MIMF

Not sure which category to post this, so I'll ask here:

I use a 25.5" scale and a 16" radius for both flat-top and archtop guitars, and my octave mandolin is 23.5" scale, also a 16" radius. So far, I have been sanding the 16" radius with an 8" block after sawing the fret slots and cutting the nut-to-body taper.

I have several fretboard blanks to prepare. What sequence do most of our members use? Sanding the radius before, or after, cutting the taper?

I searched the forum and did not find (or just missed where) this sequence is mentioned. I did see references to block lengths, and some built jigs to do the radius, but it wasn't clear to me the preferred sequence.

//mike

I usually cut the slots before I radius the board—it’s easier to handle on the table saw sled when the fingerboard board doesn’t roll. I have a jig for the drum sander for radiusing the board. Both my slot indexer and my radius jig hold down the board with screws through the portion that will be cut off, so I don’t cut the board to final dimensions until it’s slotted and radiused. That also allows me to process a few boards when I’m set up for it without knowing their final destination. But, my order works for me with my processes. The order that’s optimum for you will depend on your processes.

The drum sander jig saves a lot of time radiusing the board.

My process has been:
- Rip fretboard to the maximum width of the finished taper (eg. the width at the body).
- Square nut end, then measure for frets, scoring with a square and knife.
- Saw fret slots - shop made jig that clamps the board and keeps the saw 90 degrees vertical.
- Taper fretboard to 1.720" at nut, (my preferred width).
- Sand radius using 8" block. The board is locked to the bench at the ends, and the block guided by two rails.
- Re-saw slots to finished depth.

My concern is that the geometry and radius are not ideal at the nut end using my present method. Something feels very slightly "off" at the first couple of frets when playing.
//mike

With almost any method and almost any order, there are multiple ways to make mistakes. When you level the frets with a long beam sanding along the string paths, errors in your process might show up with grossly uneven amounts removed from some frets. If so, you might be able to figure out what happened there. Before fretting, with the fretboard glued to the neck and temporarily attached to the guitar, I sand with a long radius block (the StewMac aluminum beam) until all of the pencil marks I’ve put on the fretboard are sanded away. I always expect that the gluing process might introduce irregularities into my nicely trued fretboard.

Thanks, Bob
Dressing the frets, etc. has not revealed any problems with my fretting method. I'm really "splitting hairs" at this point, with a desire to get as close to ideal as possible. No one who has received one of my builds has ever made any negative observations, or they haven't noticed the slight deviations I'm assuming there might be.

I have a long beam for sanding, and I use the same pencil mark indicator for when the sanding has hit the entire fretboard surface.
//mike

If your fingerboard is good and your frets are good, how about the nut? I don’t care to get in a long discussion on how to do it, but I will share what works for me. Using 20 pound copy paper as a feeler gauge (a sheet is .003” thick), I file the nut slots so that when fretting at the third fret, I feel a drag on two strips of paper between the bottom of the string and the first fret, and no drag, or very little, with one strip in that position. I’m a little more generous with the spacing on the fat E-string since it seems to have a bit more excursion than the others. For me, that method and proper relief is as good as I can get it. If your frets are perfect and your nut is perfect, you can’t do any better at the lower positions. (Of course, now we could talk about neck profile.)

Thanks Bob,
Good points on the nut. I have made and modified many nuts over the years, and I've been using a 'tap' method to gauge the string height. I lightly press the string to the 3rd fret top, then file until I can just get a tap or click when pushing the string to the 2nd fret. That and some good lighting seems to be working well.

That being said, I really like your method of using paper as a feeler gauge! I am definitely going to add that to my process!

Neck profile can be so subjective. I have a template I made that is a blend of Taylor and Ibanez profiles that felt good to me, and I've settled on that as a standard. Everyone's hands and styles are unique and that can have a big influence on what the player judges as "ideal". The folks that have received my builds really like the feel, and that's encouraging. One bluegrass fellow with big hands and long fingers (think full F chord with the thumb wrapped around) prefers more of a soft V, but not enough to want a new neck made.

I really appreciate your comments and suggestions. I have four fretboards to prepare, all 25.5" scale, so I'll get some serious development time and practice in.
//mike

Just to reply to the question, I have sanded the radius at many different stages - fretboard unattached to neck before and after taper or slotting, and fretboard glued to neck, before and after taper or slotting. For slotting I use a HFT 0.020 kerf pull saw in a homemade 90 degree jig that slides along the work, so it is (for me) labor intensive. I use homemade radius blocks of 7.5", 12" or 16", also labor intensive.
I've found what works best for me is laying out the neck with pencil, routing the truss rod slot and installing it (while the neck is still a squared flat board), gluing on the tapered flat fretboard, attaching the template I've downloaded from https://www.ekips.org/tools/guitar/fretfind2d/ , cutting the slots, then radiusing it. All while the neck is still a squared board, which works best for me. Then I taper, thickness and finish the neck and headstock.