Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on July 17, 2011 at 8:22am

I'd think steel nails would work better; copper's just too soft for aggressive slide.

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Permalink Reply by Grease Stains on July 17, 2011 at 8:29am

the hanger i cut up was steel, and i figured it would be easyer to work with, as cutting nails tend to take a lot of time. what do you use to hold the nails in?

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Permalink Reply by Reverend Otis on July 17, 2011 at 9:04am

finish brad nails from a air compressed nail gun work great! they are already half round , galvenized and can be filed easily

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Permalink Reply by Grease Stains on July 17, 2011 at 10:24am

nice, thanks otis, i'll look into 'em.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on July 17, 2011 at 3:39pm

Grease,
I use galvanized finishing nails, cut a fret groove, then epoxy 'em into the groove.

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Permalink Reply by Grease Stains on July 18, 2011 at 4:32am

right on man, thx Oily! as soon as i get some extra cash, i'll experiment with that.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Werner on July 18, 2011 at 9:46am

I found a very nice material at a hobby shop that caters to the model-airplane crowd.  They had a whole rack of small-scale metal bits, including very fine brass rod stock and tubing ranging from about 1/8" down to 1/16".

You can get enough to make an average guitar neck for just a few bucks.... Easier to cut than steel nails and dead straight.

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Permalink Reply by Grease Stains on July 19, 2011 at 5:58am

right on mark, thats something i'll keep in mind as well. there has to be a model plane shop around here somewhere. thx man!

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Permalink Reply by Sharecropper on July 19, 2011 at 7:25am

 I've used the the brass rods Mark speaks of on 4 or 5 builds .  I've super glued them in then covered the fretboard with polyurethane to help keep them in.  I've always have to tweak them quite a bit to get them all level with each other and often re glue frets back in when, or add glue, after adjusting them or filing them.....before covering the neck with polyurethane. When done the brass rods work very well and look like "real frets".   That being said I now ,when ever possible, use REAL FRETS .  They ARE MUCH EASIER to work with.  I then cover the fret board with tung oil when done .  The tung oil makes the fret board feel like silk compared to polyurethane .       On my next rustic build I am considering useing staples, one underneath each string , as "Wade"......?  ,on this site, has done .        

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Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on July 19, 2011 at 10:38am

I used 3/8 inch cotter pins. the brass ones and the zinc coated ones are the easiest to cut. the stainless steel ones are really hard to cut.

I sawed in a shallow trench with my miter saw and set the cotter pin on the trench.

but, yes, "real" fretwire is much easier to work with, and gives a more consistent result. and you can get it in brass/gold tone, too.

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Permalink Reply by Grease Stains on July 19, 2011 at 2:12pm

thanks Sharecropper and Diane! i'd prefer to use real frets, but'll cash is tight at the moment, i was diggin around looking for scraps. thats for the tip about the tung oil as well sharecropper, i'm new to woodworking. just did a fretless neck with a coat of poly on it. it turned out well but i did notice is has a "sticky" touch to it.

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Permalink Reply by Steven from a nice place... on July 19, 2011 at 3:26pm

not to hijack this thread or anything, but here's a good follow up question... what do you think is the best glue/ epoxy for attaching makeshift wire frets to the fret board?

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