Fret Pulling - Quick And Dirty Tool Repurposing

[Prostheta]

Cheap and dirty hackjob way of repurposing your flush fret cutting snips to lifting frets without damaging the fingerboard surface. There are other ways of course, and i'm sure they're covered elsewhere more than adequately, although this is how I do it on the basis of it being repeatable and as economical as possible on materials.

All this requires is a pair of wire cutters with the face ground virtually flush with the cutting edge, which anyone who has done fretwork will use for cutting the ends of the fretwire flush with the end of the fingerboard. I don't grind mine fully flush to the edge as it seems to make the cutting edge fragile. Leaving a slight bevel leaves a little more strength in the cutting edge. Possibly something to do with the quality of the tool, but that's outside the scope of this tip. Note that yes, I have accidentally chipped the edges on the cutters....can't remember how I did that now! Probably cutting something uBerhard.

These are my fret cutters. Very easy to acquire, and for those of us in the UK - from B&Q :-D

Firstly - close the cutters fully and using a small piece of masking tape cover the face of the cutters.

Use a razor or craft knife to trace down the centre, parting the tape where the cutting edge is. This is easy on my cutters as the remaining bevel leaves a tiny dip (0.1mm-0.2mm?) which the tip of a blade can follow.

All being well, the cutters can be opened and the tape should part cleanly.

To pull a fret, place the cutter perpendicular to the fretboard either side of the fret. The cutting edges should be manoeuvered under the fret. Once seated, rock the cutters backwards and forwards slightly to hoist the fretwire out of the slot. Once the fretwire lifts, move the cutters further towards the centre and repeat the procedure to gain a little more lift. You can then move to the other end of the wire to remove the fret fully.

Note that wide cutters like mine will make fret pulling more difficult on fingerboards with small radii. You can always use narrower cutters. Note that the cutting edges may well slip and scratch the surface of the fretwire - the point of this tip is to prevent damage to a fingerboard which will always be more difficult to repair or replace than a piece of fretwire!

That is all. Hope this helps.

[komodo]

Just did this tonight on a fretboard. The REAL trick is initially getting it under the fret. Some go easy, some are so tight you can't get under the at first. I'd like to hear some tips on how to lift them initially with any other tool? Also, no matter HOW careful you are it seem that you get some chips, esp. with ebony.

[Prostheta]

Yeah, chipout is part and parcel of the game unfortunately. I found that the bevelling you do in slots before fretting an instrument helps if you have to subsequently pull a fret. I had to do a couple on the neck i've just completed when semi-hemi'ing the fret ends as I wasn't 100% happy with the overhang. No chipout luckily. I wonder if there actually are any methods for avoiding it....

[j. pierce]

I've always heated my frets with a soldering iron (I have an extra tip I ground a small indent in so it stays put on the fret) before removal. It seems to help. I thought that was standard practice, but I don't see it mentioned, so I'll throw that out there.

[komodo]

I've always heated my frets with a soldering iron (I have an extra tip I ground a small indent in so it stays put on the fret) before removal. It seems to help. I thought that was standard practice, but I don't see it mentioned, so I'll throw that out there.

I heat them to undo glue, but didn't know it did anything for chip out. I'd think it would make it worse by expanding the metal?

[Prostheta]

I've always heated my frets with a soldering iron (I have an extra tip I ground a small indent in so it stays put on the fret) before removal. It seems to help. I thought that was standard practice, but I don't see it mentioned, so I'll throw that out there.

It's all good! I try and not make a habit of pulling frets in the first place

[j. pierce]

You don't heat it too much, and I guess with oily woods it helps somehow? I don't really know how it works, but it was recommended in the Stew Mac fretting book, and I've just sort of always done it the few times I've removed frets and it seemed to help. I guess it releases oils in the wood or some such?

Frank Ford suggests it as well:

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPAGES/Luthier/Te...D35refret1.html

That soldering iron tip with the groove in the first picture is like what I've done.

Another page on Frets.com that mentions it:

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/To...un/fretgun.html

[Daniel Sorbera]

I heat them as well, and it makes a huge difference. Maybe it has something to do with the fact than when wood gets hot it can bend instead of breaking? I'm not sure exactly why it works on frets that have no glue holding them in, but it does really work.

