I eventually got received my inlay template. It got lost in the post... turns out it was lying at the local PO. Anyway this is what it looks like:
The inlays I cut fit the shape and size perfectly, so no problem there.
I made a little pin router rig with my Dremel. Its not very rigid, so I need to move softly when cutting.
I mount the board onto the template with double-sided tape:
The template is hooked onto the pin for each inlay cut. It goes quick & easy:
The corners are chiselled open, inlays glued in and any gaps are filled will rosewood sawdust & CA glue. I sand it all level with the radius sanding block and then go through the finer grades to get all smoth. All 3 are done & I like the result much, much better this time round.
The frets are knocked in with hide glue.
Binding is acetoned on & levelled with the Dremmel - using a bit with a non-cutting end. Its important to do this at the lowest speed possible, so as to shave the binding without heating or melting it.
This is what the profile looks like when half done.
Bevel edge to 35deg
I cut a straight edge at a 35deg angle. Sandpaper is glued on. The bevel is then put onto the edge of the board leaving small "nibs" against the edge of the frets. This is an improvement on my previous board. After this the remaining nibs abd edges are cleaned up by scraping with a Stanley knife blade.
I make sure the neck and board are flush. While heating up the hide glue, I heat the gluing surfaces on a hot tray. This is my trick to stop the glue gelling to quickly. I wanted to add urea to the hide glue to slow the gel time, but the minimum order amount in Cape Town is 50kg!
Glued and clamped - quickly. The hot surfaces gave me the extra time to stop the fast gelling. Lots of clamps - even and steady pressure. I think I may have over tightened last time, so I'm holding back here. The radius block is the perfect surface to clamp against.
All looks straight. I'll be able to see tomorrow.
