Fret slotting with a tile cutter

[TimS]

Well I thought I would share some of my low tech low price options for fret slotting. I was tired of changing blades on my bigger saw table and thought that the humble cut price special tile cutter from Bunnings might be the go. I had used it for cutting pearl and thought a conversion was worth trying. To my delight it is a very quiet machine that cuts quite accurately although I need to fine tune my MDF top so that the blade doesn't rub on one shoulder of the slot. There is no sophisticated way of changing the height except the use of a polycarbonate sheet under the fretboard. When I get time I will work on this.

So here are the images.


I did have to mess around with the plates on the shaft to overcome some runout and the tightening process is not flash.



The indexing pin tended to slide back in the bushing so I added a screw adjustment on the other side of the sliding fence to keep it in the correct position.

[Paul B]

Wow, that looks familiar.

I built a fret slotting saw from the GMC table saw, pretty much the same thing as the tile cutting saw. Only cost about $70, so it ain't much of a table saw . Works well for fret slotting tho.

[Allen]

You know, I've walked by that little saw at Bunnies and thought it might be good for something, and low and behold there it is.