Tape slicer for masking fretboards

[Peter Wilcox]

Time to level and dress some frets. I hate masking the fretboard, the worst part being cutting the tape narrow enough for the upper frets. I cut it with scissors, and it always sticks to the scissors and tears. I'm too cheap to buy narrow masking tape, and I once tried sawing a roll in half with the band saw - that sure didn't work out. So I just made this jig with some offcuts from a neck glue up, a few drywall screws, a lid from cinnamon roll frosting, and a #11 blade. Gotta watch that blade - I can turn it upside down when not in use.

[Karl Wicklund]

That’s exactly the kind of thing I’d see in my old friend Frank’s shop. Quick, clean, cool!

[Clay Schaeffer]

Nice idea! Did you cut the teeth in the lid or is it made that way?

[Chuck Tweedy]

+1 !!

[Bryan Bear]

I like that a lot. The edge on the blade doesn't gum up?

[Peter Wilcox]

Nice idea! Did you cut the teeth in the lid or is it made that way?

It's a round aluminum lid I cut in half with the band saw, bent it around the edges, drilled a couple of holes and just filed some notches in it. I was going to use a piece of hack saw blade, but this seemed easier to work with and it works OK.

I like that a lot. The edge on the blade doesn't gum up?

I've only done one neck with it, and no problem so far. If it gets gum on it I'd imagine it would come off with some naphtha or similar. Worst case I could just take another blade out of the $10 hundred pack.

[Bryan Bear]

Good point (pardon the pun). I was thinking you could make the slot to allow a standard (box cutter type) razor blade to fit face down with a cover of some sort on top. Even better would be a hinged lid of some sort that you cold close down and pierce the tape (near the roll) after you loaded it. I just know I would reach over for tape out of the corner of my eye and cut myself.

[Peter Wilcox]

Yes Bryan, it definitely poses a safety issue, so I guess I won't be manufacturing these. I couldn't think of a simple way to shield the blade and still make it easy to use. But on the bright side, I only cut my finger once while I was making it.

[Eric Baack]

I typically just put full width tape on the fretboard and use an x-acto to cut it at the next fret. It has worked well for me.

[David King]

I'm still debating whether it might make sense have masks laser-ed in sheets of low tack mask. Too many scale lengths methinks.