Sorry for the delay guys, but life and a computer that died has put back this build quite a bit.
But I have done the fretting. It proved to be more of a challenge that I thought it would. But the dovetail pull saw seems to have done the job, but time will tell how successful or otherwise it was.
First off I bought the fret wire in a roll and whereas most people have to put a curve in the wire I had to do the opposite and straighten it. I have no idea how this is supposed to be accomplished but all I did was drill a small hole (a little smaller that the fret wire) in a piece of scrap wood push the fret in and applied pressure with my fingers to get the fret as straight as possible. They were not perfect but it seemed to work.
I just gradually pushed the fret wire down the hole and applied finger pressure as I went to try and straighten it.
Before
After. Not perfect but I think it was close enough.
Then came the high tech part of actually gently persuading the frets into position.
I don't have a Deadblow Fretting Hammer or even a wooden mallet so I quickly fashioned one out of some scrap wood and used another piece of scrap wood to try and protect the fretboard and just whacked them in. Some needed more persuasion (whacking) than others but I eventually prevailed and had the frets in position.
My rough and ready mallet. The “clobbering” side is quite flat and square. It looks ugly but hey, it did the job.
2/5
Next, what to do if you don’t have and can’t afford a $90 Fret Bevelling File from Stewmac..........
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