Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Al Williams on February 12, 2016 at 4:45pm

I use a dovetail saw, which is exactly the same as the one sold by C.B. Gitty, with a miter box. It is perfect for the job, and you do need to tap the frets in with a plastic headed hammer... the frets won't come out.

Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on February 12, 2016 at 11:22pm

You need fret wire that has the right tang(width of the part that goes in the slot) measurement for the kerf(thickness) measurement of the blade. The wire tang should be a little larger than the saw's kerf.

Permalink Reply by Peter Otto on February 13, 2016 at 12:05am

I've been using the StewMac fret saw without problems. I agree with Paul; the tang of the fretwire should be the correct size for the thickness of the saw blade.

Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on February 13, 2016 at 12:10am

I used a Xacto saw for Stewmac wire without problems, but the slots weren't quite big enough for the Jesco jumbo wire that CBGitty sells. So you need to match up the wire to the saw. The saw that CBGitty sells will probably work with the Jesco wire, but I haven't checked it out yet.

Permalink Reply by Dave Lynas on February 13, 2016 at 12:31am

Have you contacted Stew to get their answer? Are you using their fret wire? Maybe their tang is wider than other fret wire. I find different wood takes fretting better than others. My last wood board was oak and fretted easier than Black Walnut.

Permalink Reply by Peter Otto on February 13, 2016 at 3:53am

One other thing; If the saw blade doesn't stay perfectly perpendicular to the fret board, the slots will end up too wide... Like Al said, a miter box should do the trick.

Permalink Reply by Clark Huffman on February 13, 2016 at 6:35am

Thank you all for the input! I use a newer Jet table saw and so that should be accurate. And I ordered the fret wire from Stew Mac when I ordered their saw. I will call Stew Mac and see what is up. 

Permalink Reply by Peter Otto on February 13, 2016 at 7:28am

Clark, Sorry, confusion here, I'm not using the table saw blade, but a japanese hand fret saw of stew mac. I don't have experience with the table saw blade...