Wednesday, May 12, 2010

ELECTRIC GUITAR PROJECT part 4

After the glue dried and the clamps were removed, this is what I had.

The fretboard is not exactly the same size as the neck in the tapering width direction. I made the neck a little bit extra wide so I'd have something to work down.

I sanded the neck flush with the fretboard on an edge sander. After bandsaws, edge sanders are my favorite power tools. In this picture you can sight down the neck and see the fretboard is level. I laid a straight edge across it and tapped down any high frets. I found 2 spots still needing attention. Also in this picture you can see the frets were sanded flush with the fretboard.


This ledge at the top is where the nut will sit. I re-rounded the back of the neck after flushing it up with the fretboard.

In this picture I'm in the process of rounding the end of each fret with a file. Otherwise the edges of the frets are sharp like knives. That's bad if you wanted to play a sliding ZOOOOOOOOP! on your strings.

I made fret markers by drilling holes and gluing in dowels. After the glue dried I used a chisel to cut them flush with the fretboard. I made the fret markers smaller than normal just for the sake of being different.

Now I need to impatiently wait for my hardware to arrive in the mail before going any further. Even though it would have been a lot more expensive buying the hardware at a music store, there's something to be said for instant gratification.

10 comments:

  1. Damn, is this looking good! I love the smaller fret markers.

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  2. what kind of edge sander do you have?

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  3. Sweet. Can't wait to see and hear the results!

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  4. Saladshooter,
    Actually I don't own an edge sander. I use the one at work. If I did get one I'd like to get one of those five-footers.

    Tom,
    Thanks for the visit and the comment! I'll record something with it when it's done.

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  5. In the early days of rock'n'roll, it was not uncommon for Guitarists to ZOOOOP one of their fingers off on sharp edges. There is a learning curve to everything~!

    I think your 1st song on this baby should include lyrics about a saladshooter~!

    I will sing that old Heinz Ketchup song in my head while waiting for part five of this series...

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  6. yes, but have you thought about what kind of stickers you're going to put on it when you're through?...

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  7. Ha ha! The most important part!

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  8. Wow... that's looking great :)

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