EDLK Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 I purchased a pre slotted ebony fretboard and fret wire from stewmac Both are set up at .023". However in both hammering and pressing the frets are chipping the fret board slots. Any help would be much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mammoth guitars Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 The stewmac fretwire and fretboards are not an exact fit. You will need to file down the tangs a bit. Perhaps that is why they also sell the fret barber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 well, in my experiance, i slot to .23 and use stewmac wire i absolutly do not like hammering in tho, i just over radius a little and press my frets in and i get a very tight conisistant job i would heavily reccomend in investing in a fretpress Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 I cut my fret slots to .023" and have not had a problem installing StewMac wire. (Haven't used a pre-slotted board though.) You could try putting a drop of water in the slot for a little lubrication before you put the fret in, but with ebony I'm not sure how much it would help. I haven't tried that myself, but I've read it in at least a couple places. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 (edited) another thing you could do that help A LOT is to slightly bevel the slots, what i mean by that is just take a square file and make a little 45 degree bevel on either side of the slot, this helps the fret sit better and the tang maybe not fracture the wood as in your case anyways, give this a try, and if not, ill make a video with every detail of a sucessful fretjob (ill use a press tho :-p)(maybe ill try a hammer, i have one but im just not too good at it :-p) Rick500- it could also work at softening up the wood around the area a little so the fret could seat a little easier, just a hypothesis tho Edited March 28, 2008 by Kenny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmth Builder Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 (edited) ^ I would love to see that video narrated as well Edited March 28, 2008 by Neil Beith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J_48_Johnson Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 When pressing frets in, do you glue them in as well or just leaved than as is? I'm asking because I'm building my third guitar right now, but this is the first neck I've made since I bought the first to necks. If you do glue in, when / where do you put the glue? Do you put it in the slot then press the wire in or do you press first and let the fret wire suck the glue into the joint like when soldering a pipe joint? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MescaBug Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 another thing you could do that help A LOT is to slightly bevel the slots, what i mean by that is just take a square file and make a little 45 degree bevel on either side of the slot, this helps the fret sit better and the tang maybe not fracture the wood as in your case I would take that comment as a must I would never try fretting an ebony board without beveling the slots a little bit. Stewmac slots their board at .23, and their fretwire is also .23. I purchase my boards from LMI, but tried Stewmac once and never had any fretting problems whatsoever. Did you make sure the fingerboard is 100% flat before fretting? That would help a lot. Keep in mind that the neck might have a slight concave bow, and that would make the fret slots a little bit tighter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
low end fuzz Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 the variety is intense, i have to throw some more in there; personally i love to hammer in the frets, i use to use a brass hammer and would freak out by how many times id kink the wire from a miscalculated hit; now i use a hard platic hammer i bought from canadian tire, one side yellow(soft kinda) the other side white(hardest) i use the white side and just giver, i put the runniest CA glue (hot from lee valley) in the slot (one drop in the center spreads throughout the fret slot) hammer from one side to the other, then check for any space under the fret, if theres any blobs of glue (shouldnt be) wipe them away with the edge of a folded piece of sandpaper, do the wholeboard ,trim flush and the rest is beveling leveling and polishing, i hope mesca bug mispoke, and dose not actually fret on a 100% flat board (unless its like a classical guitar or something) im gonna guess he meant radiused, but 'true'; i hope; i radius level and sand to 220 before i fret; the 180 and 220 arnt really nessasary since you have to sand and polish the board after the fact, but its soo easy to do and could point out something nasty you didnt see sanded to 100; chamfering the slots is a good idea, but ive never had any problems with ebony after the point of tapering and glueing on; if you need lube, i would personnaly use white(yellow/wood) glue before ever putting water on there; i might try it, for experiment purposes, but it dont seem right, especially if you plan on putting any type of glue in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MescaBug Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 (edited) I meant straight Of course, radiused. Sorry for the confusion, my english's not the best. Edited March 28, 2008 by MescaBug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 i work today and tomorrow, but i will radius up a test board and slot it for you on sunday...video narroration and all, including what not to do when using binding i put a drop or 2 of superglue under the part of the fret with no tang, and maybe 2 drops evenly spred in the slot basically with the glue, if it starts seeping you can wipe it away fast, no harm no foul since it dries completly clear, you might have trouble on rosewood if your doing this, but not ebony or maple. its just a trial and error type thing, i like mine in the middle and at the ends, but just see which works best for you or wait till i make you a video before you continue low end fuzz - i try doing it in one dead hit with the hard plastic side of my hammer and just cant get it to sit even and flat :-\ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
low end fuzz Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 i work today and tomorrow, but i will radius up a test board and slot it for you on sunday...video narroration and all, including what not to do when using binding i put a drop or 2 of superglue under the part of the fret with no tang, and maybe 2 drops evenly spred in the slot basically with the glue, if it starts seeping you can wipe it away fast, no harm no foul since it dries completly clear, you might have trouble on rosewood if your doing this, but not ebony or maple. its just a trial and error type thing, i like mine in the middle and at the ends, but just see which works best for you or wait till i make you a video before you continue low end fuzz - i try doing it in one dead hit with the hard plastic side of my hammer and just cant get it to sit even and flat :-\ ? i hope you dont mean one big hit in the middle for each fret? do you? if so (i hope not) hit the tang farthest from you in to place, now a 1/4 of the fret is in and the rest is sticking straight inthe air (not stright up, but you get it!) now just whack it firmly in a towards you fashion, 'folding' the tang into the slot maybe 1/4" at a time; easiest thing in the world; and you can do it on a blank carved or finished neck; even if your one of those strange people that radius and fret their boards prior to gluing , with no special cauls or nothing; just remember that you are hammering and fret end cutoffs are much stronger than wood! so keep a clean area with some support so your not chasing your neck all over! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EDLK Posted March 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 i work today and tomorrow, but i will radius up a test board and slot it for you on sunday...video narroration and all, including what not to do when using binding i put a drop or 2 of superglue under the part of the fret with no tang, and maybe 2 drops evenly spred in the slot basically with the glue, if it starts seeping you can wipe it away fast, no harm no foul since it dries completly clear, you might have trouble on rosewood if your doing this, but not ebony or maple. its just a trial and error type thing, i like mine in the middle and at the ends, but just see which works best for you or wait till i make you a video before you continue low end fuzz - i try doing it in one dead hit with the hard plastic side of my hammer and just cant get it to sit even and flat :-\ ? i hope you dont mean one big hit in the middle for each fret? do you? if so (i hope not) hit the tang farthest from you in to place, now a 1/4 of the fret is in and the rest is sticking straight inthe air (not stright up, but you get it!) now just whack it firmly in a towards you fashion, 'folding' the tang into the slot maybe 1/4" at a time; easiest thing in the world; and you can do it on a blank carved or finished neck; even if your one of those strange people that radius and fret their boards prior to gluing , with no special cauls or nothing; just remember that you are hammering and fret end cutoffs are much stronger than wood! so keep a clean area with some support so your not chasing your neck all over! Thanks to everyone who helped out with this, filing a pretty substantial v groove in the slot and using some thinned wood glue did the trick Edlk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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