Guitar Fretboard

[BlueRocco]

I'm thinking about making a guitar. I looked at a link that went to liquidguitar and there was a video showing the carvewright doing fretslots on it. What bit would you use to do that? The 1/6" bit just came out, but I think that would be too wide. Do you grind one down or is there another option?

[cnsranch]

Aren't frets placed into a sort of v groove (sorry LG)?

If so, seems like the 1/16" carving bit should be the trick carved in a vector path.

[BlueRocco]

Aren't frets placed into a sort of v groove (sorry LG)?

If so, seems like the 1/16" carving bit should be the trick carved in a vector path.

Actually they are pressed into a sized slot cut into the wood. There are tangs on the bottom of the fretwire that have a sort of tooth that bites into the wood to hold them in place. Kind of like a grooved nail. I was looking for the right sized bit to cut the slot with. I suppose you could use the 1/16" cutting bit, then crimp the tang on the fretwire to get it to hold, or even add CA glue as well. ??????

[DocWheeler]

Ron Justice (forum member) has made some smaller bits I believe!

[pine acres woodshop]

fret slots are .023" the 1/16" bit would be to wide even if you expanded the tang, you could CA it but I don't know how well it would hold. They might make fretwire with a wider tang but I haven't seen any.
Mark

[liquidguitars]

You can contact Ron Justice for the 1/8" bits..
And he has the .022" bit in stock I think.


LG

[Jeff_Birt]

Also take a look at: http://precisebits.com/products/carbidebits/fret-cutter.asp, these are special purpose fret cutters and can be had with a high-precision bushing installed (same as CW's 1/16" bit) so they fit the standard 1/4" CW adapters.

[BlueRocco]

You can contact Ron Justice for the 1/8" bits..
And he has the .022" bit in stock I think.


LG

Wow, Great! So when you draw these in Designer you just use a 1/16" for the program and put the .022" bit in when it asks for the bit, right? Thanks!!

[TurtleCove]

Listening.

[liquidguitars]

Let me talk to Jeff and Ron to see what we can come up with..

The issue as you guys know, the ".022" it will blow apart under the stress.





Below photos show the inlace slots and fret loactions on flamed maple.

The maple looks fuzzy but cleans up well, it was a fuzzy day.

I used the 1/4 ball to radius and cut the taper in one pass.



LG

[BlueRocco]

Let me talk to Jeff and Ron to see what we can come up with..

The issue as you guys know, the ".022" it will blow apart under the stress.





Below photos show the inlace slots and fret loactions on flamed maple.

The maple looks fuzzy but cleans up well, it was a fuzzy day.

I used the 1/4 ball to radius and cut the taper in one pass.



LG

Wow, I have a lot to learn about this Carvewright. I thought this type of carving was possible. I have done most of my 3d work in AutoCAD previously. Is there any way to import stuff so I know before hand what my dimensions are? I am having a heck of a time drawing in designer. I feel kind of like I'm back in AutoCAD Version 2.9 using my arrow keys to tap out a part.:confused:

[Jeff_Birt]

I would suspect that with the new 'depth per pass' control that you would be able to do this without issue. Keep in mind that the max d.o.c. (depth of cut) on the 0.022" fret cutters is 0.090". Perhaps the biggest risk would be the bit plate and board touch down movements. You would also need to be somewhat conservative in your programmed depth as the CW has a 0.010" or so Z axis tolerance. If you programmed in the bits max d.o.c. you could easily bury the bit too far.

[Dan-Woodman]

I think in cases such as this , it would be important to know the feed rate of each programed bit, so we could pick the appriate feed for the bit being used.
Just like I think the 1/2" bit has a slower feed rate than the 3/8" bit. Just seems to move slower.
later Daniel

[BlueRocco]

I would think you would just set the d.o.c. at half the bit width what ever bit you are using. That is what I do with my router and it seems to work pretty good. I've been doing it with the carvewright too. I only tried one project with the last software version, it seemed a little scary to me so I waited for this one to do any more (I read the posts about the fires and figured change was due soon).

[liquidguitars]

I read the posts about the fires and figured change was due soon

Wow more fire eaters.. :eek:

wonder how big a blase i can start with the .022...



LG

[rjustice]

Below is the thread where we discussed this before. Now that there is depth of cut control this tool would work very well using a light depth of cut. The standard tool that i carry has .08 flute length. The slots produced can be deepened up with a fret saw easily, or if you would like I can get an extra long tool that would possibly work as well.

http://forum.carvewright.com/showthread.php?t=3678&highlight=fret+cutter

Post #14 shows a picture of the tool mounted up.

Let me know if you would like to give em a try.

Keep in mind that if you use the bushings in a 1/4 bit adapter as suggested earlier, that the original bit adapters have significant run out, and i would doubt that the tool would cut to size, or last very long. My 1/8 bit adapters are checked to be less than .0002 run out

Happy Carving,

Ron

[liquidguitars]

My 1/8 bit adapters are checked to be less than .0002 run out

Ron,

I have been very happy with your 1/8 bit adapters.


Lg

[rjustice]

LG,
I'm glad to hear that they are working well for you.... I know you put lots of hours on your machine(s), and have been curious to know if you have you seen any evidence of "BB" marks on them yet? They are about 3 times harder than the stock holders.

Happy Carving,

Ron

[liquidguitars]

I took a photo " raised the contrast" so you can see..
still in good shape.

[BlueRocco]

wonder how big a blase i can start with the .022...

LG

Actually I figured, If they were starting fires, they might also break small bits as well:)

[liquidguitars]

Good thinking..


Lg

[rjustice]

I took a photo " raised the contrast" so you can see..
still in good shape.

Thanks for the feedback LG... Still lookin' good!

Happy Carving,

Ron