Finger board levelling is the next step.
I get out my saddles for the Katana levelling tool and use these with my straight edge to get the neck set as level as possible.
Then I attack it with my sanding radius beam.
When I have it close to dead flat I mark the finger board and do the last few passes to make sure it is infact flat.
There is always a workaround for glitches, mistakes and other Guitar building gremlins.....
Time for dots.
I am using 5mm Gold Mother of Pearl dots.
First I set out the positions on the fingerboard.
You will see that I am using a Brad point drill bit as this type of bit drills a flat bottomed hole.
Off to the drill press and carefully drill each hole no more than 4mm deep.
Now the holes are drilled ready for the dots to be glued and pressed in.
There is always a workaround for glitches, mistakes and other Guitar building gremlins.....
Now I progress onto the fretting...
The fret wire comes in 12" lengths, so I will need to cut and pre radius it for installation.
To radius the wire I use my fret wire pliers to grip it. These guys have a slot in one jaw for the tang of the wire to sit in.
It is a simple job to gently bend the wire, moving the pliers along an inch at a time and gently bending the wire towards the tang.
End result is pre radiused wire! It is best to pre bend the wire in a slightly tighter radius than the fret board. This makes it easier to press home correctly.
There is always a workaround for glitches, mistakes and other Guitar building gremlins.....
Before pressing the frets, I install the side dots.
With the 16" radius fret pressing caul mounted in my drill press, I firmly press each fret home.
It is important to support the underside the neck, this saves a butt load of swearing caused by snapping the neck
Then I trim and file the fret ends and next file the 30 degree angle on the ends with my supa special toy.
There is always a workaround for glitches, mistakes and other Guitar building gremlins.....
Filing the fret ends.
Frets installed!
There is always a workaround for glitches, mistakes and other Guitar building gremlins.....
that is looking fantastic DB, I am really keen to do a build course and you guide me through building a scratch neck ! I need some of the flash tools and order some nice wood from your favourite online supplier !
Current Builds and status
scratch end grain pine tele - first clear coat on !
JBA-4 - assembled - final tweaks
Telemonster double scale tele - finish tobacco burst on body and sand neck
Completed builds
scratch oak.rose gum Jazzmaster - assembled needs setup
MK-2 Mosrite - assembled - play in
Ash tele with Baritone neck - neck pup wiring tweaks and play in
DB, the fret file I use is already angled at 30' . Consistent results every time.
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting...&xst=3&xsr=531
Gavmeister
Yep. got one.
There is always a workaround for glitches, mistakes and other Guitar building gremlins.....
I see that!now!!! Only the first pics of your last two posts downloaded on my phone, and i thought to myself, "let me ease my good mate DB's suffering and tell him about the lovely 30' bevelled file unit I have! Oh well! Its the thought that counts!
Thanks Gav, the thought does count
I may even think about leaving the frets in your Hofner and not painting it pink......
There is always a workaround for glitches, mistakes and other Guitar building gremlins.....
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