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Comment by 43rd Shamrock on August 16, 2017 at 1:22am

Jerry,

I forgot to mention the Stew-Mac saw I use is the Japanese fret saw w/depth guide # 5775 ... later today I am going to order a few of their "whip tips" for gluing and see how they work.

Comment by 43rd Shamrock on August 16, 2017 at 12:38am

Hey Jerry,

To answer your question, I use the Stew-Mac fret saw which in my view, is far superior to the others I have used and is well worth the cost ..... I have also ceased using Polar due to never being able to achieve a finish I like, despite the efforts ........ as far as the question on glue, since I began using the Stew-Mac saw, in addition to the homemade fret guide "thing" most of the slots do not require glue, but maybe 1 - 2 per board may require glue and I use the fish glue sold by Stew-Mac , then hold the fret in with a clamp for a couple of hours and it all works fine... the fish glue does not leave the nasty residue that super glue leaves, or at least that experienced from countless trial & error efforts....I love the Red Cedar, but being a soft wood, it does tend to result in kerfs a bit wide from time to time.... I just received a bunch of Curly Maple and Cherry and will cut them down to size sometime soon and start using them more often and have found they hold a tighter tolerance on the kerf... 

Comment by Jerry Jordan on August 15, 2017 at 11:56pm

I'm curious. ,.do you put any glue in your fret slots, or do you just have a nice tight kerf?? My saw cuts nice slots in hardwood, but poplar n pine sometimes leave me with slightly wider slots.,.,

Comment by 43rd Shamrock on August 15, 2017 at 12:04pm

Jerry ... yup, Red Cedar fingerboard; I was able to latch on to a pile of 1/4" x 34" (L) Red Cedar wood (real cheap price) and cut all of it down to what is needed for the geetars. I should run out of the Cedar sometime in the year 2117 !

Comment by Jerry Jordan on August 15, 2017 at 2:22am

I really like the look of this one.,.,.cedar fingerboard??

Looks like a screamer.,..,