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Terry posted pics of his fret slotting sled on the mini-tablesaw thread, viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=53677. I thought it would be interesting to see how others approached this issue.

Here's mine:

I use double sided LMII templates and StewMac blade (not installed in that pic).

I do it this way. No sled, just 2 miter gauges, mainly because my 5" blades don't go up very high. Been doing it this way for 40 years. I make lots of fretboards, and as long as you don't push too hard and fast, the little 5" blades last a very long time. Blade stabilizers are a must.--Bob http://www.pegasusguitars.com/slotting-fretboards.html

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“ The meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away” Pablo Picasso

I usually slot on CNC with a router bit any more, but for years, I did all my slotting with a single miter gauge with a wooden fence attached. Double stick taped the template to the fingerboard and set the alignment pin on the wooden fence to match the slot of the fret saw. I use a pair of Lee Valley stabilizers on a 6 inch blade. Bob is right, the blades will last a long time if you treat them right.

Dave

Although I have two sticks dropped into the grooves on the table attached to a back board, I think just a miter with a board would be fine. I do not like the fingerboard elevated on a sled. I apply the scale to the edge of the fingerboard such as taping on a paper copy or painting the edge white and marking directly on the paint. For me, it is easier to see if the blade is lined up. Gluing on a paper copy did not work, because the paper deformed when wet.

Although I have two sticks dropped into the grooves on the table attached to a back board, I think just a miter with a board would be fine. I do not like the fingerboard elevated on a sled. I apply the scale to the edge of the fingerboard such as taping on a paper copy or painting the edge white and marking directly on the paint. For me, it is easier to see if the blade is lined up. Gluing on a paper copy did not work, because the paper deformed when wet.

The "sled" I use is just a plywood fence with two corian runners that run in the edge of the homemade table saw I use to cut fret slots. I put a piece of tape on the back side of the fretboard, mark the fret positions and line it up with a fiducial mark on the fence. I cut a zero fret slot even if later it gets cut off for the nut position.

This is the nature of wood-working right here. Give 5 guys a problem and they will give you at least 4 different solutions.

Great to see how you all handle this.

I use a similar sled.
I print the template with WFret stick it to the back of the fretboard.
My sled has a guitar "e" string over the blade as a gauge.
I just line the template line with the string and cut.

The last time I did this on a TS I got a lot of chip out. My future lies in hand tools.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

Sure!

Pat

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Pat

Sorry about that, I didn't realize the price difference when I said that. I was amazed to see they are going for 150 now and there handsaw is only 10. I thought it was a better saw than that. I'm going to put it in the classifieds as soon as my registration goes thru.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

I admire you all doing this with a hand saw. I'm a firm proponent of hand tools, but for fret slots, I'm all about that indexing jig and a table saw. FWIW, I've never had any chipout. But, I slot my boards when they are still square and overly thick. I inlay, taper and radius them after, so maybe that's the difference.

I don't recall ever getting chip out before on my Craftsman TS. My Rigid seems to be a much better saw but the first time I cut frets on it I had to do a lot of clean up. I would look into it more but I'm trying to ignore my TS as much as possible, loving the hand work.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

The backsaw with the adjustable plastic depth stop fence is 63.88 +shipping and tax, the tablesaw blade is $135 - about twice the price of the back saw. The depth stop fence by itself is $10.27. When Stew Mac lists a price as "from $ X No." it usually refers to an accessory - a way to get you to look! Like the tablesaw blade, probably a bit overpriced, but nice to have.
How long ago was it that the backsaw and table saw blade were both about half the price they are now? I seem to recall buying the backsaw for $27, and the table saw blade being about $60.

I slotted my first 7 fingerboards with the StewMac miter box and fret saw, and changed to the StewMac table saw blade for my most recent fingerboard (#8). I far prefer the table saw method. My table saw sled is also handy for putting kerfs in linings. I don't get any chips during either operation. If you do, maybe the blade needs cleaning, or sharpening?

I was just on the site, you are right on. The 150 was the price I saw on Ebay. Yeah, I paid 60 something when I bought it but I can't replace it for that so it's still worth at least 75 in my mind. I already have some pull saws that would do the job but I would like to end up with a western style saw in the end. I don't like pulling saws even though they cut great and I like a regular saw handle not a pole. At any rate, I'm getting rid of it.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

The stewmac is a pull saw.

Pat

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Pat

I totally agree on the indexing jig but with a handsaw. I have the ones for mandolin, banjo and guitar and plan on using them for accuracy. I'll figure out a good miter box for doing it.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

Apparently they redesigned them. The "old" version is a typical push type backsaw. The two I have are the push type. They are both lightly used and probably will still be lightly used when I am "used up". I will occasionally cut a couple of fret slots with them, but find "motorized" cutting more to my liking. The pull saw is probably a better design for the work.

Just checked LMII. Their TS slotting blade and stiffeners are $226 for .023 slot, so the $135 SM price looks better. The depth of cut with a sled can be an issue as Bob pointed out. My sled has a 1/4" masonite base and has a pretty good score line on the bottom from the raised blade center.

Bear in mind that the LMI system uses separate stiffeners. These stiffeners are larger than hardware store ones and can be used with other blades like the diablo as well. And you get the pin and two templates. The stiffeners are 174$ themselves.

The initial dip is expensive, but from there, replacement blades are only 68-80$.

Whereas the integrated stiffeners in the Stewmac one means every time you want a fresh blade, you have to lay out 178$ again.

So I think the LMI kit is a better long term value...

Here’s my first one for a Bosch saw...


And another for the De Walt...




The FB rides along the table directly so lots of depth possible...


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These are the blades I use for fret slotting. You have to open them up a mm to fit on a 5/8th inch arbor:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Makita-721003- ... SwUblfRaJE
They may not be the best solution for the professionals who slot a bunch of boards every year, but for those that only do a dozen or so a year they may work fine.

How do you do that? What kind of kerf are you getting?

Pat

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Pat

To enlarge the arbor opening you can use a small dremel grinding wheel or a piece of sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. You are only removing .017" all the way around. Some saw arbors are slightly undersized, so the blade may fit as is.
The thickness of the plate of the blade measures .020-.022" and measuring across the teeth gives about .024". I've never measured the kerf, but as the blade wears and the kerf becomes tight I will "set" the teeth to make it a little wider. These blades have thin metal teeth so setting them is easy. Makita makes a carbide blade this diameter, but it cuts too wide a kerf for fret slots, and would be difficult to set the teeth on.
One thing to check on your table saw is that the blade will clear the table enough to cut fret slots. From the top of the arbor to the edge of the blade is slightly more than an inch and a quarter.