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Proper Fret Bending Technique?


Mind Riot

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I ordered one of Zyons Dreams fret benders a few weeks ago, and I just got my fret wire delivered. I ran a length through the bender as a practice run to see how it works. It bent it fine, but it was tricky to keep the wire perfectly straight as it was being bent. It's a big wire, and it wanted to slip slightly to the side.

After I ran the whole length through, it seemed fairly flat but not perfect. As in, the two ends of the wire don't touch which would indicate a perfectly bent wire, but they were only off by a bit less than a centimeter which seems to me to indicate a slight twist.

I'm just curious if this is fairly normal or acceptable, as in the fret slot will compensate for such a slight twist, or will I get better with more practice and I did it wrong.

Do you guys get wire that's perfect and not even slightly twisted when you use your fret benders?

Edited by Mind Riot
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Never had that problem with the StewMac bender.

But I have had a similar problem with home-made bending machines that I've experimented with. Seems to happen when there's some misalignment of the rollers.

Also, sounds like you ain't got no crank handle on your bender.

Also, in case you didn't know, the last inch or so on the ends of a piece of fret-wire run through a bender don't get the radius on it. I used to clip 1" off the ends, but now clip from 1.5" to 2.25" off the ends, and throw them into a bag, because they can at least be bent by hand later and used on a neck, whereas the 1" cut-offs were useless for a fret-job.

Edited by soapbarstrat
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Ah, I feel kind of silly now. It was just the wire slipping out of the groove on the adjustable wheel intermittently. I tightened the radius just a tad and ran the same length of wire through, going slower and just doing a little bit at a time, making sure the tang and crown were always in each groove, and it came out just fine.

I should have just practiced it a bit more before posting. :D

It doesn't have a crank, it's one of the benders made by forum member zyonsdream that he sells. Just some bearings bolted to a thick aluminum plate, with one of them being height adjustable for different radii. It seems really well made, and bends smooth as long as the user isn't a retard like me. :D

Soapbarstrat, I also finished my neck jig the other day. I'll post another thread with pictures when I take them. I took your advice and put a length of 2x4 I cut into the steel for more lateral support of the rods. The only thing I'm waiting on is the little turnbuckle jack from Stew Mac for the headstock, it should arrive tomorrow.

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Ah, I feel kind of silly now. It was just the wire slipping out of the groove on the adjustable wheel intermittently. I tightened the radius just a tad and ran the same length of wire through, going slower and just doing a little bit at a time, making sure the tang and crown were always in each groove, and it came out just fine.

I should have just practiced it a bit more before posting. :D

It doesn't have a crank, it's one of the benders made by forum member zyonsdream that he sells. Just some bearings bolted to a thick aluminum plate, with one of them being height adjustable for different radii. It seems really well made, and bends smooth as long as the user isn't a retard like me. :D

Soapbarstrat, I also finished my neck jig the other day. I'll post another thread with pictures when I take them. I took your advice and put a length of 2x4 I cut into the steel for more lateral support of the rods. The only thing I'm waiting on is the little turnbuckle jack from Stew Mac for the headstock, it should arrive tomorrow.

What is a Zyons Dreams fret bender anyway. Not one of those ebay deals was it. have any pictures?

Edited by Woodenspoke
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He does sell them on ebay, he's also a member here. He's always got a couple for sale in the classifieds here.

LPfretbender.jpg

It seems to work quite well. The wire tends to want to slip sideways. I don't know if that problem is eliminated with the Stew Mac bender, but if I'm careful and I stay on top of it and go slow it comes out fine. And it's only about a third the cost of the SM one.

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Thanks for the picture, I hope it was less than $50.

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