Making your own fretting tools, Lots of good Ideas out on the net.

[Slobrain]

Well, I have been trying to put tools together to refret a strat neck and it rises a good question, how to get tools but not break the bank.

I just built my first fret bender from ideas off the net and now thinking about how to make a welders vice grip into a hand held fret press like the fret jaws Stewmac sells.

Stew Mac has some great tools but, Darn those prices are hi... I want to try both the hammer method and the press method and I see many excellent videos on Youtube doing both methods, seems many guys are now doing their own refrets, sort of like building PCs... I remember my first PC build, I was nervous but after the first build it was a blast to build more...LOL

Anyway I wanted to see how many folks here have built there own tools to do this and how well did they work for the task at hand?

I'll start with my quick made fret bender from ideas I got off the net. The top roller is adjustable to get the different radius and you push and pull the wire thru at the same time.

Tools I gathered so far,
home made fret bender
small fret hammer
large fret hammer
Fret pullers
fret nippers
12 inch radius wood sanding block
fret slot cleaning blade
Thickness guage for determining fret slot widths
Large 18 inch fret leveler with sandpaper, Got that idea from Mr Ron Kirn
notched straight edge with 24.75 on one side and 25.5 on the other.

Still needed
fretboard saw
fret press caul, either for a drill press or home made jaws
Fret dressing files.
neck caul for supporting the neck

Cheers

[tmenss]

Visit Fret.net, Frank Ford shares a ton of tool tips. I buy harbor freight tools and alter them, expecially the multi-tool saws, gind them to the fret slot width you need then cut the bits you need for a slot cleaning tool. I bought several of the cheap backsaws and reground them to various widths, changed some to pull cut yada, yada. Get a pak or two of the smal diamond files and learn to keep your saws leveled and sharp for your cutting requirements. I think I got this idea from Frank Ford...an accurate block that he sunk a couple neo magnets into..he uses this to keep his saw aligned while cutting fret slots. Keeps the wobble and the slot size to what you want also remember, you don't want to just follow the slot you want an accurately positioned slot. Measure twice cut once should still apply here.

If you're practicing on Squier necks, think about changing the profile of the neck. I don't trust trying to do a slim "C" (don't know how close the truss rod is to the surface back there) but I've done asymetrical "v" and love it. I hog it out with a rasp and shape with a razor blade that I turn the edge with and plane off onion skin slices of wood. I dont remove any other finish but where I've scraped and then finish the raw wood with tru-oil. Looks like you got enough tools for now so get started ... just think a few steps ahead at each step and you'll be fine. Have Fun.

[Plucky]

@tmenss: You mean frets.com.

[tmenss]

@tmenss: You mean frets.com.

Plucky, I stand corrected.
Slobrain whats your thoughts on fingerboard edges and finishing fret ends? You thinking about rolling the fingerbooard edges and got any fret end finishing tools and tricks?

[Slobrain]

Plucky, I stand corrected.
Slobrain whats your thoughts on fingerboard edges and finishing fret ends? You thinking about rolling the fingerbooard edges and got any fret end finishing tools and tricks?

Well, I've tried guitars that have had the rolled edges and they felt good, As far as rolling the edges you can do that with a razor blade and scrape the fretboard edge in between each fret carefully. The way I finish fret ends I will use a 320 grit sandpaper, the black stuff and a rubber sanding block and go over them from the sides a bit, then finish with steel wool after that. It’s pretty simple but gets the job done. I don't like fret ends radiused to much at an angle, only slight. Warmoth does a good job on the way they only slight radius the ends. To much radius angle on a fret end leaves more room to have the low E and Hi E slide off the sides.

I'm really not an expert though on fret finishing. I have done leveling for years, just changed that method to the Ron Kirn method and it works well. As far as crowning I do it thru using steel wool, a bit crude but works well for me. As for fret replacement I'm trying to learn more different techniques but that’s a whole new game... something to challenge me to get a better playing neck from necks with low or worn out frets..

I'm trying to get into doing more on the fretboard than just replacing frets to get the neck where I would want it. The one thing I don't really like is a 9.5 fretboard radius so I want to change that 10 or a 12 inch radius. Some folks feel the 9.5 are really comfortable but I tend to like a neck with a flatter radius.

