Warmoth 2 Canary on Canary Conversion
- Thread starter Cagey
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DangerousR6
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Is the neck gonna get a polishing? :icon_biggrin:
I assume you've seen the arbor press do-daddies that you put into a drill press and use it's leverage to seat the frets? It seems like an elegant idea, though I'm not sure how much down-pressure a drill press is really supposed to handle, just as I'm not too enamored of those sideways drum sander things... yes they brace the drum at the bottom too, but either of those things depend on the presses' bearings being tighter tolerance than the motor rotor's. There's probably like some difference between $100 drill presses and $2,000 ones. Aw shucks.
Cagey
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I've got a press caul and all the inserts for it to turn a drill press into a fret press. It's not a bad way to go if you've got a constant radius neck. But, with a compound radius, you end up having to change the insert 4 or 5 times during the course of a neck, then there's too much change from one radius to the next so you end up having to get out the dreaded fretting hammer anyway. Then, if you've glued them in, the hammer may not help as much as you'd like because the glue has set (or started to), so you end up doing a lot more levelling/crowning than you'd expect for a fresh set of frets. Any time saved using the press gets wasted truing everything up.
Even if you do have a constant radius neck, you have to start the frets with the hammer anyway. I suppose if you were a production shop or doing a LOT of fretting/refretting, the press is the way to go. But, for someone who does it once a month or so, the hammer is the way to go. You've already got it in your hand - lay a line of glue in the slot, finish the job for that fret and move on to the next one.
But, that may just be me.
I'd like to see how Warmoth does it, since the vast majority of their necks have compound radii.
Even if you do have a constant radius neck, you have to start the frets with the hammer anyway. I suppose if you were a production shop or doing a LOT of fretting/refretting, the press is the way to go. But, for someone who does it once a month or so, the hammer is the way to go. You've already got it in your hand - lay a line of glue in the slot, finish the job for that fret and move on to the next one.
But, that may just be me.
I'd like to see how Warmoth does it, since the vast majority of their necks have compound radii.
Do you have the li'l nipper that undercuts the fret ends? I have a friend who has the Stew-Mac version, if he hasn't thrown it in the trash yet... he says it always twists and bends the fret, his solution is to wind up his grinder to high speed and dematerialize the offending corners. My solution - avoid bound necks.... :laughing7: it may sound lazy, but Paul Reed Smith & Leo Fender agreed with me about that one thing at least. It's got to turn a two-hour job into a five-hour job, at least.
Cagey
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I used to have one. Several, in fact, as they don't last long. But, I recently got a nifty little jig that eliminates the need for nippers and is safer/more accurate than the dremel grinding trick...
Front view w/ tang ground off fret
Rear veiw
It's a pretty handy little widget. All you need is a medium to fine metal file. Cut the fret to length, put it in this jig to the right depth for the amount of tang you want to take off, clamp it in place with that set clamp knob on the bottom and those black rollers you see keep the file aligned so you just file away until you don't hear metal grinding any more. Pull the fret out, turn it around, and do it again. Very clean operation, and it doesn't wear out. Also doesn't care what kind/size frets you're using.
You can get one for your very own here.
Front view w/ tang ground off fret
Rear veiw
It's a pretty handy little widget. All you need is a medium to fine metal file. Cut the fret to length, put it in this jig to the right depth for the amount of tang you want to take off, clamp it in place with that set clamp knob on the bottom and those black rollers you see keep the file aligned so you just file away until you don't hear metal grinding any more. Pull the fret out, turn it around, and do it again. Very clean operation, and it doesn't wear out. Also doesn't care what kind/size frets you're using.
You can get one for your very own here.
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