and the front one is really only there for decoration. On my last one I didn't have anything on the front, but I just wanted something there while keeping it very simple. Hope that makes sense.
Comments
Hi C. J., Uncle John and Kevin.
Thanks for the comments.
C. J. The fretboard was sanded on a belt sander after being cut on a bandsaw. Once glued to the neck it was sanded a bit more on the sander before being hand sanded. I use a piece of thick glass (a shelf from a bathroom cabinet that I was replacing) with sandpaper (2 grades) stuck to both sides with spray mount. Because the glass it very flat it is possible to get the fretboard very flat too.
Once it is really flat and smooth I take it down with very fine steel wool and Danish Oil. I have a problem with wood dust so I try to avoid making very fine dry dust if possible, so much of my finishing is done with steel wool and oil.
I am not sure if it shows, but I left the edges of the fingerboard oversize. This gets trimmed down only after the fret slots are cut (so that if the saw tears out anything at the ends it won't matter.
I hope all this is helpful.
very nice idea John!!!
Hi Wes, Dan and Texmexy.
Thanks for the comments. The reason for only putting one in is that I will be using the side markers for playing and the front one is really only there for decoration. On my last one I didn't have anything on the front, but I just wanted something there while keeping it very simple. Hope that makes sense.