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[QUOTE=Hesh1956] ...I have glued frets and not glued frets and my jury is still out. Some glue as a lubricant which makes sense to me but adding moisture like Titebond does not make sense to me.

In Mario's article I think that he says that he adds a tiny bit of HHG which does make sense to me - just wish I knew his technique which was not detailed in the article in Guitarmaker.

[/QUOTE]

Hesh...There's probably more water in HHG than Titebond. I believe the rationale behind the use of HHG is to swell the kerf and hold the tang tighter as well as to secure the fret from the glue itself. The technique of using HHG should be similar...you just need to work faster. For me, I've used LMI white on 5 FB's and see no problems.

Terry...I like your rationale of starting fret installing at the soundhole end.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Look great Hesh
We do it exactly the same way. I have the same press etc

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

[QUOTE=Homeboy] Anybody who wants to buy the stew-mac press should take a look around and try to find an arbor press for less. -snip-
You could just buy the caul from stew mac for 50 bucks and this arbor press for 55 bucks and come out 50 bucks less than the stew-mac system.
Blake[/QUOTE]

Or, make an aluminum caul (cut it with your router in a few minutes), mount it on a temporary vise jaw with a couple of pieces of angle, and use your vise to press the frets in.
Save yourself the whole $150....
Not quite as slick, but it does the job.
Doing nothing but assembling guitars is kinda boring to me when I have all this shop equipment!
This has been suggested before, so is not my original idea. It is the way I do frets now (on boards without necks), and it works.

John

[QUOTE=Homeboy] Anybody who wants to buy the stew-mac press should take a look around and try to find an arbor press for less. I know that MSC sells them look here http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNSRIT?PMPXNO=1802568&PMT4NO=1 8255175

Blake[/QUOTE]

You can get the arbor press even cheaper from HarborFreight.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnu mber=3552

(Hmmm, no edit button drives me crazy!)
Above link has a space in the URL, you will need to remove that space, otherwise, it will complain about not finding the item.

Or, you can search by the part number, on their website, which is 3552.

Hesh, I am late in getting to this thread, as usual.

Great job of showing the process! Makes it very clear to all that haven't done this sort of thing before. I press my frets in as well, but I use the Stew Mac Jaws II and fret with the fingerboard already attached to the neck.

BTW, I can't believe you had John make you such a nice fretboard and didn't just have him install the side dots while he was at it. It's be harder to mess up that way.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

[QUOTE=LanceK] Hesh, I noticed something your doing wrong,
I ALWAYS start with the first fret, so I dont lose count
I COULD NEVER GO BACKWARDS!    [/QUOTE]

I start at the nut too, but I've been thinking that I should start at the tail end of the board.....

You can always make the fret wire shorter, but it's really hard to stretch it if cut to short.

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

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Hesh (or others), how do you determine how much to clip off of the tang, so it fills the slot but doesn't press out on the binding (faux or otherwise) when it straightens as you press the fret in?   

I leave about 1/16" gap on either side between the tang and binding. When it becomes seated in the slot the tang moves outward and should not touch on the binding.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Thanks guys! It all makes sense. Yeah, I knew about those wee bits of metal, but a reminder never hurts.