I bought my fret wire with more radius then needed. The company I got it from only charged around $5. Having a bit more radius made sure the ends went in nicely.
Yes, definitely has to be radius before you put the frets in.
I bought my fret wire with more radius then needed. The company I got it from only charged around $5. Having a bit more radius made sure the ends went in nicely.
Yes, definitely has to be radius before you put the frets in.
I, and at least one other person here, bought this fret bender. It's very well made, (not that I've actually used it).
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3269...36be4c4doiUTFm
The fret wire (according to all the books I've read), should be bent to just a very slightly smaller radius than the fretboard, so that it sticks up very slightly in the middle when placed on top of the board. Probably as the act of banging the end in will have the effect of straightening it slightly, so it naturally then follows the curve of the board. But I'd guess that if using a fret press, then the same radius would be fine. But you certainly don't want to use straight fret wire unless the neck is flat, like a classical guitar.
If you haven't done any fretwork before, then you certainty should be starting with nickel and get your techniques sorted out on that. Installing frets is one job that needs the investment in the right tools. Especially cutters and fret profiling files designed for use with stainless steel.
Well this has been an informative day...
Simon I've just watched a youtube video of a guy making a bender just like that out of some scrap wood and bearings. If I don't have some bearings lying around, I'll probably buy that one.
Sounds like I should get some nickel wire then... Bit of a shame because the stainless steel looks so nice and shiny. And maybe proper tools (imagine that, getting proper tools for a proper job?)
Diggydude, depending on where you are based, there may be a forum member with the gear necessary to help you out, or to guide you through it if you want to tool up to get the job done yourself.
As Simon said, for your first fret job you may want to stick to the nickel silver wires. Best of luck with it.
FrankenLab
Hand crafting guitars, because Death Rays are expensive.
As McCreed says, the frets should be cut longer than the fretboard width, 1cm either side should do it. It's almost impossible not to deform the very ends of the wire when its not installed, so by cutting it long, the section that goes in the slot should remain intact.
Tang cutting (so you don't see the end of the tang in the fretboard) is a personal choice. Roughly 50% of my bought guitars have cut-back tangs, 50% have tangs that aren't cut back and are flush with the edge of the fretboard. If you are going for a bound fretboard with no tangs showing, then you obviously need to cut the tangs back so they fit within the central section of the fretboard.
Once the fret is installed, then it can be cut flush with the edge of the board. Before you do this, if the fret appears loose at all, then a drop of CA in the ends of the slot at either end should hold things firm.
You'll then need to file down the ends of the frets; first so that they are all truly flush with the edge of the board, and then the tops of the fret ends at an angle. You can do this with a normal file, but I bought a dedicated levelling and bevelling (two-angle) file unit to ensure things remain flush.
These files need to rated as suitable for stainless. Don't use diamond files as the stainless just wears the diamond particles off. Keep any diamond tools for nickel-silver or Evo fretwire.
Everyone has offered you the same advice and info I would have re: pre-radiusing (word???) the fretwire.
I had seen that jig on YT and considered building it once upon a time, but for $65AUħ I bought the exact fretwire bender Simon posted.
It was going to cost me at least half that for bearings etc.
As near as I can tell, it's the same (unbranded) unit Stew-Mac sells for nearly quadruple the price. It's excellent quality and works great.
Making the world a better place; one guitar at a time...
I got pre-cut frets from Alibaba.
At approx. $3.00 for a packet of 24 they represent 'value for money'
Only down-side is how long they took to show up.
These arrived the other week out of the blue..so long ago that I'd forgotten about them.
As per the 'pre-radius' I concocted a KC bodge thus.
I am installing them into a 7.25" radius neck.
Used the butt end of a trashed neck and set about increasing it's radius to about 5.
Another sliver of wood convex.
Using a G clamp to squeeze them down.
cheers, Mark.
Something like this is also very easy to knock up if you have lengths of fret wire
Build 1 - Shoegazer MK1 JMA-1
Build 2 - The Relliecaster TL-1
Build 3 - The Black Cherry SG AG-1
Build 4 - The Sonicaster TL-1ish
Build 5 - The Steampunker Bass YB-4
Build 6 - The Howling Gowing ST-1
"What I lack in talent I make up for with enthusiasm"
Thank you all, I sure have a lot of decisions to make, but that can wait until after exams.
I think I'll borrow your bending idea king casey for this one but I'll invest in a proper bender when I have the money available along with a beveling file (The one I have for now is good for stainless steel so even if I stick to it and not nickel, the file will be fine).
Progress!! I used King Casey's method of bending the frets. It wasn't exact, but it worked. I've installed all the frets (I had exactly enough wire thankfully) and it went with minimal issues.
The frets are not sitting completely flush though...
Hopefully you can see it, it's hard to photograph.
They are very close though, I can slide a piece of paper under but not a folded piece. They are also very uniform, all of them at pretty much the same height above the fretboard. Some of them have edges sticking up but I can sort those out easily.
I am happy with how they are seated but want more opinions. As long as it won't cause issues, I'd be happy to leave them as they are.
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