Is there a part of the ukulele more important to the player than the fretboard???
Here are the two fretboards for Lloyd and Joe's ukes. I have sawn them to the desired shape, sawn the slots for the frets and marked with an awl where I intend to drill the holes for the marker dots.
But wait, they are not the same. Joe's fretboard, seen on top, is exactly 1 1/2 inch wide at the zero fret, my standard. Floyd wanted his to be 40.5 mm. at the zero fret. You can see the difference. floyd likes his fretboard wide at the nut.
I am drilling the marker dot holes with a hand drill. They must not be too deep and I have much better control with the old fashioned hand drill. They will soon be filled with 3/32nd dia. Paua abalone dots.
Paua Abalone fascinates me. Looks like my supply is running low.
Once the glue holding the dots is dry it is time to sand in the radius. Here it is in progress.
I start it out with 80 grit sandpaper, then finish with 220 and 360. This one has a long way to go yet to achieve the rather shallow 12 foot radius.
