goat Posted August 27, 2003 Report Share Posted August 27, 2003 I didn`t see this on the tutorial but,do you have to crown a brand new fret job? I noticed you bevel the sides,but do you touch the tops? Thanx! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted August 27, 2003 Report Share Posted August 27, 2003 Depends on how good you do the fret job.. lol.. Yeah most of us have to crown, level and dress the frets.. after we put the frets on.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted August 27, 2003 Report Share Posted August 27, 2003 If you start with a dead flat fretboard and seat every fret properly you shouldnt' have to touch the frets when you are done fretting other than the ends and maybe polish them. When I used to hammer frets I had to level all the time, but I hate hammering frets. Now that I press them all with an arbor press it's pretty rare that I have to do anything beyond dress the ends. If you can get away without having to level anything you are way further ahead, it's really hard to get as perfect a crown on every fret as what you'll get with fresh wire. And besides, take the extra time to make sure they seat properly and you'll have no issues nor will you have the extra work of levelling, crowning and polishing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted August 27, 2003 Report Share Posted August 27, 2003 I would agree with LGM on this. If you are able to press them in you won't have much left to do with the frets other than a few spots that may be high/low (mostly due to the fretboard). The cauls from stewmac may be a bit pricey but I think they are well worth it considering the time it takes to level and crown a neck. If you don't have a drill press, try Harbor Freight - they have a press for something like $30-$40 that can be used with the cauls. I think you just need to make some minor adjustments to it to get it to recv the cauls. There is a thread somewhere in ProjectGuitar that links to the Harbor Freight item. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted August 27, 2003 Report Share Posted August 27, 2003 i put a new fretboard on a neck and i ended up with one fret right in the middle that's way higher then all the other, i used brians little trick to cut the slot depths... and i'm after pressing the ****ing hell of that fret with my arbor... but it just doesn't want to level out with the other ones for some reason, i'm about ready to rip it out and try another peice or wire... i know the board was fine before i started fretting cause i checked it with a straight edge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goat Posted August 27, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2003 Thank you for the great advice! I have an arbor press and I bought the caul for $3.99,and will make the holder for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted August 27, 2003 Report Share Posted August 27, 2003 If you start with a dead flat fretboard and seat every fret properly you shouldnt' have to touch the frets when you are done fretting other than the ends and maybe polish them. And that's why you spend so much time prepping the bare board to begin with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted August 28, 2003 Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 If you want 'em perfect, then you should level them. Fret-wire varies in height, it's not extremely precise. There's some Japanese wire that's supposed to be more accurate. I level mine, even though they go in perfectly. It's the only way to take care of the variations in the wire itself. I guess I take off about .002" on a total refret, where I've prepped the board, etc. But, for every total refret I do, I do about 4 "fret mills" on guitars that still have the factory frets on, or some other luthiers fret-job on it. On those I have to take off more, because of the fret-wear, and the fact that they were not installed totally perfect to begin with, and also those frets probably had height variations (maybe even worse than what is made now). If they want it done on the neck-jig, it might mean a little more is taken off, cuz the board was never prepped in that same state. Experiment. Install them, then string up and play for a few days , or weeks. Then do a leveling job on 'em. I think you'll like 'em better after being leveled, assuming you do it right. Part of "doing it right" to me, means using accurate straight-edges to find any high or low spots first, knocking down the high spots, THEN going over the whole length of the neck with a good, long sanding block. Staight edges are precision ground, not just a freakin' metal ruler that seems "good enough". If you want high action (no lower than 1/16" at the 12th fret), then you might do fine without leveling them. But if you want the high E down to about 1/32" and the low E down to about 3/64" at the 12th fret, then I'm pretty sure you are going to need to level them to keep it smooth and buzz-free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted August 28, 2003 Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 could i use my drill press with a caul to press the frets in ? instead of buying an arbor press that is.... do you think it would be strong enough? john. