This is the style of side dot in question:
Top view:
Here is a more elaborate one I did on another guitar:
I will detail how I made these side markers so anyone can use this style or a variation. Since I did not document how I did the abalone type, I will explain how I made the bloodwood markers on the fretboard above this text.
I happened to have a left over piece of the abalone stick I made up with the black purfling on it, so here is a pic of that:
Some details about the abalone lay up:
It is pretty much impossible to tell from the picture, but I glued the abalone so the "show side" was face up, which made the ugly side flush with the black lines. Then when it was inlayed, I had to flush sand the purfling even with the abalone and the binding on the fretboard. It worked well, but holding the tiny pieces of abalone and purfling together while gluing was a bit fidgety. I used CA to attach the abalone and the purfling. Clear packing tape was put on anything that would touch the lay-up as my release agent. I used a straight edge and a level to push everything together, dripped on CA and waited for it to dry. I didn't use any accelerator as it has a tendency to turn the CA white and that might obscure the abalone.
For the ziricote fretboard, I used an exacto knife to cut the rebates for the abalone lay-up. The binding is only a bit more than .0625" thick, so it was easy to cut through it. I used a digital caliper to measure the abalone lay-up, then transferred the measurement to the binding. I marked the center line of the fret accurately with a ruler but I have to admit I eyeballed the placement of the abalone against that centerline. Its not hard to eyeball the location once the center line of the fret space is marked.
Alright, lets get started with the process I used for the bloodwood fretboard above. While it is different, the process is applicable to other styles of side dots, but with the process I used to get the mitered purfling lines for the bloodwood markers being more difficult, I think its a better tutorial anyway.
I wanted the maple on the side dots for this guitar to look like they were mitered into the thin maple pin that was between the binding and the board. I also wanted the 12th fret marker to look like they were two solid lines that ran right through the maple line of the binding even though they are not. Here is the method I devised to achieve that look:
First I chose the pieces for the "dot" lay up:
While the glue dried on that, I glued a piece of the same maple veneer used for the marker lay up along the side of the fretboard. I don't have a pic of that. But I do have a pic of what came next! Once you mark the locations of the markers, use an exacto knife to cut the maple and remove it to make room for the markers:
Sorry for the blurry pic. I have not mitered anything here. Nor will I be making any miters. The maple line is so thin, nobody would see it if I had so I used a butt joint. Anyway, the next thing I did was to glue on the markers. I cut them way over sized to make it easier to hold them while I glued them on. CA was used to put these on. The dot is in the bottom of the pic below:
When I made these markers, I took a few pics along the way. I never planned on making a tutorial when I made them, so I am missing a pic of the next step, although it is not hard to explain or figure out what came next! I cut and fit the bloodwood binding strips between each marker to get as close to a perfect joint against each dot as I could. Once I had all of the pieces cut and fit, I glued them on with TiteBond. I used tape to hold them in place while the glue dried. I used Titebond for this step because the water in the glue would hopefully swell the binding and fill any tiny gap I might have missed. That is the theory anyway, but I did end up with good joints when I was done.
Once it was all scraped down, and finished, it ended up looking like this:
I hope this was helpful. If I have not explained any steps well enough, please let me know. I am more than happy to answer any questions about this, or anything else I have done on any of the guitars I have made.
Thanks for looking and I appreciate any feedback!
Tony