[Prostheta]

Hmm, yeah. I was debating with myself this evening as to whether wood flexibility with heat vs. "lubrication" or perhaps even a combination of the two had anything to do with this. I do like to understand root causes as opposed to just getting by with the results....either way, it does the job.

[WezV]

i also do it pretty much as described... i think we need a little vid to show how easy it is to do!!

i do heat before hand - it will release any glue or lacquer and on oily woods it does help it slide out

[Prostheta]

I bought a little tripod for my camera, so it's eminently do-able. I just don't have any frets I want to pull though :-D

[Kammo1]

The reason that it works and it's exactly the way I do it is because when you heat the fret this expands and pushes the slot making it ever so slightly larger and when the fret sort of cools down the wood stays there but retracts slower than the fret and this makes it pull out without too many problems. The real hardest part is getting the fret nippers under the slot and I have at times gently tapped a stanley knife blade between the fret and fretboard and it's made a gap so I can just get the nippers under. when I have done this I then walk the nippers along the fret gently squeezing until it pops out, overall its still a tricky job without damaging the fretboard.

[Prostheta]

The reason that it works and it's exactly the way I do it is because when you heat the fret this expands and pushes the slot making it ever so slightly larger and when the fret sort of cools down the wood stays there but retracts slower than the fret and this makes it pull out without too many problems. The real hardest part is getting the fret nippers under the slot and I have at times gently tapped a stanley knife blade between the fret and fretboard and it's made a gap so I can just get the nippers under. when I have done this I then walk the nippers along the fret gently squeezing until it pops out, overall its still a tricky job without damaging the fretboard.

[komodo]

I concur Prostheta. I'd figured heating the fret to be one of those "I've just always done it this way" kinda things. It makes sense if you are a guitar tech and you don't know if there is glue or not, so just do it by default. But to know that it also expands the slot, etc is just great info. It's STILL not an easy task.

[Prostheta]

I'll have to buy a new wedge bit for my iron and try it next time I need to pull some frets I guess, although fret pulling and plagues are on the same level of things to avoid in "my book".

[komodo]

I'll have to buy a new wedge bit for my iron and try it next time I need to pull some frets I guess, although fret pulling and plagues are on the same level of things to avoid in "my book".

File a rounded groove in the wedge and it'll sit on the fret better.

[Prostheta]

Yep, got that bit. So to speak. :-D

[jaycee]

I just fretted my 12 string and pulled them all out the following day using that method. Fortunately I bevelled the edges of the slot after I slotted so there was no tear out.

The fret job was pants, the more I looked at it the worse it got. I couldn't understand how it was so bad, this would have been my 5th full fret job and it was getting better each time. At first I thought the fret wire was different sizes, but on closer inspection after I pulled them they all look the same size. I used a depth gauge on the saw so all of them should have been good or all bad.

The only thing I can come up with is that the superglue dried on some of them before the fret was seated properly.

Whilst were on the subject, how difficult would it be to radius a fret onto an 18" radiused board as it is being installed. I usually get pre-radiused but the guy in my local shop can't get it anymore but he has plenty of straight wire .

Edited April 7, 2009 by jaycee

[Prostheta]

Get onto eBay and buy some Lego....I made a fret bender out of a grab bag of Technics Lego! I broke a bit of my fret saw off, filed it thinner than the normal fret tang width and marked on the depth of my wire. Great for cleaning slots and "proofing" that they're deep enough. Your CA might have locked up some dust or whatever in the slot, perhaps? I wouldn't trust CA in fret slots as it's fine going in, but a PITA to get back out....

[JLS]

I've used a slightly reground toenail clippers since 1976, when I learned of it from its inventor, Paul Dwyer, who then ran the refurb dept. at At. Louis Music Supply. I've never found anything to work as well as this.

[jaycee]

I've used a slightly reground toenail clippers since 1976, when I learned of it from its inventor, Paul Dwyer, who then ran the refurb dept. at At. Louis Music Supply. I've never found anything to work as well as this.

I think this is another for the "strange/unusual tools" thread