Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Gene Jones on April 10, 2015 at 5:05pm

I have the saw blade and the template, I'm sure you will love it.

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Permalink Reply by Order99 on April 11, 2015 at 3:46pm

  I use a cheap hobby saw just a leeeetle too small for the fret tangs, run a thin screwdriver through each channel once and tap it in. I'm sure that saw and miter both will work far, far better-and since my frets turn out okay i'm sure yours will be perfect...

426

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on April 11, 2015 at 8:21pm

I've had good success with Gitty's paper template and a decent tight miter box... Now I'm shooting for some speed and high accuracy...

I have to keep reminding myself that this is a hobby...  Built 2 new jigs today, and cut/dadoed 10 necks..

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on April 17, 2015 at 8:16pm

Well, it's here.. .and it is AWESOME... I modified my shooting board by adding the pin for the template... 15 minutes of setup and adjustments for depth, and I cut 3 fretboards in less than 10 minutes!

If you have a table saw, forget the miter box!

 

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Permalink Reply by Gene Jones on April 19, 2015 at 1:57pm

I knew you would love it.

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Permalink Reply by Rickyboy on February 25, 2019 at 3:25pm

Hi John

Quite a while ago {2015} you posted about fret saw blades. You mentioned a "circular saw blade". But you never mentioned { in the post I saw } which blade that was. I have used a scroll saw in the past but want to move to a blade that fits my reg. table saw. I sure can NOT afford the Stew Mac blade or syst. At the now $160. US price it's out of the question for a Canadian when you ad the exchange rate. Is there another blade out there that will work that you know of??

Any help with this would be great. If you could email a response that would be appreciated as I don't get online here often. 

many thanks

Rick Cole

Lone Butte B.C. Canada

anyonelse2@gmail.com

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Permalink Reply by Taffy Evans on February 25, 2019 at 4:52pm

Hi, I would suggest getting the specs of the Stumac saw and contacting some saw manufacturers.

I have used that saw for years it does a great job. I mounted mine in a dedicated saw I built using a bench grinder as the drive motor, as it had the correct arbour size.

Taff

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Permalink Reply by Titch the Clown on February 25, 2019 at 4:56pm

Check your favourite online auction / sales sites for slotting saw blades. You may have to shop around to  get one to suit your saw. The stewmac one is 0.58 mm = 0.023 inch in the old money. One around.0.6 mm kerf should be fine.  You may have to look at a few as the sites don't easily facilitate shopping by kerf size. 

This solid carbide one for example

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/KLOT-Solid-Carbide-Saw-Blade-Slitting-S...

Or hss for cheaper again. 

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/16mm-Arbor-Hole-Dia-0-6mm-Thick-72-Teet...

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on February 25, 2019 at 5:43pm

Like Taffy said... I broke down and bought the StewMac blade.  I did a lot of research, and the best I could find was about the same price, since you had to buy stabilizing discs... I've made at least 100 fretboards and it's still going strong.   Any blade with a 0.023 kerf would be just fine...

You can get smaller, 3" blades here:  They have .020 and .025, but I think the .025 might be a little too big... https://www.micromark.com/230-Tooth-Saw-Blade-025-Inch-Kerf-3-Inch-...

Here's a 1" diameter blade, but now you're making custom machinery

https://www.amazon.com/Tool-Company-15285-J109-Jewelers-Slotting/dp...

You can use this one, but you need stiffeners (big plates): https://www.lmii.com/fretting-tools/2713-power-slotting-system-blad...

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Permalink Reply by Taffy Evans on February 25, 2019 at 7:14pm

yep, the correct size kerf I think is very important. I like a good fret tang fit every time with no time wasted getting frets to fit properly after saving time cutting the slots in the first place.

I once put a very slight buckle in one of these saws and it really messed with the slot width and I had to buy another. 

Regarding the stiffeners, I would use a couple of 4" grinding discs either side of the blade.

Cheer Taff

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Permalink Reply by Timothy Hunter on February 25, 2019 at 11:50pm

i use this. much cheaper..

https://www.irwin.com/tools/handsaws/dovetaildetail-saw

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on June 22, 2019 at 4:28am

Hey, sorry for the late reply... I just saw this...   

The blade is from StewMac... It's a .023kerf blade designed for fret slotting.  I still use that same saw today and cut some very hard wood with it. $128 and it's worth every penny...

https://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Types_of_Tools/Saws/Fret_Slot...

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