The Hub

Hello,

One of my commissions is coming down the pike and it's going to be my first time using bar frets. I could use a once over for any helpful tips if you have any.

About the guitar:

Aged HD-28 but mahogany back and sides. I think Martin called this a HD-28 M? Skipping the truss-rod and using two carbon fiber strips.

My process for Frets:

1: I CNC my fingerboards to a 16" radius and for T-frets I use a .023" to cut slots with a matching radius.

2. I wait to sand the machine trails until after I glue on the neck, string it to pitch for a while, and neck jig it to simulate tension.

3. Then I radius beam sand my geometry with fall away and a little "relief differential" as Bill Comins calls it so that the bass has relief but the treble side does not.

4. I clean/trace the fret slots with a dremel/router base and .023"bit keeping a radius in the bottom of the slot.

My plan for Bar Frets:

1. Purchase bar frets from TJ Thomson. I heard TJ say the wider feels better to most people. I was thinking somewhere in the .047" -051" range would give me room should it need more compression later with bigger frets? Am I correct to have that as a concern?

2. CNC my fingerboard slots with a corresponding bit. I think i have .047" ish bits around which can do the job with engraving passes.

My biggest question here is: Is there a recommended depth of the bar seated into the fretboard?

3. Same as the third Tfret process. I've never done bar frets so if anyone has any tips to keep the compression as minimal as possible as to keep my fretboard geometry from changing or what predictions/precautions I should have. My intuition tells me to begin at the first fret and move down perhaps skipping a fret when I feel necessary. Let me know if I'm wrong or If I need to abandon the string simulation in the neck jig and go about it differently.

4. I'll have to figure out a way to trace these slots maybe with a dremel again and larger bit or maybe the correct thickness saw blade and a guide. Any reccomendations are welcome.