guitarnut Posted December 13, 2009 Report Share Posted December 13, 2009 I've been thinking about making a fretwire bender for some time now and just haven't gotten around to it. But, while my wife was wrapping presents for a recent office party, I noticed her running a length of ribbon along the edge of the table to curl it. I thought hmmm, thet's an interesting technique. So, this morning I wanted to try it with some fretwire and the first step was to use a tiny groove to guide the tang as I ran the wire along the edge of a scrap of maple. I used a small triangle file to make the groove. Son of a gun if it didn't work like a charm. I just held the wire firmly and ran it along the groove with my other hand keeping downward pressure on it about 3" above the edge of the scrap letting the top of the wire rest in the joints where my fingers start at my palm. I started in the middle of the wire and worked to one end, then flipped it around and ran the other half. Very nice, even arc with no twisting. The ends need a bit of bending with fret nippers, but the rest curved very nicely. No crank, grooved pulleys or offset cams needed. Just wanted to share. Peace, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted December 13, 2009 Report Share Posted December 13, 2009 i used to do this, as long as you control it well it works fine - although i prefer my proper bender now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GermanFafian Posted December 13, 2009 Report Share Posted December 13, 2009 Nice solution if you don't have a proper bender. Thanks for sharing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted December 13, 2009 Report Share Posted December 13, 2009 The method I've used for years works extremely accurately. Of course now I have most radii made, what I did was use a method that was shared with me some time back. Measure out on a piece of 1/2" MDF the lenght of the desired radius. Using the circle maker on your router, set it up for the desired matching radius ( we'll say 14" now for simplicity) . Cut out a 14" radius 1/2 circle. Now you have a perfectly matched radius. Construct a universal base where you can press the different radii boards you made with your router in. make sure each radii boards fit snug in the base. Cut a slot down the middle of each radii just big enough to accommodate the fret wire. I used a table saw blade from a hobby shop . Now you can press( or use your dead blow hammer to tap the fret into the slot until it seats. make sure your fret wire has a little over lap so you can smoothly remove the wire once shaped. Wahhlaa..a perfectly shaped piece of fret wire. I found that making each bending jig to big tends to get sloppy so keep each jig small enough to fit approx 2' lengths. happy fretting !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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