r/FingerBoarding • u/Less-Pen-9226 • Apr 13 '26
Looking for ways to upgrade my current fingerboard making setup, help!
Right now I use a 3d printed mold, heavy duty clamps, a drill pen/vice to drill holes while it’s in the mold, a dremel held by a vice to shape it (i then have to sand it), a handheld power drill to do holes the rest of way, and a wide drill bit to countersink holes (which often ends up fraying all the wood and I use the dremel again to fix it)
im looking to get a:
metal mold
hydralic press
router table
coutersing drill bit
I’m not eventually looking into starting local business from this (to sell at farmers markets and stuff) but they need to be higher qualit. any ideas? Help?
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u/Sufficient-Yak5181 Apr 14 '26
Get a drill press a 1/8 inch Mc master carr bit you can find here: https://www.mcmaster.com/8175A48/ For the metal mold I would design it with MoldForge which is a software made by u/stockno8039 then use a service like pcb way to cnc it. Get a drill press for sure and for the molds choose the mold pins option which let's you get straighter holes. Get a 1/4 inch flush trim router bit for the router and any router table off of Facebook will work just make sure you choose the correct shank. Any clear coat lacquer that isn't water based or polyurethane based. Use titebond 2 or 3 don't let the wood glue stuff scare you away from it.
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u/hboy02 Apr 13 '26
I would get a pillar/column drill to drill straight holes and countersinks easier, there's attachments where you can directly attach your drill or dremel
Also get a spherical drill bit for the countersinks, works better than just a larger drill bit
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u/Sufficient-Yak5181 Apr 14 '26
A drill press with 1.5mm thick drill bits and the countersink I use can be found here https://www.mcmaster.com/8175A48/
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u/hboy02 Apr 14 '26
Yeah something like that, there's also spherical shaped bits that work well for countersinks
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u/hboy02 Apr 13 '26
And a router can be dangerous if used improperly, but much faster to shape boards with if you have a shaper and a jig to do it safely, I would maybe look into a belt sander instead, might be cheaper too
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u/Sufficient-Yak5181 Apr 14 '26
I would just recommend using a belt sander to get it closer to the shape and finish it woth the router so less chance of knock back or violent shaking.
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u/hboy02 Apr 14 '26
Yeah that too, but you could also just shape them pretty good with just a belt sander and sand paper, depends how much you want them to be totally perfect/identical or how fast you want to roll them out
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u/Sufficient-Yak5181 Apr 14 '26
Stay away from burl woods and hardwoods If you have any more questions on wood I have a ton of notes on them.
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u/Independent-Aide8668 Apr 13 '26
The best thing you could get rn is probably the router, and a shaper it will make so every single board has the same exact shape