Woodenspoke

I see from the pictures that the Brass roller is pretty big and so are the bearings. I have found that I didn't have luck with press fitting the roller onto the cap screw in 12L14 steel, it had to be glued (I have been experimenting). The final dimensions are the last part of the puzzle. With all that work bending and re-bending frets why not just use stainless frets. I reviewed one of my fretting videos and I think a minimum radius of 7 1/4" on the bender should work out. If you think I would need a smaller radius let me know why? GB

How did Stumac secure the roller to the cap screw, I assume its a cap screw? If you take it to a shop to be replaced you may need to replace the cap screw if you cant remove it. I am planning on using a loctite product that is non removable, I have a bottle already. If you have anymore details on the Stumac let me know. GB

I fixed the typo, wanted to say inches not degrees. Thanks for correcting my post??? I didn't know they had two fret slots on the old brass rollers; Hum. I wonder what they use now. Looking at the pictures I wonder how they centered the two slots over a small bearing? What was the full dimension of the brass Stumac roller if you don't mind. My thoughts are to use a .040 slot on a steel roller of 1 1/8" by 3/8" wide. I have experimented already and found I needed to increase the slot size, it was removing material from the barbs. My assumption is that the brass should work with Stainless steel wire as long as you use the large slot so the tangs cant remove material. GB

I have no problems with the posts on this forum regarding the Home Depot fret benders but I want to make one similar to the Stumac all steel (at least the main roller). I have the LMI plans and that is really no help. However I have some technical questions. Hopefully someone is in possession of a Stumac bender or has some answers. I checked my fret tang thickness for several brands of wire and find they vary greatly, from .032 to .037. My assumption here is the slot on the main fret bender roller has to exceed the maximum fret tang thickness (barbs included). What is the width on your Stumac bender's slot? Second question is more general. In order to correctly position the holes for the guide rollers, I would need to know what radius you would bend the fret wire if you were fretting the small radius of a 7 1/4 " fret board (the smallest radius on my gauges). I guess a classical fret board would be less. Minimum bent wire radius? Any help would be appreciated GB