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Making quick work of fretwork

Just adding a pictorial post on a few things I've worked out for making this task go smoothly.

Cutting: a rotary tool with a cut off wheel. I use a small clamp on vice and mark the jaw with blue tape to the width I need. Just clamp, cut and repeat.

Next I converted an old sheet metal nipper into a fret tang cutter. I just unscrewed the die plate and used a cutting wheel on the dremel. This can be done with the same greenlee type found in hardware stores.

I used a small round file to cut a groove into a small piece of maple. This allows me to use a flat file to dress the fret tang that I cut above.

As I like to bind my fret boards, cutting the fret tangs is a requirement but even for unbound fret boards cutting the tang back makes it the fret dressing job smoother. Also you can fill the fret slot with filler to add to a better hand feel.

The last tip is I like to use a small tack hammer to do the initial edge work on the frets. This also ensures that the fret ends are driven in with a slight dip. From there I file with a flat file till I'm flush with the binding. From there all that is needed is minimal fret dressing after I level the frets and then I use fine grit wet dry paper glued to a piece of small hardwood.

On this one I did the fret work before gluing to the neck. Typically I glue the fret board first but did this one differently to make the photo work easier.

Hope some find this post useful.

Don

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Permalink Reply by Mungo Park on September 25, 2010 at 3:03pm

Hey Man, great tips, I can see you have done one of these before.
Cheers Ron.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Harrison on September 26, 2010 at 3:03am

Thanks for taking the time to show all this. What type of glue did you use to glue the binding?
Cheers
Bob:)

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Permalink Reply by Don Goguen on September 26, 2010 at 3:24am

I use Weld-On #16 Acrylic solvent cement from Stew Mac.

I also buy my binding stock from them. It is more costly than say Ebay but I like the quality. The edges are square so there is no prep work involved. I bought some binding stock for a $1 off of Ebay and the edges are very rough. It requires more work than I think its worth to square the edges so I just buy from Stew Mac and pay the premium. My time is far more valuable.

At my last job, I wrote user manuals, set-up guides and such. I kind of miss my writing days so I've taken to doing it here. Hope no one minds.

If anyone is interested in a binding post, I could photo document the next one. I have some zebra and leopard wood I need to mill for some up coming builds. I also plan on trying laminating black and white binding for that classic look.

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Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on September 26, 2010 at 3:34am

This is really great!

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Permalink Reply by Bob Harrison on September 26, 2010 at 4:23am

Yes, absoultly post anything about binding. I understand your love for your past job and your love to teach about binding. This is why I spent so much time building my pup winder, I miss the machine trade.
Cheers
Bob:)
Don Goguen said:

I use Weld-On #16 Acrylic solvent cement from Stew Mac.

I also buy my binding stock from them. It is more costly than say Ebay but I like the quality. The edges are square so there is no prep work involved. I bought some binding stock for a $1 off of Ebay and the edges are very rough. It requires more work than I think its worth to square the edges so I just buy from Stew Mac and pay the premium. My time is far more valuable.

At my last job, I wrote user manuals, set-up guides and such. I kind of miss my writing days so I've taken to doing it here. Hope no one minds.

If anyone is interested in a binding post, I could photo document the next one. I have some zebra and leopard wood I need to mill for some up coming builds. I also plan on trying laminating black and white binding for that classic look.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on September 26, 2010 at 4:53am

Everything in here is brilliant but why a dremel for cutting the wire? Is it giving you better accuracy? I can't imagine that being faster than end cutters and I figure you burn through a few wheels after a while.

Again, really good stuff!

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Permalink Reply by Don Goguen on September 26, 2010 at 2:02pm

End cutters are indeed faster for making the cuts but the one advantage I find with using a cut off wheel (dremel and air grinder) is that I get a nice square cut. I used two cheap wheels for twenty frets and the second one still has some cut left. What I do find is that the vice holding the wire still helps with blade life a bit.

The end cutting pliers mash the fret wire a bit more than I like and I end up spending more time with a file dressing them up before installing. One offsets the other in terms of time savings. I've tried this a variety of ways. Not saying this is the definitive way of doing it, only what seems to work for me.

Yesterday working from raw fret wire to dressing and glue up, less than an hour. For me this has been the fastest so far. Always room for improvement if you have ideas.

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Permalink Reply by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on September 27, 2010 at 5:05am

I didn't want to imply that I thought you were doing something wrong. My nature is usually to assume that someone has caught something that I missed, so I was just curious what the pros and cons were.

Thanks!

Don Goguen said:

End cutters are indeed faster for making the cuts but the one advantage I find with using a cut off wheel (dremel and air grinder) is that I get a nice square cut. I used two cheap wheels for twenty frets and the second one still has some cut left. What I do find is that the vice holding the wire still helps with blade life a bit.

The end cutting pliers mash the fret wire a bit more than I like and I end up spending more time with a file dressing them up before installing. One offsets the other in terms of time savings. I've tried this a variety of ways. Not saying this is the definitive way of doing it, only what seems to work for me.

Yesterday working from raw fret wire to dressing and glue up, less than an hour. For me this has been the fastest so far. Always room for improvement if you have ideas.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Don Goguen on September 27, 2010 at 11:24am

I didn't think you were. I am just naturally careful in making sure I'm clear and positive. It probably comes from it being inferred that I had some kind of a "tude" back when I was new to the community. Too much enthusiasm perhaps.

Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) said:

I didn't want to imply that I thought you were doing something wrong. My nature is usually to assume that someone has caught something that I missed, so I was just curious what the pros and cons were.

Thanks!

Don Goguen said:
End cutters are indeed faster for making the cuts but the one advantage I find with using a cut off wheel (dremel and air grinder) is that I get a nice square cut. I used two cheap wheels for twenty frets and the second one still has some cut left. What I do find is that the vice holding the wire still helps with blade life a bit.

The end cutting pliers mash the fret wire a bit more than I like and I end up spending more time with a file dressing them up before installing. One offsets the other in terms of time savings. I've tried this a variety of ways. Not saying this is the definitive way of doing it, only what seems to work for me.

Yesterday working from raw fret wire to dressing and glue up, less than an hour. For me this has been the fastest so far. Always room for improvement if you have ideas.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Michael Gajeski on September 27, 2010 at 6:37pm

A tip i picked up from back porch mojo was to fret your neck and then use a belt sander to dress it. a few quick passes on both sides will get them nice and flush, and then you can use it to put the bevel on also. after that, a little (VERY little) work with the files to clean everything up and you're in business.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Gajeski on September 27, 2010 at 6:50pm

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Permalink Reply by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on September 28, 2010 at 5:13am

God, you sure would need a steady hand for this. DD has cranked out probably hundreds of guitars and has had lots of practice but I would advise caution for someone trying that for the first time. A belt sander takes material off so freaking fast.

Michael Gajeski said:

A tip i picked up from back porch mojo was to fret your neck and then use a belt sander to dress it. a few quick passes on both sides will get them nice and flush, and then you can use it to put the bevel on also. after that, a little (VERY little) work with the files to clean everything up and you're in business.