Aspire and 2 rail sweep for fingerboard

[banjomanwv]

Let me make sure I understand this Brady. I make two rails, and in my case they are 2 inches apart to indicate a fret board blank for a banjo.
I click on one, and then the other and then the first radius cross section, then click on the 2nd cross section and then hit the two rail sweep button.
I noticed you have sweep between spans clicked so should I also? And let me say I appreciate your help so so much.

Its hard for me to wrap my head around for some reason.
I don't know if I am assigning the cross sections the proper way or not AND, I notice on your cross sections you have lines coming straight down to be the sides of the fingerboard and I don't have that.

[banjomanwv]

Oh yeah, its making my board to thin.....how do I determine the Z?
My board can be any size when I start but the ones ive been using were about .220 thick

[Brady Watson]

Z is determined by the 2d cross section. Make cross sections exactly what you want them to be in 3d.

-B

[banjomanwv]

When I attach lines to the side of my cross sections going horizontal at .220 (the thickness of my board) I get the message model thickness exceeds material thickness

[Ger21]

Increase your material thickness. It needs to be slightly thicker than your finished fretboard.

[banjomanwv]

Guys, I really appreciate all the help and I hope im not being to thick here. Anyway, my boards are around .200 - .220 to start with. So lets say I start with a .200 board, the highest point of the radius will be on the first fret, middle of the board, the cutting height at its highest should be .000 there and slope on each side downward. On a compound radius the board will get flatter as it heads toward the banjo head so the sides will be lower of course.

But if I start out with a .200 board if I mic it when its done right in the middle of the first fret it should still be .200, how do I set it up for that....Ill give a shot of my set up

Does it have something to do with model position in material?

[banjomanwv]

Snapshot 1.jpgSnapshot 2.jpgSnapshot 3.jpgSnapshot 4.jpgSnapshot 5.jpg

[banjomanwv]

I start with snapshot one. Thats my two rails, 2 inches apart.
I click on those and in snapshot 2 I click on my 7 radius.
then in snapshot 3 I click on my 12 radius.
Snapshot 4 I got to the modeling tab click on 2 rail sweep and reverse rail direction
Then in snapshot 5 I sweep between spans and click apply

[banjomanwv]

After that im lost with the z and the cutting file IF up to this point what I have is correct?

[MogulTx]

You should have a very narrow, flat, line down the center of your fretboard from nut to the last fret wire. That will be your max Z in your material. You want that Z dimension to remain constant. And if you want a full radius on the neck ( yes) then it needs to be a line that is immeasurably narrow.. It is only the slopes on the sides that will change in Z. And that is the function of the two rail sweep. The rails are theoretical rails along which you wish to apply a shape ( in this case, a slowly flattening curve). But the center of the fret board is the zero depth of Z. And if I understand the mechanics of the neck, would remain at the same height all the way down the neck (otherwise the strings would rise away from the neck- and you would not be able to fret it without forcing the pitch to go sharp because of the longer distance from the resting string position down to a lowered fretboard face. Of course Nut and especially the bridge may need radius to keep them close in relation to one another, and the radius of the neck.