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How to build a bass – Cutting the fret slots

This step requires a combination of standard woodworking equipment as well as fixtures that are unique to guitar building. These tools are required:

Standard table saw with long fence miter gauge

The typical miter gauge that comes with a table saw is only 6 inches wide. A longer surface is needed for holding the work performed. We added a 34″ wood board that was straightened on the joiner.

Custom made specialized table saw blade

blade

This blade is thinned down so it can make a very thin cut. The blade teeth are 0.020-inch wide (otherwise known as the kerf) for cutting fret slots.

A specialized blade of this type can be purchased here.

Fret scale template

This is usually a piece of transparent polycarbonate or aluminum. It is a strip of material, slightly thicker than a ruler that has a series of notches in the side that corresponds to the scale length. This can be sourced from luthiery supply stores.

Fret scale templates are available for purchase here. The one we specifically used is model SPFS5.

Indexing pin

The pin is drilled into but left slightly protruding from fence. The position is directly in line with the cut of the blade and approximately 1″ off the table.

Step 1. Mark the location of the nut on the neck blank

On the fingerboard side mark a pencil line where the nut is to be. Use a woodworking square to transfer that line around to the back of the neck.

Step 2. Adhere the fret scale template to the blank

Adhere the template to the neck side of the blank using double stick tape. Align the first notch of the fretscale template with the pencil mark from the previous step. For additional accuracy it is recommended to adhere the template to the same edge used against the fence when the truss rod channel was milled.

Step 3. Set up miter gauge to cut at 90-degree angles from the blank

Table saw miter gauges, especially the ones that come with the saw do not fit perfectly into the miter gauge slot. It is normal if there is slop in the slot itself, and the miter gauge can wiggle back and forth. To combat this, always use the miter gauge slop pushed all the way to one side or another; it takes two hands to do this; one slightly pushing and one slightly pulling to each other at the same time, pushing everything across the table. Consistency slot to slot is crucial to all the slots being parallel, so practice this for a bit to get the feel for it. Once that feels comfortable and easily repeatable set the miter gauge to perfectly 90 degrees to the blade while holding the miter gauge exactly as you practiced.

Note: When cutting, it is suggested that you keep both hands closer together (closer than Chris’s has his in this photo!)

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Step 4. Adjust depth of cut

The depth of the cut should be roughly half the thickness of the fingerboard itself. A correct fingerboard thickness should be roughly 1/4″, meaning your cut depth should roughly be 1/8″.

Cutting at a 1/8″ depth will ensure that you do not have to go back to the board to cut slots deeper with a handsaw later after it is radiused.

Step 5. Run a test board through for measurement check

Take a scrap piece of wood and perform a few test cuts to ensure the depth is correct and the cut is square.

Step 6. Cut the fret slots

Cut each slot one at a time. We suggest making a single and only a single pass per each fret slot cut. We do not recommend pulling the board back through the blade after making that first pass. Instead, after each pass, you should pick the neck off the table, pull the miter gauge back, reset the blank with the next template next notch to be cut into miter gauge’s indexing pin, then proceed to the next cut for the next fret slot.

Where are the rest of the build steps?
You can view them all here.

4 thoughts on “How to build a bass – Cutting the fret slots”

    • No Problem. I would be happy to take and post any photos of any part of my setup. If there is any angle or closeup that you would like just let me know!! Here is the image that I imagine will explain allot. In this closeup you can see the blade, long wooden board fronted cheapo miter gauge ‘jig’ and the elusive fretslot indexing pin in it’s natural habitat 🙂

      http://imgur.com/gallery/a5EWscc

      Reply
  1. Both lmii and Stew Mac sell saw blades made for this and both also sell templates. lmii sells a kit that includes the blade, template of your choice, and plans for setting it all up.

    Reply

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