Guitar Fret Slot Saw blade - Don’t do it…

Welcome to the Next Project

Disclaimer!
The project shown in this video is potentially dangerous and should not be attempted. Any injury or loss is the sole responsibility of the individual who attempts to do something as foolish as what is presented here.
Just DON’T DO IT.

00:00 - lights, camera, action
00:04 - intro
01:39 - what are we shooting for
01:58 - getting from here to there
02:26 - it’s time to grind
03:14 - progress report
04:47 - wrap it up
05:31 - tear down the machine
05:53 - initial testing
06:58 - takeaway
09:01 - maple, cuts like butter

A “professional” fret slotting saw blade costs approximately $160 US at the time of this video.I was curious if a hard steel saw blade could be re-ground into something that could work as well as the expensive option.
I had NO idea if this would work at the start of the project, and I had serious doubts during the re-grinding process.

My findings as of this time have been encouraging. I’ve tested the re-ground blade for true, vibration, warp or wobble, and there are no issues to report at this time.Initial cuts on pine were made and the result were again encouraging.

By the publish time of this video 2 maple fingerboards had also been slotted with no issues. In fact, the ease of slotting was again very encouraging.

Please view this video for entertainment only. I DO NOT suggest that anyone should attempt what is presented here.
Use your best judgement, and just don’t do this.

Thanks for watching, please give the video a big thumbs up, ring the bell, subscribe and leave some comments too!

Be safe and take care!

[kmichaelp]

I would never do I’m a metal worker bye trade, Pipefitter that is ( before I retired), and we never did such. And your an engineer (whether you are or not). Good ole southern ingenuity. Can’t beat it.

[Andluth]

You could save time and increase safety by only grinding 1/4" in from the tip of the teeth. That is deeper than a fret slot. Great video!

[timvanboening]

Good work! I will say that my eyes went wide with danger when I watched this video.

Glad you’re safe and have the skills to pull it off without cutting your fingers or nose off.

[googledoesntneedtoknownone]

I will "never" do this. However, I might put a table saw blade in the lathe and thin it down with a tool post grinder... That Stewmac blade really is right pricey! Thanks!

[tomwestley]

Another brilliant video, thanks. Now, where did I put those spare fingers....

[jurgenzoller]

That is brilliant ingenuity, I'llbuy two of them! always putting your body on the line for us John 😂

[steveroberts]

The safest thing is not to fall asleep. Great vid as usual

[jimsturgill]

I like the way you think. Simple but very effective. Nice job.👍👍

[briandevitt]

Thats a mad one bro.
No need for you to tell me not to do i always tell my students "you will still have your fingers, they just wont be attached to your hand".
I'm heading out to a tool shop today to ses if there's anything that takes my fancy.

[bobvador]

Nice project, I hope it will work a long time !

[hurdygurdyguy]

Power tools scare the bejeezus outta me (except my my bandsaw...why? Beats me) especially table saws and grinders. Nice reworking of that blade!!
You should take a look at Del Puckett's videos of how he uses a Harbor Freight Mighty Mite benchtop table saw (mightily underpowered but there's a workaround or actually a work "with"), sliding jig and 4" 0.023 jeweler's blade to cut fretslots for his cigar box guitars. I was inspired (cutting fretslots with a fretsaw kills my hands) to do the same, built myself a sliding jig but when it came time to get a blade, that took some time. Stewmac sells a 4" blade for $125, nope...Del uses one he got from someone who gave it to him, the company sells them for approx. $25 but you have to order a minimum of 4 blades, nope... I did finally happen upon a source for one at $25!
Much modifying ensued (the Mighty Mite's blade height adjustment is horrible) to make the blade and jig work which it did eventually (more mods needed, though) and I happily cut maybe 6 fretboards before the blade became too dull 🤬 So, as I understand the Stewmac blade is very durable and maybe I need to reconsider the cost-to-usability factor! But, for now I'm back to slowly cutting by hand...
Funny what we do to make what we do "easier" 🤣

[ChinJazz]

Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening (New Acronym: GMAE?) - I started doing the don’t do it thing yesterday! Question about that Irwin blade - did it originally have teeth that were cut straight or staggered angles (alternating)? I have a few other blades on hand that are same size and tooth count but have staggered angles. One other question, what cad software did you use for the great pdf you made? I do need to start getting more precise on diagraming but watching my budget till I can start selling my basses. Cheers, and happy weekend!

[jorgesoaressilvafilho]

hello there..if you sell those adjusted saw blades it would be a dream come true..best wishes. jorge.

[kevingossage]

Hey man, I love watching your ideas, got some of them saved away, but I admit to having some concerns about this one. Firstly, I’m not an engineer or otherwise qualified except thru the school of life. Did you take into consideration that those sawblades rotate at 3 - 4000rpm. They are designed to withstand the centrifugal forces and stresses of making cuts. By removing metal and thinning the blade you are reducing the strength of the blade. The other thin blade would be made of much different material to compensate for the thinness of the blade. I’ve seen blades seperate on saws in action and it’s not pretty. Items like this have sharpening/resurfacing limits set by the manufacturer to ensure safe use. Take care man, I hope your blade doesn’t fail on you and keep coming up with the great ideas.

[yellowcat]

i'm totally not going to do this to that new 142 tooth blade i have.

[paulsigmon]

Seems like the old lathes used back in the day to resurface car brake rotors might be a good way to machine these. I don’t think garages do that work anymore, just buy new Rotors.

[chriscutress]

Good modification. I have to admit I was a little worried for your safety as I kept imagining a blade chunk splitting off and imbedding itself in your jugular (just got finished watching an episode of Good Sam where a glass shard did that to a waiter). The problem is that you work so well with templates and jigs that it actually looked much easier and safer than I know it actually was. I always like your episodes but especially the ones where you build and modify tools and put them to use. I still don't understand why you don't have at least a few hundred thousand subscribers.

[liamdavis]

You are nuts, but I love you for being just that, in a man hug sort of way that is.

[marchowardsinisterexaggerator]

im going to try using my flywheel grinder

[josefodium]

Make sure not to overheat that blade while grinding. It will mess up heat treatment and can lead to all kinds of trouble (warping, cracks, etc).
So minimal pressure and (maybe) a bottle of water or oil should help you keep things less explosive deathlike.