U.S. Guitar Kits Cutaway User Manual download pdf (Page 22)

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The fretboard needs to be tapered, starting at the nut slot.

The nut supplied is preshaped to 1-3/4" width.

On the slotted side of the fretboard, measure and mark the

center of the nut slot, then measure 7/8" (half of 1-3/4") out

from the center mark on each side.

Then at the 12th fret, measure and mark the center, then

1-3/32" (half of 2-3/16") out from the center mark on each

side at the 12th fret.

Using a straight edge draw a line from the nut mark to the

12th fret mark and let the line continue on to the end of the

fretboard. Do this on each side of the fretboard.

Tracing onto the curved (slotted) side of the fretboard allows

you to cut the board on a bandsaw with the ﬂat side down

on the saw table. The fretboard can also be cut with a coping

saw or a hand plane. Cut the sides along your pencil lines,

leaving the lines visible. With a plane or sanding block you

can remove saw marks and smooth the edges, removing

the pencil lines.

True the cut edges of the fretboard with a “shooting block”

using 80-grit sandpaper, followed by 120-grit. Clamp the

fretboard ﬂat-side down onto a piece of wood about 1/4"

thick and as wide and long as the fretboard — this is a shim

to lift it off the work surface for sanding. Clamp the fretboard

so one side hangs over the edge of the shim, and sand it

with the shooting block. SAVE YOUR SAWDUST! The ﬁne

wood dust can be mixed with super glue and used to ﬁll

fret ends later.

KIT TIP: Shooting block

A shooting block is a long, square-edged sanding

block for creating smooth, straight surfaces. We

used a carpenter’s level and fastened the sandpaper

to it with double-stick tape (pictured).

Making a fretboard

Trimming the fretboard

Mark the location of the dot fret markers on the fretboard

using the centerline that you made earlier. Refer to the

blueprint for location and size of marker to be used.

For single fret marker positions, make marks on the

centerline midway between the appropriate frets. For fret

locations inlaid with two markers, make a line at a right angle

to the centerline, midway between the frets, and then mea-

sure to each side of center to make the centerpunch marks.

Mark out the shape of your inlays on the fretboard using an

X-Acto knife. Measure the thickness of your inlays. Remove

the wood to be inlaid using a chisel or Dremel, not going

deeper than the thickness of your inlay. The goal is to keep

the inlay just proud of the fretboard, allowing it to level per-

fectly with the fretboard without being below the fretboard

surface. Fit by trial and error. Test on scrap!

Inlaying the fretboard

Use just a touch of super glue to permanently set your inlays.

To avoid excess squeeze-out, don’t use much glue. If the

inlays are a tight ﬁt, you may need to press them ﬂush to

the surface of the fretboard using a hard, ﬂat object as a caul

(place wax paper between the fretboard and the caul if you

use super glue). After you press the inlays ﬂush in the center

of the fretboard, they will be raised slightly at the edges,

since the fretboard is radiused. Use a smooth mill ﬁle to level

them, and then smooth the board from end to end using a

hardwood block wrapped with 220-grit Fre-Cut (open-coat)

sandpaper. Try not change the radius of the fretboard.

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U.S. Guitar Kits Cutaway User Manual Page 22

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