fretting question....

[asm]

to people who have competed a refret job....

which one could cause more damage to the fretboard (if any) when removing frets?

a.) if you grinded off the barbs and superglued the frets before pressing them in

OR

b.) not using any glue in the fret slots and leaving the barbs on the fretwire then pressing them in

which one could pull grain/mess crap up easier?

thx for any help!

t

[sinner16]

well ...I'm not a fretting genius .... nor am I normaly competent !!!! But I think super gluing a fret in place... will be a lot harder to remove than a pressed in fret.... My opinion only.... but I'd wait for some "experts" to answer you. Just my thoughts.... or $0.02 worth...lol....

[asm]

thats what i would think too, but i dont know how vicious the barbs are, the might tear the wood while a superglued fret might just take more pressure to come out, but be clean?

chime in guys!

[Devon Headen]

Barbs have more risk of tear out. If you heat the fret with a soldering iron before pulling it (which you should do regardless of fretting method) then the glue will break down from the heat

[Setch]

What stones said. However, a decent tech should be able to remove either with minimal chipping on the fretboard. Even if it does chip, you should be going slow enough to keep the chips in place and glue them - when you level the board they'll be invisible.

[Southpa]

There are ways to avoid chipping but you have to be careful and patient. A pair of end nippers with the edges, that come in contact with the fretboard, ground flat will help keep from chipping the fretboard wood as the fret comes out. That is, the end nipper faces hold the wood down while still applying leverage to the fret. Another method is to insert a pair of wood chisels on either side of the fret. They hold the wood down while loosening the fret. Work from one end of the fret to the other just to loosen before pulling out the entire fret. Ebony almost always chips a little. Those pieces that do come out can be glued back with CA glue. Any others can be filled with a mixture of ebony or rosewood dust mixed with epoxy.

Frets that have been glued in (epoxy is common) should be heated with a soldering iron to soften the glue before trying to remove. Trying to pull a glued in fret without heating will pull half the wood out with it.

IMO, the lesser of two evils is dealing with pressed in frets. No heating required and in some cases I've heard of guys even charring the fretboard before the glue starts creeping.