Fretboard radiusing jig

Sporky

Not anything guitary for a while. I'm thinking of having a go at making my ideal 6er though. 

Andyjr1515

Corvus said:

. But the G&W is as accurate as you could want, no falloffs or whatever else, plus you can shim one end to get the edges the same height after radiussing.

Of course!  Genius!!

On the other topic ( I also use the G&W, mainly for space reasons), I radius before slotting to minimise the tear out possibility, especially with ebony and especially right at the end of the board.

GSPBASSES

When I first started using G & W kit I did slot the fretboard first, but I did get the occasional tear out. I now radius first then slot. As mentioned elsewhere in the post to get the same height on the edges of the fingerboard, the centre block on my jig is slightly higher at the nut end.

elstoof

What sort of shim for say 12” radius, about 1-2mm?

Corvus

I used a blade that's half a mil thick I think maybe a hair more, somewhere near the nut end of boards. I don't bother moving it for Fender vs 24.75 scales.

My setup is a baseboard with 8020 extrusion centre beam. It also doubles as a clamping caul but that's another thing.
Centre line was scored with a marking gauge.

I covered the baseboard in gloss HPL and relieved the edges & corners on the carriage but it still scored the base slightly. So added some d/s tape with the backing left on. The carriage glides more freely. Could've skipped the formica altogether...

The vertical thing is just a fixture borrowed to catch some of the blizzard of chips for a quicker cleanup.



The bowl cutter is about 19mm across, small radius to it. Think this is why I need minimal sanding, and plus the slippery base is why I can do a board in 4 mins or less. Must be kinder re tearout over a straight cutter. At least I haven't had any damage as yet, not that I've done dozens though.
I go up & down quickly with fine 'adjustments' to get a radius not a series of flats. Set the one height and go, no increments.

Minor thing, there's teflon tape on the insides of the base. Mainly to take up a bit of the slop in fitting over the central rail, also may help smooth sliding. Was lurking in a drawer so though may as well try it.
The Katsu router was £35, spare bases are a tenner or so.

GSPBASSES

elstoof said:

What sort of shim for say 12” radius, about 1-2mm?

I don't use a shim, I've made it so the centre block is raised by about .5mm over its length so it is a permanent fixture.