My ideal strat has a neck that is the conversion 24-3/4 scale and maybe between 12 to a 14 inch radius. I don't see anyone out there building a strat like that. Warmoth is a 10 to 16 radius that works well.

The one thing alot of folks do not understand about scale length is that the shorter the neck scale the easier the strings are to bend. That’s why some guys are Gibson guys and others are strat guys, strats are harder to play due to the longer scale. I have small hands so the shorter scale feels better to me. My ideal all around ultimate guitar is a strat with a 24-3/4 scale neck, 10 to 16 fretboard radius. Two humbucker with a single coil pickup setup. and a stock tremolo that has a brass block. basically I have had to put them together to get a strat I like.
Fender did make something similar in the mid 80's on the Japan Contemporary line and Squier Contemporary line but I haven’t seen them do that since. Having taller frets than the stock Dunlop 6150 also helps like a 6100 or a 6105 maybe.

Everyone has a different idea though on the ultimate guitar.

Cheers

[tmenss]

You've put lots of thought into the details. Yeah, when you start customizing the fingerboard it's all or nothing, but it is satisfying. I like rolled edges on strat necks and getting just the correct fret end feel is important. I don't like the chisel bevel fret ends for at least the same reason you mentioned about the strings falling off. In a perfect world, I'd have semi-hemi ends with the tips just touching the rolled edge where it flattens to the playing surface. I hardly bevel then knock the sharp edges with triangular file that had the edges ground free of file teeth. I'm an intonation freak so I'm particular about crowning, and being diehard DIY I've gone as far as making my own crowning tools.
I like the ease of play of shorter scale (less string tension needed) but I've just stuck with 25.5" scale. I use very low action hardly any neck relief, I do add some fretboard fallaway past the 12th fret, but I also fret lightly. I like the vintage bridge spacing and installed Wilkinson vintage trems with the steel block and am very pleased with thier performance, they don't cost an arm and leg either. I'll be doing a refret with EVO fretwire in an upcoming project. Goof luck with your refret.

[Slobrain]

You've put lots of thought into the details. Yeah, when you start customizing the fingerboard it's all or nothing, but it is satisfying. I like rolled edges on strat necks and getting just the correct fret end feel is important. I don't like the chisel bevel fret ends for at least the same reason you mentioned about the strings falling off. In a perfect world, I'd have semi-hemi ends with the tips just touching the rolled edge where it flattens to the playing surface. I hardly bevel then knock the sharp edges with triangular file that had the edges ground free of file teeth. I'm an intonation freak so I'm particular about crowning, and being diehard DIY I've gone as far as making my own crowning tools.
I like the ease of play of shorter scale (less string tension needed) but I've just stuck with 25.5" scale. I use very low action hardly any neck relief, I do add some fretboard fallaway past the 12th fret, but I also fret lightly. I like the vintage bridge spacing and installed Wilkinson vintage trems with the steel block and am very pleased with thier performance, they don't cost an arm and leg either. I'll be doing a refret with EVO fretwire in an upcoming project. Goof luck with your refret.

Hey Tmenss,

I have real low string action and almost no relief on my necks too. I also am a player with the light touch, I feel I can do more that way. Definitally not the hard hitting SRV style...

I have heard a few folks talking about the new EVO frets. I wonder though, what will these do tone wise? I hear people say the stainless steel frets make tone more bright. Have you tried the EVOs on a refret before?

Slo

[tmenss]

Some people said the stainless have a "plinky" sound on fretting (hammer-on) so it may be technique related and materials related to a less degree then construction related. I figure I have an ability to influence each aspect, so personally I expect only positive changes in tone!

A friend of mine sent me about a foot each of stainless and EVO quite a while back to evaluate. I dismissed the thought of using SS or EVO since my toolset and technique really geared for regular fret material. I believe that I can perform an installation of EVO frets that may not require a fret level and still meet my playing requirements. Given my anal approach to exacting profiles during crowning, it's both an attitude and practical decision. If I don't like the results it will take me less time to rip out the EVO's then reinstall following a nickel silver schedule.

