fretboard inlays - problem?

axisus

I was hoping to do some fancy inlays on an ebony fretboard with some paua shell sheet. I figured that it would be expensive stuff - and it is! but what I didn't realise is just how thin the stuff is. The bits I have found thus far are either 0.3 of a mm or 0.15 of a mm. This seems worryingly thin. I'd have thought a few passes sanding things flush and you'd be right through the stuff, let alone cutting the slimmest inlay hole imaginable.

Is this doable?

WezV

Nah, you need thicker than that, especially for a fretboard. 1.5mm would be right.

octatonic

I use 2mm.

WezV

Go to small wonder

WezV

octatonic;1112045" said:

I use 2mm.

That must limit your choice a bit

octatonic

WezV said:

octatonic;1112045" said:

I use 2mm.

That must limit your choice a bit

I got a bunch from Small Wonder- if you call them up and ask for specific thicknesses they can provide it.

axisus

WezV said:

Go to small wonder

I'll check out. Thanks.

WezV

I can understand why you might want it for a larger install on a fretboard, but 1.5mm seems a pretty good thickness for almost every other task and commonly available from multiple suppliers.


But anyway, I have also used the wafer thin stuff on a guitar... But laser cut into a logo and stuck under finish. Certainly not inlay

octatonic

The reason I go to for thicker inlay on the fingerboard is it allows me to install on a flat surface, before I radius the board and not have to worry about it sanding through.

With 1.5mm thick material I had several instances of sanding through the inlay on the outer edges of the fingerboard.

I have quite a bit of 1.5mm material as well, I just like using the thicker stuff when I can.

WezV

Yeah, I understand that. I have gone through 1 and 1.2mm stuff at the edges. 1.5 has never been to much of an issue though, although I do route a flat recess into a radiused board.. Not a flat board.

Its good to know smallwonder will offer custom thicknesses.

axisus

Just resurrecting this thread - I prefer 9.5 radius fretboards, is that likely to be a problem in terms of the amount taken off to get the radius? The inlays that I am doing will be about an inch wide.

Nomad

It can be calculated...

R = fretboard radius
c = width of inlay
h = height lost at outer edges of inlay (if centred in width of fretboard)

The units used for R and c must be the same - both inches, both mm, etc.

Calculation...

h = R - square root of all of this: R^2 - (c^2/4)

The ^2 bits mean the number is squared in case you aren't familiar with spreadsheet syntax. The c^2/4 bit is done first and then subtracted from R^2, the square root of that is found and subtracted from R.

The resulting value for h is in inches if that's what you used for R and c. To convert to millimetres, multiply by 25.4.

For a 9.5" fretboard radius and a 1" inlay, you should get 0.013167" or 0.33444mm. That's how much is sanded away at the outer edges of the inlay. Remember to account for any material lost at the middle and add that difference to the loss at the edges - if you take the middle down 0.2mm and then make the radius, your loss at the edges is 0.53444.

axisus

@Nomad wow, great answer! I was a bit lost with the maths, but your last para answers me fine. Many thanks!

ArchtopDave

On a flat surface like a Headstock, I'd put the inlay in a fraction proud, but, on a surface that's going to be radiused, put the inlay in so that it's flush with the surface. There's a limited risk that one bit of inlay might be slightly thinner, and go in a fraction deeper than you might wish, but this hopefully won't be a major problem.

Nomad

axisus said:

@Nomad wow, great answer! I was a bit lost with the maths, but your last para answers me fine. Many thanks!

Copy and paste the following into a plain text editor, save it with a .CSV extension, and then load it into your preferred spreadsheet program...

"Inlay Height Calculator",,
"Finds height loss after radius is applied to fretboard",,
,,
,,
"Fretboard radius",9.5,"inches"
"Width of inlay (centred)",1,"inches"
,,
"Height loss at edges","=B5-SQRT(B5^2-(B6^2/4))","inches"
,"=B8*25.4","mm"