mhall Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 Hello all, I'm a noob and have been experiencing some problems while practicing fretting. I'm using the scrap form my neck (maple/mahogany/maple) as a practice fingerboard. The specific problems are that when the frets are hammered in, one side appears flush with the board while the back side will not be completely seated. More hammering solves most of this problem but not entirely. This suggests to me that the fret is being hammered into a slot that is not completely perpendicular to the surface of the board. How big a problem is this? Can there be any gap at all between the fret and the surface of the board (thickness of a piece of paper maybe)? It looks a bit ugly but the fret isn't moving. Also, the tops of the frets do not follow a smooth curve after I get finished with them. I don't know if this is normal or if I'm hitting them too hard or maybe over-radiusing the frets prior to installation. Any help or suggestions? I've used about 3' of wire so far. Just more practice? Thanks, Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ilikes2shred Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 Are you slotting the board yourself? My guess is that you are not slotting perpendicular to the fretboard.... I don't know if it's problematic or not, but you can use a pre-slotted board, or at least use a miter jig when slotting. Good luck on your build! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 (edited) Can be slanted slots, and/or I've seen the actual tang on some fret-wire slanted a little. Mike Stevens even talks about that on one of the Erlewine vids and shows how he'll hammer in the fret with a bit of a sideways motion to try to get that tang to straighten while it's being driven into the slot. But, I thought most of the wire being sold these days seldom has that problem. I press my frets and check for any gap under the fret crown and board surface with a .0015" feeler gauge. If that feeler fits under the fret crown, I'm not happy and take action to get rid of the gap. And that's where it really helps when you have a fret-press that can move over to either the treble or bass side and concentrate pressure on a needed area. But if you've got no gap on one side, then I guess you've gotten them seated down as well as the fret-wire or fret-slots will allow. LOL ! I just noticed Shred's signature. Did you come up with that ? I know some people who should get some "help" like that . Hahahaha Edited December 31, 2008 by soapbarstrat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ilikes2shred Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 OFF TOPIC: No, I saw it over at sevenstring.org. Great website. Sorry for off topicyness..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhall Posted January 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2009 Can be slanted slots, and/or I've seen the actual tang on some fret-wire slanted a little. Mike Stevens even talks about that on one of the Erlewine vids and shows how he'll hammer in the fret with a bit of a sideways motion to try to get that tang to straighten while it's being driven into the slot. But, I thought most of the wire being sold these days seldom has that problem. I press my frets and check for any gap under the fret crown and board surface with a .0015" feeler gauge. If that feeler fits under the fret crown, I'm not happy and take action to get rid of the gap. And that's where it really helps when you have a fret-press that can move over to either the treble or bass side and concentrate pressure on a needed area. But if you've got no gap on one side, then I guess you've gotten them seated down as well as the fret-wire or fret-slots will allow. LOL ! I just noticed Shred's signature. Did you come up with that ? I know some people who should get some "help" like that . Hahahaha I've already cut the slots in the fretboard. IF they are not perfectly perpendicular, should I fill and recut (and if so, how?) or is a miniscule gap tolerable as long as they are not moving? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar_player Posted January 1, 2009 Report Share Posted January 1, 2009 I had similar problems when I used to hammer them in now I press them in with a homemade fret press using one of stewart mcdonalds fret pressing cauls. If you have a drill press that is the best and easiest way to go you should be able to make one easily for just the cost of the fret press caul and an old spade bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhall Posted January 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2009 If I were to press them in using StewMac's caul on a drill press, would this be sufficient to seat the fret adequately even if the slot is not exactly perpendicular to the surface of the board? In the future I will likely be buying preslotted boards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Although not exactly the cause of frets not setting perpendicular... ...were the fret slots bevelled in slightly before fretting? The tang doesn't meet the "wire" at a 90° angle, and flubs out somewhat (technical, I know). That can cause problems with frets not sitting flush to the board and might conceivably exacerbate non-perpendicular slotting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhall Posted January 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 I am beveling the slots with the little StewMac file - not the triangular one but the smaller finishing one - so I am not sure if I am beveling them consistently as it is really hard to see, almost impercepible. Could overradiusing the fretwire be a problem; it could have been significantly straighter. I was wondering if this could have led to some of the flat spots on the tops of the frets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 *If* the slots really are slanted too much or something like that, I suppose you could do the old dremel fret-slot routing deal. I think it was a #111 Dremel bit (not 100% sure on that number) that I used to open them up with. I'd take that new Dremel bit and run it against a fine grit stone to make it a little smaller, but it would still rout those slots out to something like .030" wide. I would think if you held the Dremel down firmly (I'm talking Dremel with a router base), it's routing would square up your fret slots. Then you could make a bunch of fine dust out of fret-board scrap, and mix that with a good epoxy and make a paste to fill the slots, and press and hold the frets down until your glue/paste sets (wax fret-board first, to help pop excess glue off later). Let me clarify that I don't like enlarging the fret-slots like this anymore, but could be just the thing for a salvage mission like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted January 6, 2009 Report Share Posted January 6, 2009 *If* the slots really are slanted too much or something like that, I suppose you could do the old dremel fret-slot routing deal. I think it was a #111 Dremel bit (not 100% sure on that number) that I used to open them up with. I'd take that new Dremel bit and run it against a fine grit stone to make it a little smaller, but it would still rout those slots out to something like .030" wide. I would think if you held the Dremel down firmly (I'm talking Dremel with a router base), it's routing would square up your fret slots. Then you could make a bunch of fine dust out of fret-board scrap, and mix that with a good epoxy and make a paste to fill the slots, and press and hold the frets down until your glue/paste sets (wax fret-board first, to help pop excess glue off later). Let me clarify that I don't like enlarging the fret-slots like this anymore, but could be just the thing for a salvage mission like this. +1 for this idea also I would compare my slots to the scale template before proceeding as you could throw them off center while widening. You can build a caul to use with the clamps from a piece of wood and 2 brass rods. cut the board about 12" then route 2 slots that have the same angle as the neck. I used to glue about 12 at a time. Fit the frets perfectly before gluing. They MUST lay perfectly flat against the radius. Once they are all fit you can glue them in. Lay the caul ontop of the frets and clamp lightly. Leave some epoxy on your mixing plate in a puddle. Once the puddle begins to harden, but is still a little flexible use a sharp chisel to clean up the fret board. Do not let the epoxy finish curing before doing this as it will be a nightmare to clean up. ---Man haven't done that since the 80's--- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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