Okay..the 1-1/2" thick neck blank is run through a bandsaw on one side to get the angle on the head and the portion of the heel..
then a "neck form"(shown below) is centered and screwed to the top of the neck where the fretboard ends up and the neck is run upside down against a bearing on a bit to the form..creating the shaped neck blank that needs to then be finished shaping by hand(after gluing on a heel piece extension for the proper depth) on a 4" wide table belt sander..back of the neck rounded,head shaped,finish sanded and slots for sides cut.
The fretboard starts as a square blank .130 thick x about 2" wide(made of various exotic woods) in longer lengths and cut to length to what is needed.The frets are laid out on the square blank according to a Martin or Gibson I have or calculated out according to a "fret calculator" at Stewart MacDonald on the net if it is an odd scale.The frets are then cut with a special miter saw in a special miter box I have set up that cuts only a certain depth.
The fretboard dot holes are then drilled at certain frets..allowing me places to screw the fretboard
back to the specific neck form and the fretboard is run through the bearing bit on the router table to its proper size and shape(except the tail).
The fretboard is left on the form for support and the frets cut and hammered into the slots by hand with a little extra hanging out the sides.once the frets are all in,the fret excess is run over the belt sander to trim off the excess,bevel the frets and the edges of the boards.
The fretboard is then removed from the form,the tail shaped to whatever length and shape is desired on the belt sander and bandsaw..then the dots are glued in place..The fretboard is ready to be glued/clamped on the neck.


I keep a decent amount of precut(width and thickness) exotic species for bridges,fretboards,and neck blanks..along with surface wood and side pieces..usually only need to be cut to length and finished shape..I do large amounts of the boring work at one time(thickness sanding for hours)..saves me a ton of time when I can just grab a piece and cut it to length later..I try not to need to set up a tool for one 5 minute job(other than changing router or drill bits,fences)..then reset the tool for another job,etc..etc.
If I build several at once..I do the same step for all of them(for instance shape necks)...then go on to the next step(make all the fretboards) ..then the next step(fret all the boards)..etc..etc..
The views and opinions expressed by this person are his own and not the general consensus of others on this website.Realityguy