fret installation techniques

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fret installation techniques

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Colin North

Post subject: Re: fret installation techniques

Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2020 6:10 am

Contributing Member

Joined: Fri Jul 10, 2009 4:44 am
Posts: 5498
First name: colin
Last Name: north
Country: Scotland.
Focus: Build
Status: Semi-pro

phavriluk wrote:

Most interesting...Fretboard is radiused at 16 inches. This time I bought 'pre-radiused' fretwire, a bunch of one-fret lengths, choosing 12-inch radius so's I could be forcing the ends down when pressing in the frets. I opened the package marked 'pre-radiused(12")', and whaddaya know, the frets are nicely radiused at 16 inches and they're too short to go through the bender, which needs contact at all three wheels. Questions are, this ever happen to anybody, did it matter anyway, and what if it matered what was a resolution that worked?

Thanks!

Returned to the supplier as not what was ordered.

_________________
The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

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Barry Daniels

Post subject: Re: fret installation techniques

Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2020 9:26 am

Brazilian Rosewood

Joined: Fri Aug 19, 2005 4:02 am
Posts: 3263
Location: The Woodlands, Texas
First name: Barry
Last Name: Daniels

You don't want to be pressing the ends of the fret down because they will want to pop up at a latter date. You should have the fret bent at a slightly smaller radius than the fretboard so that you have to press the middle of the fret down. That will counteract the lifting fret end tendency.

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Ed Haney

Post subject: Re: fret installation techniques

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 9:22 am

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Joined: Thu Jul 16, 2009 2:19 pm
Posts: 614
Location: Sugar Land, TX
First name: Ed
Last Name: Haney
City: Sugar Land (Houston)
State: Texas
Zip/Postal Code: 77479
Country: USA
Focus: Build

jfmckenna wrote:

Ed Haney wrote:

I use HHG and press the frets in with an arbor press (modified Harbor Freight arbor here: https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=arbor%20press which was about $20 a few years ago when I bought it. I drilled out the end of the plunger and installed the Stew Mac fret press caul here: https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-a ... serts.html ) I press in all the frets in the fretboard before gluing the board on the neck. So I know the fretboard is straight, not back bowed, when it is glued down.

I don't have any dents in the fretboard anymore from an inaccurate hammer blow or frets popping up on one side or another when using the press. Among others, Dan E.'s book is a good resource IMHO.

Do you fret the fretboard then glue it to the neck or are you using that setup on the whole neck?

Also do you find that using this method you have to do less fret leveling?

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