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I use a fence to set the side to side distance, then drill all the holes with a 1/16 router bit as a predrill. Then put in the the right size drill bit, redrill the holes, no wandering. The nice thing about the fence is I can easily do a number of fretboards if required with no setup changes. Its pretty fast.

As for depth on shell dots, the I use 2mm dots and an imperial drill bit thats a hair smaller, then the shell press fits and unless you purposely drive it too deep, it never happens. I use a flat screwdriver to press the shell, its level every time.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Ken, I use the 2mm dots and the brad-point bit from LMI. Awesome bit and it gives me a perfect fit every time.

The shell dots are usually in the 53-55 thou range in thickness. You get a hang for how deep to drill. Even when I'm using tape as a stop, I can go too deep some times. I just measure the depth with the caliper and add sawdust with CA if I've gone too far. You can always re-drill and start again.   

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

I use 1.5 mm dots.

Speaking of dots... (and sorry to change the subject, but this seems related enough to ask)

does anyone know where to find tiny plug cutters so we can make our own? I would like to have even smaller dots.. maybe 1 mm, but I can't seem to find any suppliers with them that small.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

One of our sponsors sells 1mm side dots Brock.

Get in touch with Martin at MOP Supplies.

Cheers

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Bob Connor
Geelong, Australia

There you go.. Thanks. I will grab some from him.

.. if anyone knows where you can find small plug cutters I am still interested. Sometimes I would like to make dots out of non traditional materials.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Todd, that's the coolest thing I've ever seen! I tend to want to over-complicate things sometimes...

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

[QUOTE=Hesh1956]Very cool jig Todd - quick, easy, and accurate just what we all are looking for.

I was thinking about a way to control the depth of the drilling for your jig that would be more accurate than tape on the drill bit and came up with this:

These are as I know you know from one of our shared previous hobbies model airplane wheel collars. They come in 3/32" inch too - perfect for the 3/32" drill bit required for Stew-Mac's side dots. You can purchase these here - Tower Hobbies or at any hobby shop that carries RC products.

I would be concerned about the wheel collar marring the wood fretboard side but this would not be an issue with your metal jig/guide.

 



[/QUOTE]

Just thinking you could use various dowel rods for this, just center drill them, and add the lock thread. Low to medium speed should be fine, and cheap!

Some could complicate the Lord's prayer....

<g>

 fence is the way to go. For my fence, i clamp my small drill press vise to the table, and the fixed part becomes the fence. the vise then holds -and- locates the fretboard. Just loosen the handle a half turn, slide the fretboard to the next line, snug it, and drill, repeat...

I made a full-length version Todd's jig, with lines cut at each location, and use it to mark the fretboard with a pencil. Then it's just slide it over to the pencil line, snug, and drill.... takes all of a minute from start to finish.

Oh, and for sure, 1/4" or less of the bit exposed. I tried the tiny brad points, and went back to regular twist drills, as the brad point wants to grab a pore or grain line, where the regular bits just go down where to want them to. Ad no need to drill the full 1/4' depth, either, since you just need to drill 1/16" or so.

we can also make our own dots in little time, from any material, by super gluing small pieces to the flat end of the drill bit, and chucking it in te drill, and holding a fine file to the spinning piece. takes 30 seconds to round them off. Slice it off wit a razor blade, glue on another, repeat... For plastic dots(think, TS), a leather punch will make dozens in a minute.... beautiful in ivoroid.

But I much prefer the long plastic things from StewMac. Place a drop of super glue on any item around(beer/soda can) and dip the end in it, and tap in place. Snip, repeat.... One drop does a full fretboard, no drips, no mess...

[QUOTE=grumpy] we can also make our own dots in little time, from any material, by super gluing small pieces to the flat end of the drill bit, and chucking it in te drill, and holding a fine file to the spinning piece. takes 30 seconds to round them off. Slice it off wit a razor blade, glue on another, repeat... For plastic dots(think, TS), a leather punch will make dozens in a minute.... beautiful in ivoroid.[/QUOTE]

Now THERE is a clever idea. Thanks.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Hesh, you always seem to catch me at times when my shop is the messiest it can be.... oh well, I'll show you anyway... just dont mind all the sawdust on the floor.

First, here are a few of the guitars I am working on... from left to right,  Sycamore, Malaysian Ebony, Curly cherry, and flamed Oregon Myrtle. Also on the bench is the back to the flamed myrtle guitar that I am gluing the back strap on. On the right hand side of the picture, you can see some of my WAS stock on the shelf. On the floor next to the mold is a case of 50 Englemann spruce tops that came in recently from Canada. My bender is on a shelf by the window in the back of the shop.

Next is a picture of some sets of wood I will be swapping out at the next swap meet... different kinds of mahogany. Some of it is quite figured stuff. I have a lot of stuff to resaw in the next couple of weeks to get ready for the swap meet come to think of it.

 

Thats all I have to show you for now... lots of goodies coming in the next few weeks.

 

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Reguards,

Ken H

Well I totally posted this post in the wrong thread, didnt I.. where is that stinking edit button???

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Reguards,

Ken H

[QUOTE=grumpy] For my fence, i clamp my small drill press vise to the table, and the fixed part becomes the fence. the vise then holds -and- locates the fretboard. Just loosen the handle a half turn, slide the fretboard to the next line, snug it, and drill, repeat...
[/QUOTE]

Thanks, Mario. This is the idea I'm going to try on my next.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

I use gel superglue for my 2mm MOP dots. It doesn't squirt out to the same extent as liquid and it fills the gap underneath the dot if I drill the hole too deep.

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Pete
http://www.petewoodmanguitars.com

The recent book by Bogdanovich suggest that you drill a hole and epoxy in a piece of Galvanized wire, then file it flush.
In my experience, Galvanized wire is usually steel wire (like chicken wire) that has been Zinc plated to prevent rust.
Of course, the filed off surface would reveal the steel core, which would then rust.
Can he be serious? I tried asking him, but no reply.

Ray
                                              

I'm just guessing, but maybe the galvanized wire, which has a very flat finish on it due to the hot dip, galvanizing process, will glue better than the non galvanized.  It is going to be finished over anyway, so it probably wouldn't rust. 

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Great tutorial! Thanks all. I'll be doing this operation next weekend and I will also be changing my method and materials. Time to try the 2mm MOP markers.

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC