Acoustic Guitar Construction

Did my second fretboard, it was pre-slotted and i bought a radius block and radiused ok.

Followed Ken's fretting instruction but this time the slot depth matched the fret tang very neatly whearas before there was a noticeable gap, doesn't bother me either way but i put the drop of glue at each end of the fret and as there was much less space for the glue, it came out on top of the FB around the frets looking ugly and rubbery.

Have scraped with a razor but not the easiest stuff to get rid of cleanly. Any ideas?

Slots too deep far better then slot too shallow.

So you put the radius on the board?

The glue will clean off easily with a razor blade as a scraper -- if the fret wire is not seated down all the way -- well that's a different story.

yes, put the radius on, drew a line down the center of the board and sanded until it was gone, I seem to have put a very slightly greater radius onto the top end (guess i didn't hold the block properly steady) of the FB than the nut end but i guess it will just have slightly higher action towards the top at the outer strings but it's gonna a 12 fretter so not too worried about that. The depth of the FB down the center is the same all the way.

Guess you're right about the fret depth, the 2/3 that were gluey were not quite seated as the slot wasn't deep enough, think i'll replace these, do i just pull them out and hope for not too much splintering?

mike-p wrote:yes, put the radius on, drew a line down the center of the board and sanded until it was gone, I seem to have put a very slightly greater radius onto the top end (guess i didn't hold the block properly steady) of the FB than the nut end but i guess it will just have slightly higher action towards the top at the outer strings but it's gonna a 12 fretter so not too worried about that. The depth of the FB down the center is the same all the way.

Guess you're right about the fret depth, the 2/3 that were gluey were not quite seated as the slot wasn't deep enough, think i'll replace these, do i just pull them out and hope for not too much splintering?

Heat them with a soldering iron to release the glue. If you beveled the tops of the slot the tear out may not be too much of a problem. Go slow getting them out, I use a stew mac fret cutter (just a modification of a common tool) to slowly work them out along the length of the fret.

This is the style of pliers that is commonly used -- best to grind the face down flat so there is only a bevel on the inside and the pliers can set flat against the surface.