Official Luthiers Forum!

I have the LMI power fret system.
And I’m sad.

After spending my evening looking for a 6” .023” kerf blade with. 5/8” hole, I’m turning to the hive mind to see if anyone can share a link to a source, OR can tell me how to sharpen this blade.

Oh, and I could use one of them pliers that bends the fret tang so it fits in an oversized slot. I just cut a board of torrified EIR and the frets flop right out of it!

Help.
Please
Thanks
dl

Stew Mac has them, 144 greenbacks. Yikes.

Check some hardware stores. Many will have a sharpening services for around $15.00.

Be very wary of sharpening services. I had my OG blade sharpened and it took forever. Turns out they just passed it down the line to someone who instead of sharpening the existing teeth, just ground a new set of teeth into it, reducing the blade diameter by 1/8, so you couldn’t get it high enough above the table to cut a fret slot for guitar. Fortunately it was deep enough for mando slots, but mandos really aren’t my thing…

Made my own one of these by filing a small inexpensive pair of side cutters, does the job fine.
Just be gentle with it, it can distort the wire if crimped too much.
Shouldn't be too hard to made one like the SW version.

_________________
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.

First I have to ask "what is the advantage of torrifying an EIR fretboard?" Most wood will spring back a little when cut and close up the kerf a bit. I'm not sure toasted wood would behave the same. Before you do anything to your blade you may want to check the kerf on a normal fretboard material.
To reduce the kerf of the sawblade you can "stone" the sides using an oilstone and laying it on the surface of the blade rub it across the teeth. That will remove some of the "set" from the edges of the teeth.
On some fretsaw blades the teeth are thinner than the plate. To stone those you might have to put it on the tablesaw BACKWARDS, and either spin it by hand or turn the saw on - then off, and as the blade spins down GENTLY hold the stone against the side of the blade. Do both sides of the blade to remove the set evenly, and check frequently with test cuts to make sure you don't remove too much metal.

Has anyone used these fretsaw blades?
https://shop.rall-online.net/150mm-Tabl ... Fret-Slots

I think they also sell a 7" blade as well.
https://shop.rall-online.net/epages/615 ... 60/176/192

For the cheaper blades you may need to get an insert to change from a 30mm arbor to a 5/8 inch arbor, but they do offer 5/8" arbor blades for more money.

I use one and it has worked well. I`ve cut slots in around eight ebony boards and the blade is not showing wear.

I also have one of their kerfing blades and that does a good job too.
https://shop.rall-online.net/epages/615 ... s/04080027

Seriously, I’d love to hear about a source for these blades. Somebody makes them for a different industry/market, for about $15 (my guess) and NONE of us have figured it out yet.

In the mean time, the good news is this, sharpening the blade was SUPER easy. Triangle file. Straight on. Flat against the tooth. Five strokes. It hits both the top of one tooth and back of another at the same time.


Clay S. asked about the Torrified EIR fingerboards. Sure sounds fancy doesn’t it!
My supplier dabbled in it and had a bunch on special.
And yes, Clay, I had already hit it with a stone.

A few years ago, I had The Blade MFG Company make me a 10” fret saw blade for a .023” kerf. Back then, the cost was $135. They can make any kind of circular saw blade that you can describe to them. I thought the price was quite reasonable for a custom blade. When I consider the small number of us who buy these blades, I imagine that the numbers don’t justify setting up a mass production process. So all of them are essentially custom made.

I have heard that Peerless Saw Company makes blades at a reasonable price. I've been cutting mine by hand because I use a different kerf depending on that material.