[jrfrond]

I started doing guitar repair back in the mid-70's, and there was NO StewMac or AllParts or whatever, so along the way, we ALL made our own tools, and though I've purchased MANY tools from StewMac over the years (time is money, and I have less of the former than the latter), I still have a lot of my own homemade ones, like saws, "safe" files, special drivers, etc. I love when I see something like one of my homebrews suddenly appear in the StewMac catalog! But before I bought the Fretbender and Fret Press, I bent frets by hand and hammered 'em in like everyone else. Yes, Harbor Freight is uber-cool for mod-platform tools.

My trick for rolling fingerboard edges is how I finish them up. I use my old, trusty, well-used safe file lengthwise along the corner of the fingerboard to create the roundover. Then, after fine-sanding, I use a piece of raw leather glued to a wood block, lengthwise, and burnish the roundover to simulate years of skin-to-wood contact and the resulting polishing effect that occurs. Gives it a real broken-in feel. Since this is a friction process, the edge gets pretty warm. It works like an old razor strop. This system works great on those Japanese AllParts necks which are wonderful, but feel a little sterile and too precise. As a guitar-builder friend of mine says, who I turned onto these beauties "They're great once you sand the Jap out of them".

This approach works well for relicing necks as well. You can simulate the LOOK of wear all you want, but the broken-in feel is a slow, gradual burnishing process, done with human skin and oils.

[Slobrain]

Hey John,

Great info on your method of fretboard rolling. I might give that method a try when I have some time. At the moment I'm thinking about building a wood fret bevel block that can do the 30/90 degree. I seen one on Ebay and feel I can probably make one of those instead of the hi priced stewmac type.

I wanted to ask, when you have to deepen a fret slot after re-radiusing a fretboard flatter, how do you do this? Do you use a fret saw with the depth stop or do you use something different? Also do you wick up the CA glue after pressing in frets?

I'm debating on taking a strat neck with a 9.5 radius down to a 12 inch radius but thining out the fret dots worry me. I might just go to a 10 inch radius instead.
I'll be pressing in the dunlop 6100s in this neck and then maybe try to roll the fretboard edges after that. I have a few necks I want to change. especially a old ESP neck that plays great but has medium frets and I want to install maybe 6100's or 6105s.

What is your favorite fret to play on?

Slo

[jrfrond]

You can make an angled bevel file, or you can just glue a mill-smooth file to a wood block and eyeball it. This is generally what I do, even though I bought the StewMac version a long time ago. BTW- new files are aggressive when new. Always run a new file over the teeth of an old file a could of times to "relax" it a bit.

You COULD make a simple depth stop with a fret file. Again, I usually just go slow and eyeball it.

For pressed-in frets, I always apply wax on both sides of the fret and then use a pipette to apply water-thin Super Glue, which also offers the fringe benefit of swelling the slot slightly.

I like Dunlop 6230 medium-jumbo or 6130 medium. 6100 is like playing on railroad ties and almost feels like a scalloped neck. Too high for my taste, and you need a really light touch not to pull the strings out of tune.

[Slobrain]

Hey John,

Thanks for the good advice. I had a Nicholson Mill bastard file for a while so I decided to cut a slot in some old wood scaps I had laying around. so that way I could file down using the wood as a guide. I need to bevel on side of the wood block so I can then radius the fret edges.

I also modified my fret bender a bit to work better. Here are some pics of a Squier strat neck that I'm going to either use a 10 inch radius block or maybe get daring and do the 12 inch radius for sanding the fretboard. heating the frets and walking them out wasn't as bad as I thought.

I got a fret saw and the fret press caul on the way from Stewmac. This should be cool to try. I have the CA hotstuff to wick in the frets once pressed.

The 6100's feel good to me, I got used to bigger frets in 1990 when I bought a Charvel fusion that had big frets. I learned to play lighter due to that guitar. Also had an Ibanez RG560 and a 470 and they had big frets too. I do like tall thin frets like the 6105, those have a good feel. I used to use the Dunlop 6150s on my strat necks but my fingers would drag and with small hands I need all the help I can get playing on a 25-1/2 scale bending notes. The dunlop 6130's are good frets too.

Cheers

[Slobrain]

Hey John,

What's the best way to change a 9.5 radius on a fretboard to a 12 inch without ruining the fretboard?

Take a look at the pics of some fret wire i was practacing with on a wood block. This stuff is railroad ties...LOL
A buddy bought it from a local music store. The two in the middle are huge, the one to the right is a 6100 and the others are old frets pulled from a squier neck. I was testing my hammering skills.