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted August 28, 2003 Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 I use my Delta benchtop drill press and it works fine. It's not the small benchtop, I think it's the largest model they sell. I think a separate press would give me peace of mind but is probably not needed. I'd like to know if anyone has had problems doing this and if so, which model drill press they were using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted August 28, 2003 Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 As long as you tighten the chuck properly, I can't think of how it could cause much wear and tear. You shouldn't have such a tight fitting fret, that it's a real effort to press them in with a drill press rig. I think the original fret-presser was probably better. It was about half as long and swiveled on a pin. You " walk across the fret" with it. Yes, you have to move the neck a lot then, but I've seen the system that Stewmac sells in use, and I have to laugh when they end up having to use a hammer anyway to tap the middle of the frets down. Seems a bit half-assed, then. at least with the original shorter one, I think the hammer could be left in the drawer. I think you're better off using some radius blocks with a strip of hard rubber under the block to conform to the fret-board radius, and clamps to clamp the deal together. Plus, you know damn well you ain't doing anything weird to your drill press, then. Actually, the more I think about it, it might do a little damage to a drill press after a hundred fret-jobs. I had a factory job making satellite parts when I was in my late teens, and often used one of those little arbor presses all day, so I can't help but think it's kind of a cheap and dirty method. Quick, factory-run type stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted August 28, 2003 Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 lol.. just make sure you unplug the drill press.. you sure don't want it going off when your pressing them down.. YIKES!!!! that would be bad.. very bad.. lol... Especially if it's someone elses guitar your working on.. or building.. hehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted August 29, 2003 Report Share Posted August 29, 2003 i have a POS "workmate" (ya ****ing right) drill press and then one that my dad made when he was in engineering school for the navy. the "workmate" bends like crazy, i end up putting a couple 2x4's under the arm... thingy... so that as i'm pressing the frets the arm... thingy doesn't bend away from the pole it's on... i'd use the one my dad made but it's missing the spring that keeps the chuck up when ur not using it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted August 29, 2003 Report Share Posted August 29, 2003 Why not just get a arbor press? Just don't buy it from Stew and you should get it for pretty cheap. I'm even sure the one from Harbor Freight would be good enough.. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Disp...itemnumber=3551 Not sure though since I didn't get mine from them, they just seem to have a good price. Has anyone ever tried one that they sell on fretwork? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted August 29, 2003 Report Share Posted August 29, 2003 Why not just get a arbor press? Just don't buy it from Stew and you should get it for pretty cheap. I'm even sure the one from Harbor Freight would be good enough.. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Disp...itemnumber=3551 Not sure though since I didn't get mine from them, they just seem to have a good price. Has anyone ever tried one that they sell on fretwork? Be carefull, I bought that press. It needs to be taken to a machine shop or drilled yourself. The downrod on the press doesn't have the 2 holes drilled in it for the arbor. 1 for the arbor itself and then another drilled and tapped hole for the set screw to keep the arbor from falling out of the press Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingoftheHunted Posted August 29, 2003 Report Share Posted August 29, 2003 Er, while we're on the topic of banging in frets Instead of buying a special mallet and spending yet more money, for my first guitar, would it be enough just to stick some cloth/padding on the end of a normal claw hammer and use it very very lightly? Just a money saving thought it had... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted August 30, 2003 Report Share Posted August 30, 2003 The padding can't be that soft. Hard plastic is about as soft as you should go for "padding". you could just lay a flat piece of brass on top of the frets and hit that with a regular hammer. The hammered side of the brass would get messed up fast and the brass plate should be thick enough not to bend from being hammerd, although 'hammer' shouldn't be used, cuz when using a hammer, you need to think of 'tapping'. You might even be able to use a piece of steel instead of brass. Make sure all the edges are rounded, so there's no sharp edges to make marks on the softer frets below it. This all takes a lot of skill. Having experimented with hammering frets now and then, but mainly using various clamping methods instead for 16 years, I can say that the hammer method seems sloppy compared to clamp-pressing. Even when I've seen guys like Mike Stevens hammer frets, I still think it's kind of sloppy, even though he's a master at the hammer method. Especially if you have a fret-bender that puts a perfect radius into the fret. Why go "roughing up" that perfect radius with hammer-taps, which make the fret-wire want to flatten at the spot where the hammer makes contact ? I can see where in the old days, when you had to bend the radius with you hand and a pair of pliers, and the radius wasn't perfect, so you would over-radius the wire, then hammer the frets into the board, and at the same time, using the fret-board as an anvil to get the radius just right, which it would be (if done right) when the fret crowns bottom makes full contact with the fret-board surface. For that to work out, you need a pretty tight fret to fret-slot match. Tight enough, that it's likely the neck will backbow from the tight frets. But they compensated for that by adjusting the truss-rod to take out the back-bow, and before the fret-board was sanded, they had to adjust the truss-rod, so that it could be made looser later and still have tension on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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