Doug Berch

2 Responses to “Carving the strum hollow”

1. The Village Carpenter says:

   June 11, 2009 at 1:04 PM

   Doug, do you cut those fret kerfs with a handsaw? How do you keep them all exactly the same depth–repeat the number of saw strokes? They look perfectly straight. I think mine would be every angle but 90º.
2. Doug Berch says:

   June 12, 2009 at 12:03 AM

   Hi Kari,

   I cut the fret slots by hand for a long time using a back saw that had a depth stop clamped to one side; a strip of wood and two small c-clamps did the trick. It was relatively easy to keep the depth consistent but not foolproof. I also made a wooden square that I used as a guide to keep all the slots at 90º.

   A few years ago I made a mitre box with a simple depth stop and cutting the slots became much easier!

   I usually have to deepen a few slots after the final truing of the fretboard. I still use the back saw with the depth stop for that.

   I’ve really been enjoying your blog!

   All the best,

   Doug