Bugger! Fret cutting cock-up

XWulfhere

Still new to this guitar building game, doing a strat neck at the moment and cutting the frets on my table saw. Yesterday, all was going well until this happened....

http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/ag118/wulfhere/BF658F9F-F7FE-4EC0-B909-E18BBE08F991_zpscz2ba9ox.jpg

The blade started to oscillate and cut the groove way too wide. My own fault for being too greedy and trying to take too much on one cut. Just had to walk away from it, I was too angry with myself to carry on.

24 hours later, went back in, skimmed the neck (always leave enough on in case of mishaps) and carefully went back at it again:
http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/ag118/wulfhere/6DEE784A-FFC8-4FB7-9A1F-FD4DEE15B1AE_zps7nofdyyv.jpg

Much better!

Next week, the truss rod cavity!

jd0272

Next WEEK???? What's wrong with tonight????

sweepy

Probably could have filled it, the resulting fret overhang would cover the, ahem slip Hopefully there won't be a next time. looking sweet btw, be nice to see it all completed

BigMonka

I'm so impressed with making a neck from scratch like that, that a small mishap like that is insignificant! And respect for having planned contingency so that you could redo it without having to change your plans.

XWulfhere

jd0272 said:

Next WEEK???? What's wrong with tonight????

I was going to go hell for leather and actually have the whole thing built this week, but a load of stuff seems to have got in the way. I did think about doing the TR tonight, but it's kinda cold outside now... and I'm busy all tomorrow and working at the weekend :-S

XWulfhere

BigMonka said:

I'm so impressed with making a neck from scratch like that, that a small mishap like that is insignificant! And respect for having planned contingency so that you could redo it without having to change your plans.

Thanks man :-) I'm making a new neck and body for my MIM Roadhouse Strat. Its a decent axe, but the neck is tinted what I'd call 'David Dickinson Orange' and is horrible, and the body is veneered basswood I think. Going for a nice natural maple neck and an ash body that will very likely be Black.

Sassafras

I'd never have the nerve to use a power saw! Hats off!

Sambostar

That must be some fine blade you have on the table saw?  I don't think my £7 used B&Q job would be up for that much accuracy.

How do you plane BTW.  Have a planer/thicknesser?

XWulfhere

Sambostar;520082" said:

That must be some fine blade you have on the table saw?  I don't think my £7 used B&Q job would be up for that much accuracy.How do you plane BTW.  Have a planer/thicknesser?

Yeah I use a planer thicknesser for that. When I realised my mistake (and had 24 hours to calm down) I just ran it through that, took 4mm off it and then started again.

Using the table saw is better than a Japanese saw but it's a bit nervwracking! I'll be back in this next week.

Sambostar

http://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Types_of_Tools/Saws/Fret_Slotting_Table_Saw_Blade.html

Wow, didn't know these existed, I think I'd rather use an over head saw, ie a Chop saw or Mitre, probably the Hitachi as the depth stop is reliable on that.

I don't know how you control the run of cutting with a table saw, sawing perpendicular to your work like that, or do you use a guide on one side?  Good effort though, better than what I could do.

I bet you did it freehand too, you wildman.

XWulfhere

@Sambostar

My table saw has got a cross cut fence on it (I bought it specifically for this purpose), and I built a sled to go on it. Using my stewmac ruler which has the fender scale on it I just line up the fret I'm cutting with the centreline and - slowly - move the job over the work, taking about 1mm off each time. Hopefully I've refined the method now and won't make any more mistakes. Can't be worse than doing it freehand though, some people have got real skill at that, but not me!

Sambostar

My table saw is too wobbly for that kind of accuracy I think.  I'm routing a groove in my home made router table though, so I can do something similar with a running slotted guide at 90 degrees to the jig/fence.  Hopefully try some dovetails or straight rebate joints that way for drawer making.  Although need a spiral fluted bit ideally and they ain't cheap, but then my router is cheap and has a fair amount of run out on it too.

I think I need a new table saw if you can achieve that kind of accuracy with it.  Quite impressive I think.

XWulfhere

My table saw is an Axminster BTS10ST and I can recommend it at least for what I do. Came with a decent blade for rough work, and I got the fretting blade for £60.