Fret Saw?

[Davis guitars]

i was just curious if any one knows if a standard mitre saw and a fret saw are the same thickness, pretty much i want to know if i could use a mitre saw to cut fret slots. thanks for ur time

nate

[anderekel]

A standard miter saw is an 1/8 inch thick I believe, so no, it would not be the same as a fret saw and wouldn't work unless you have super wide frets. Also, a miter saw is meant to cut all the way through the piece, I don't think there's really a way to keep it from doing that. A radial arm saw or a table saw would be the way to go if you wanna go powered, you have to buy a special blade for fretting though.

oooooohhhhh, I just gathered that you mean an unpowered one, DOH!!!!! No clue then, sorry, hehe

Edited April 9, 2008 by anderekel

[madawgony]

i was just curious if any one knows if a standard mitre saw and a fret saw are the same thickness, pretty much i want to know if i could use a mitre saw to cut fret slots. thanks for ur time

nate

Most likely not. Generally speaking, mitre saws have a wider kerf than a fret saw. Fret saws are made to create a thin kerf in line with the thickness of a fret tang (~.023").

StewMac sells a nice table saw fret slotting blade that will work with a table saw or radial arm saw. Table saw blade

Also, you can find Japanese pull-saws that are very thin-kerfed that will work also.

[ToneMonkey]

Also, you can find Japanese pull-saws that are very thin-kerfed that will work also.

I've got a Japanese Microsaw and I use it for a hell of a lot more than fretting. Really usefull around the house. Well worth the £15.

Edited April 10, 2008 by ToneMonkey

[fryovanni]

You can find one with the right Kerf, but it will take a bit of looking(be careful not to buy one that cuts something like .004 skinny, it may seem right, but it will be problematic). You will find small saw with larger and even smaller kerf. The price will be the same or higher in most cases. If you want a saw that cuts better than the Stewmac fret saw, then it makes sense to persue finding one. If your just trying to find a cheaper version of the same, just buy the one from Stewmac. I only use my fret saw for touching up fret slots (single purpose, and I have a circular saw blade to make my initial cuts). I find limiting the use of special purpose tools is a good way to go (same goes for things like my diamond sharpening block for fret leveling, my chisel that I use for binding miters and so for...).

Good Luck

[Rick500]

I bought a really nice Japanese saw for cutting fret slots, from LMI. It cuts really, really well.

The blade itself is thinner and more flexible than the saw I had previously used (although the kerf is the same, .023"), so I had to be careful to cut straight when I first started using it.

[R. True]

You can get an inexpensive fret saw from Home Depot or other hardware stores. Get your self a stanley double sided flush cut saw like this, cost is low as you can see. It cuts a slot which is 0.023" and works great as a fret saw. Here's what I did with my Stanley saw. I cut it in half than I made a hardwood handle and epoxied it in (makes it more ridgid). I made 4 fretboards with it before I went to the tablesaw and a powered system.

[ToneMonkey]

I find limiting the use of special purpose tools is a good way to go

Me too, with this one exception. Used it to trim a bit off the bottom of a door the other week.

Far to useful to only be used 10 times in my lifetime.

[fryovanni]

You can get an inexpensive fret saw from Home Depot or other hardware stores. Get your self a stanley double sided flush cut saw like this, cost is low as you can see. It cuts a slot which is 0.023" and works great as a fret saw. Here's what I did with my Stanley saw. I cut it in half than I made a hardwood handle and epoxied it in (makes it more ridgid). I made 4 fretboards with it before I went to the tablesaw and a powered system.

That looks like a nice tool, good work! and a great tip

Rich

P.S. Are you Rod from over at the OLF? If so great to have you over here at PG.

[R. True]

Hi Rich, yup it's me Rod. I don't know how I've never found this forum before someone posted a link to it on the OLF. Great looking site and group of folks

[fryovanni]

Hi Rich, yup it's me Rod. I don't know how I've never found this forum before someone posted a link to it on the OLF. Great looking site and group of folks

Outstanding!