Maple dots for fret markers?

**harmonist34** · Oct-27-2005, 11:01am

I ordered a bunch of stuff from the U.S. for a trial run of 4 mandolins that I'm going to have built down here and then export to the U.S.. I'm also working on doing the same things with guitars, and with the confusion of multiple orders from multiple places I realized yesterday I didn't buy any pearl dots for my mandolins. I've got abalone for the guitars, but they're much too big for a mandolin fingerboard.

So the idea came to me - why not cut dots from leftover quilted maple? The luthier I'm working with down here only likes to use wood binding, so there will already be a "different" aspect to these mandos...and I figured why not take the all wood thing a step further.

Anybody tried this or seen it done? I'm thinking that I'd need to cut a piece of maple as thin as possible, finish it, then use a forstner bit or something like that to punch out the dots. Am I missing an obvious problem? Would it not actually be necessary to have the dots be finished?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I'm going to place a duplicate post on the luthier's forum so my apologies if there's a crossover crowd that will find this discussion redundant!

Andy Wright
Managua, Nicaragua

**amowry** · Oct-27-2005, 11:06am

One problem you'll run into is keeping the maple clean of ebony dust, but if you seal them with CA glue and then scrape everything with a razorblade as your final cleanup step I would think it would be okay.

**dave17120** · Oct-27-2005, 3:52pm

Can you actually get a bit that will cut 3/4/5mm dots. I didn't think they went that small without mega-expensive kit. Or am I up the wrong street here.... what kind of size dots are you wanting to use?

Dave

**Antlurz** · Oct-27-2005, 4:12pm

It's actually pretty easy to make a plug cutter if you can find the right sized metal tubing. A small three cornerd file and five minutes will get you one that will make a few holes, even if the metal is soft. I've even used brass modelers tubing in a pinch.

Ron

**Lane Pryce** · Oct-27-2005, 4:33pm

Maple would be a really cool contrast with the ebony.Never seen it done before either.Be sure to post a pic if works out. Lp

**PaulD** · Oct-27-2005, 4:44pm

I don't have experience with it, but I was thinking along the same lines as Andrew; that the maple will need to be sealed or it will get dirty very easily. Not just ebony dust, but finger oil and such. I bet it would work great if you seal with CA or something as Andrew suggests.

pd

**Paul Hostetter** · Oct-27-2005, 5:22pm

A really simple solution would be to skip having fingerboard dots at all. The ones that usually matter the most are side position dots anyway. But a lot of folks can supply nice pearl dots in any size you want, and get them there rather quickly by post. Inlaying dots isn't usually the first thing you do anyway.

**Frank Ford** · Oct-27-2005, 5:51pm

A number of guitar manufacturers (the ones that come to mind immediately are Japanese) have used maple inlay and dots in fingerboards, and, yes, they do get dirty looking with time and use. . .

**harmonist34** · Oct-27-2005, 7:20pm

Thanks for the replies - plenty to think about. I'll talk with the luthier, maybe try fashioning a cutter and seeing how it looks...then try it on one mando. We're going to be using local woods as much as possible, so the fingerboard will be cocobolo, which will already give it a distinctive look. I suppose I could always "ebonize" it if it looks too non-traditional for people, or as a last resort just import ebony for fretboards. I'm still waiting to find out what kind of customs duties I'll be hit with when my first two orders of wood arrive...if it's not too bad I can just order pearl dots as someone suggested. I've heard horror stories of 50% or more customs duties here, however, so I'm not in any hurry to order dots that are going to end up costing me $10 extra an instrument or something!

Thanks again for the help.

Andy Wright
Managua, Nicaragua

**Bill Snyder** · Oct-27-2005, 7:53pm

Does the luthier you are working with not have any on hand that he could provide? Being a country with the Pacific on one side and the Caribean on the other I would think MOP or abolone would be available somewhere.
Then again you could always just paint a silly smiley face in place of the fret markers. #

**Paul Hostetter** · Oct-28-2005, 2:01pm

Bone might make a good dot material, less prone to getting grubby than maple.

**Rob Grant** · Oct-29-2005, 4:14am

A method that I use to make dots out of any suitable material (bone, wood, metal, etc.) is to turn up a dowel of the selected material on a lathe. Make the dowel the same diameter as the dots you need. Drill your shallow hole with one of those nifty brad point drill bits. Put a drop of glue on the end of the dowel, tap it into the hole and cut it off even with the board. Level with a scraper. Make the dowel long enough so that you can do all the markers with the one dowel.

I use a small metal lathe to turn out the dowels.

**John Bertotti** · Oct-29-2005, 8:44am

Why round? You could cut a different shape sized to the mando board. I have experimented with some geometric shapes on paper Parallelogram, trapezoid, etc. I wonder does Nicaragua have any pyramids or defining geological features you could try? I have always wanted a fret board with a map spread across it. Like a treasure map but I suppose that's because I've never really grown up. X marks the spot is one I've also been playing with. Just some ideas, show some pics when your done. John