V706_1 fretboard and neck work

Had to patch up some cracks before slotting. They were not that bad but never trust Ziricote. Never. It will split when and where you least want it to. Never trust Ziricote.... Clamp the crack. If it is tight hit it with thin CA and leave it. If it still shows after clamping un-clamp it and work some thicker CA into the crack and re-clamp.



Here is the slotting rig. The long board holds the board down and pushes it against the fence. I use the board because the saw sits low and there is no way to hold it with your hand. Not that you would want to with the radial arm saw... later I added a feather board near the edge of the table to hold the board against the fence.



There is an index pin on the fence. The template fits tight to the fence. The fretboard is square to the template (I true one edge before attaching it).



Set the depth of the blade. You don't want the teeth buried in the wood as it will burn up the expensive saw blade so make sure there is a little gullet showing.



After the first pass check the depth of the slot. It needs to be deep enough but not cut through the board. We need as much wood left as we can get. The slot can be a bit shallow as we will clean it up by hand during the fretting process.




Finished slotting the fretboard.



And the neck monster attacks... 14.62mm with about a 5mm fretboard (leaves .5 - 1mm to adjust the profile). In order to get consistent neck thickness all the way to the heal it is better to use a machine.