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I am binding a fretboard and have a question

On an ebony board, I am contemplating a .06 abalone strip down either edge, with about a .06 ebony strip outside of that. That leaves about .12 outboard of the actual ebony board down either edge. I am thinking that the frets will not like seating in the abalone, so the cut off tang will have to span the entire .12 of the combined ebony/abalone edging.

Is this too much for no tang??

Something like this, but with different materials and the fret slot not continuing through the "white" part

Ed

My experience here is that for 18% nickel silver wire, up to 0.188" of crown free of the tang is tolerable with good technique (i.e., careful pre-bending of crown). If there is an option to use either EVO or stainless, you can get some additional resistance to distortion should an edge get caught, etc. All this supposes the frets are glued in to minimize the opportunity for grime and perspiration to accumulate under the fret crown.

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For the times they are a changin'

- Bob Dylan

fwiw, for me, it's crown width max. anything more seems to require "aids" in order to minimize risk. if you need more, remove whatever barbs are going through the shell and run the slot right into the ebony.

I did one recently and I am pretty sure I cut through the abalone.


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I wouldn't expect any problem with cutting thru the shell and putting a tang into it.

I would do it the same way you did in the photo, route a ledge on the board, install shell, cut the fret slots through the shell and then bind. That will leave you with .06" of no tang, perfect!!!

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

I do these on a regular basis
I will use poly when I bind the board then set about a.030 gap at the fret slot.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it