I'm finally getting back to my projects - pointy fans might like this one.

[RacerX]

but I just don't know what I'm going to do for a 12th fret inlay. It's the only thing holding me up, but I just can't come up with anything.

How about the Fire Down Under rodent wearing a green Santa hat?

[zeegler]

Today, I fully realized how much time and care it takes to do inlay (at least by hand). My first dilemma: how to cut the MOP. I see that many people use a small scroll saw with a little keyhole platform. I don't have a scroll saw at the moment, so in the meantime, I improvise. This is what I'm using for cutting MOP so far.

It's just a cheap rotary tool clamped in my bench vise with the shop vac nozzle nestled underneath. In this picture there is a fine grinding wheel in the chuck, but I use this for cutting:

Of course I can't do curved cuts, and no inside cuts, but I'll get a scroll saw soon enough.
Here's my first attempt at an inlay

The fretboard cutout is not as clean as I would have liked. I nicked the edge pretty good a couple of times, but once it's filled with black epoxy, I don't think it will be noticable. I'm sure it will get easier the more of them I do.
Here it is test fit.

[Cygnus X1]

Yoly chit mon!
Nice.
Just clean the "Z" up a little and it should be great!
Don't go any wider on your cutout though, looks like the frets will cover
if you go any further.

[cullenszoo]

Man, really cool projects you've got there. obviously tons of skill there.

[zeegler]

Here's the radius sanding jig I just made. It is simple as hell, and works well.


The board is now sanded to 100 grit to a 12" radius. I still need to finish sand it with progressively finer grits, but the major work is done. The Z on the 12th fret is completely smooth and flush with the fret board. The flaws around the Z, are all but invisible now. In fact, this pic makes them stand out much more so than they do in person. I just used a fast set epoxy mixed with ebony dust.

[Learn Guitars]

Nice work there Zeegler.

[toejam]

Nice!

[zeegler]

I'm still primarily a rasp and microplanes guy for necks, but Grizzly has this http://www.grizzly.com/products/4-x-...-Sanders/H2881 and you can chuck it into your drill and go. I do something similar, but with a stew mac robo sanding drum; it's got a rubber bearing on the end, so I'll chuck it into the drill and hold the bearing with my other hand. works well for me. and if you haven't tried microplanes yet, give 'em a shot.


Sully

I ordered one of the 8" flat Microplanes from their site, and also a large half round coarse hand cut Dragon rasp from Stew Mac. Both of them came in today, so I threw a piece of scrap sycamore in the bench vise and tried them both out.

Let's just say that I am completely and utterly blown away by both of these tools. I was somewhat skeptical of the Microplane to begin with. It seems to be made from rather thin metal, and doesn't really look like it would be up to the task of shaping a hard, dense wood. Sycamore is very similar to hard maple in both grain, and hardness. The Microplane shaves material off smoothly, with very little effort.The plastic handle feels a little iffy, and I would definitely pay more if they offered an aluminum handled version, but we'll just have to see how well it holds up. The same goes for the blade itself. As I said, it just eats through the wood when new, but we'll have to see how long it lasts. The replacement blades are fairly inexpensive, so I'm not all that concerned about the longevity.

The Dragon rasp is a beautifully hand made rasp with thousands of razor sharp, hand cut teeth. It certainly doesn't look like your typical machine mass produced hardware store rasps. just like the Microplane, the rasp removes material quickly, smoothly, with little effort. Because of the tapered shape, you can get into little nooks and crannies easily. I have no worries about the longevity of this tool.

I am definitely going to be ordering at least one more Dragon rasp (the half round fine tooth model), and probably another Microplane. I know for sure that the carving is going to go much quicker and easier from now on.

[zeegler]

Nice work there Zeegler.

Thanks Mike. This is the one I emailed you about, so once it's done, I'll be sending it over to you to make it pretty! Mmmm, dragonburst!!

[Learn Guitars]

Right on!! Give me a shout when you get closer.

[vector]

That's pretty damn accurate man. I didn't plan on that, but the top half does look like the top half of a Mockingbird, and the bottom right does look very Warlockish.

It was pointed out earlier but I just now realized where I had seen this design before:

[toejam]

It does look slightly similar to the Neal Moser Samurai.
images.jpg
RaptorMockup1_zpsfd98b282.jpg

[zeegler]

It does look slightly similar to the Neal Moser Samurai.
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Yeah, I'm a member on the Moser Shredder forum, and that design was from another member there. He actually tried to build his own before he had Neil build him one, but I don't think it worked out all that well. My design actually pre-dates that one. Also, look at the size of that thing. It's fucking HUGE!!

[toejam]

Yeah, it is huge! That's one of the things I don't really like about some of the BCR and Moser guitars.

[zeegler]

Yeah, it is huge! That's one of the things I don't really like about some of the BCR and Moser guitars.

If I tried to play that at band practice, there would be multiple injuries sustained to the guitar, and to my bandmates.

Anyway, here's the fretboard dry fit, just to see what it looks like. It's now radiused, fine sanded, and cut to shape. I just have to do the side dots before it gets glued to the neck.