HTS Manufacture Fretboard

Fretboards can be purchased with ease online, or at some music stores, as a luthier, one has to make their own, reason for this is to keep costs down and also allows one to utilise local woods.

Here we are making a fretboard for a local musician, he wants the fretbvoard to be made from Jarrah.

Time to manufacture, approx 5 minutes

Above my belt sander, I have a swing arm jig mounted to the wall.

The base of the arm is 3/4 inch thick aluminium, with a fretboard attached it brings it to an inch total in bottom thickness.

Measuring from the top of the aluminium base, I have a pivot point of 11 inches, this means the fretboard surface is 12 inches away, and perfect for a radius 12 fretboard

I prop the swing up arm up for ease of fretboard attachment.

Cover it in double sided tape

Place fretboard as centred as possible on the arm

The side clamps can be raised or lowered, this allows us to lower the whole jig until the fretboard is sitting on the belt sander.

Like so

This is a rough cut lumber yard piece of jarrah

Following this tutorial, we turn it into a piece of dressed wood

Length 450mm, Width 65mm, Height 6.5mm

This is the starting point of this tutorial.

The jig has an adjustable arm.

Some pencil marks for points of reference