How small?

[jhedlund58]

I am currently making an electric guitar and have been making most of the fret board on the bot. I plane wood down to .25 inch and then cut the profile and head nut slot with .125 end mill. I have been using a mitre type box jig to cut fret slots with a fret saw.

I would like to cut fret slots with bot. I almost bought a .023 end mill from McMaster-Car. i chickened out when I realized the OAL was 1.5" on a .125 shank. The cut depth of only .11" I have never used a bit this short.

Is this too short to use? Guessing 1" or little more of bit will be in collett

[billp]

Jeff,
Shorter IS better, as long as you can reach your desired depth. Too many people buy , and use bits that are MUCH too long for their projects, and they then introduce deflection, vibration, and extra resistance by swinging the extra carbide around at 10,000+ rpm.
The "ideal" scenario is to use a bit that will get your cut accomplished without adding variables that will degrade the process. Some people buy a 2" bit "on sale"and then ONLY cut 3/4"material with it, and wonder why they have chatter, and machining marks...
A number of people are cutting their fret slots with the .023" bit, and they are getting great results.

[Max Girouard]

I use these:

http://www.precisebits.com/products/carbidebits/fret-cutter.asp

They are specifically designed for cutting fret slots.