Day 2

Today we are starting with a activity on fret spacing where we talk about the basic history of the fret spacing. This is simply a mathematical equation derived from "rule of 18" from which they used to space frets. We watched the Mark French video which was a little confusing but also extremely interesting at the same time. The most interesting part was the international agreement for the A4- 440hertz. We also learned that you can use the pythagorean theorem to space out your frets if making one yourself.

Skills needed: Computing skills and mathematical understanding of equations.

Above are pictures from when we started to put our tru-oil on. This is my only coat of this because I will be doing the swirl dip. This coat just protects the wood for when I dip it becomes smoother and cleaner.

Above is the picture of me using a cabinet scrapper which is something new for me but I absolutely loved using it. It took the machine marks out of the curved part of the neck really nicely. I think I might prefer that over sanding the whole time. After I used the scrapper I then went and used some 150 and 220 sandpaper to smoothen out the neck even more.

Below is a picture of me watching a demonstration on how to layout the fret dot and how to make sure they are exactly in the center. The middle picture is me drilling the holes for the fret dots to then put the plastic dot in. The right side another demonstration on how to cut the plastic fret dots down to size after you glue them in.

Demo on Fret Spacing

Drilling Fret Holes

Cutting fret pins

Below are pictures of me checking the fretboard to make sure it is not bowed up or down before I start to sand, this is a important step because I did have a slight bow up so then I had to tighten the truss rod and make the fretboard straight and true. We put a 12" radius on the fretboard using a big block that is chucked up in a vice to ensure a good even surface.

Making sure the fretboard is completely straight and true.

Watching a demonstration on how to sand the 12" radius. (Better to use your body/hips in sanding then just arms)

Finished fretboard with fret dots and radius completely sanded.

After I sanded the radius in the fretboard it was time to put the frets on but before this could happen I needed to put a coat on the fretboard so I do not have to do it after the frets are in place. During this time I was waiting so I put my finger dots on the neck in line with the fret dots. To make the fret wire work we need to first run it through a simple machine that puts the same 12" radius on the fret so it will wrap around versus being straight across. This machine was really simple to use and just involved cranking the wire through twice. Then I made sure all my fret slots were deep enough to take the fret wire (there is a tester that doesn't have the barbed wire part on it. After this fit in all the slots on both sides and the middle I got to lining the fret up, cutting it and then pressing them in with the drill press with the special attachment.