Official Luthiers Forum!

Thanks Hesh!

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Thanks,
Blain

http://www.ullrichguitar.com

"89.67% of all statistics are made up on the spot."

I just cut a slot in a piece of cherry and put the Stew Mac Insert into it, so not even any cost for the insert holder. It also allows me to easily turn it 90deg for some of the end frets.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Colin:

Could you elaborate, please, on how you get those frets over the heel. I have exactly what you have regarding an arbor, but I still had to tap those and ended up getting rather frustrated.

Thanks in advance for your valuable time. Pics are always greatly appreciated.


Bill

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

I bought a new arbor press off Amazon a couple of months back, don't remember the brand, though it looks a lot like Colins. But it has a hole drilled in the end and has a super magnet installed in the hole. The stewmac arbor is held in really well with the magnet. I did have to make a bushing to get a really snug fit with no play. I'll check tomorrow and see what brand it is. It is very well made and has a lot more clearance than the stewmac press so I can fret the FB after it is mounted to the neck. I was using the drill press, but didn't like the spongy feel, although it worked well.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

This is the one I bought.





Here's the link if you're interested.

arbor press

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

I forgot to mention in the earlier post that I use my drill press to press the frets in place using the stewmac arbor and cauls. I bought the complete set of cauls when I bought the arbor... you never know when I may decide to place some unusual radius on the fretboard and these cauls cover everything from 7.5 to 20" radiuses.

At some point I will find a deal on an arbor press at a local flea market and stop using the drill press. Pressing in the frets really uses little pressure because the pressure is so evenly distributed using the caul. I Dont think it causes any damage to the grizzly drill press table or table mounts.

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Reguards,

Ken H

Ron mentioned that with the Arbor that he has he can fret the fingerboard with it attached to the neck. Does the Stew Mac Arbor not have enough clearance to fret with the fingerboard attached to the neck?

Sorry, I'm just trying to get as much information as I can before I decide which way I want to go.

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Thanks,
Blain

http://www.ullrichguitar.com

"89.67% of all statistics are made up on the spot."

I have Jaws 1 and 2. I fret after the neck is on the body. I will fret up to the 10th with jaws 1 then I hammer in 11-20. After the board and the frets are prepared it only takes about 5 min to install all the frets. I then go back and glue the frets with CA. I used to use Jaws 2 for 11-20 but I found that I can do just as good of a job with the hammer and it only takes a fraction of the time. I do use Jaws 2 when fret end for 11-20.

I love the Jaws 1 and the Jaws 2 comes in handy for some things. But you can probably make something for a fraction of the price of jaws 2 (as some others have suggested). I will likely be purchasing another Jaws 1 in the future.

Josh

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Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
http://www.canadianluthiersupply.com
https://www.facebook.com/canadianluthiersupply?ref=hl
House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
http://www.houseguitars.com

[QUOTE=blain1976] Ron mentioned that with the Arbor that he has he can fret the fingerboard with it attached to the neck. Does the Stew Mac Arbor not have enough clearance to fret with the fingerboard attached to the neck?

Sorry, I'm just trying to get as much information as I can before I decide which way I want to go.[/QUOTE]


I called StewMac before I bought mine and theirs does NOT have enough clearance to get the heel area under it. The one I pictured above has 6 1/2" of working height.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

I don't recall the stewmac working height but it isn't enough. Once you install the arbor/caul it takes      
1 - 1 1/2" off the working height.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

[QUOTE=Hesh1956]


Second my Jaws II takes a lot of turning force to properly seat the frets. So much so that if you do an entire fret board at once you will probably develop a blister or two. So I wear a leather glove. [/QUOTE]

hi, why not try Dan E's trick of epoxy-ing in a big fat grub screw in the end and using a good chunky allen key to get a load more purchase?
Going around with blisters all over your palms always gets funny looks when down at the pool...well it does round here

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