Just finished my first refret tonight!!!

[Cygnus X1]

By the way, could you explain how did you "make" some of the tools?

One thing I have done...
I tape a piece of sandpaper onto an old neck to sand the radius into
a wood block. It actually can work for compound radii if you pay attention to the position and stroke length. The I take the newly made block and glue
sandpaper onto it. These can also be used for cauls for pressing.

[Trem]

Looks like as Mike said, this is probably some of the most valuable time youe spent with your guitar.
I was browsing about fret repair/re-fretting today at lunch, i checked out Mike Lull a local, renowed luth here in Seattle, site shows their process, interesting, then look at the cost of a full refret and on a bound neck

http://www.mikelull.com/Super400/super_400_refret.htm

[Norton]

One thing I have done...
I tape a piece of sandpaper onto an old neck to sand the radius into
a wood block. It actually can work for compound radii if you pay attention to the position and stroke length. The I take the newly made block and glue
sandpaper onto it. These can also be used for cauls for pressing.

Makes sense! Thanks!

[Budman68]

Norton, I'm sure you've probably seen this thread but thought I'd put it up just in case-

[goodwood]

Can you go into how you make the fret ends smooth along the edges of the fingerboard and possibly post some pics?
I am talking about the ends that jut out like on a new guitar that is in a less humid environment than it was when built. I never understood how they do that without chewing the hell out of the edges of the neck/fingerboard. I am sure that you'd have to do this after nipping the edges of newly installed frets.

[Budman68]

Update?

[RobRR]

Oh shit, sorry guys!! Ive been leveling and recrowning everything in sight latley!

I think Ive got it down pretty damn well! Getting my own technique in order. I only ordered enough fret wire for one neck, so I havent fretted anything else yet... but I found out LMI stocks Dunlop 6000 wire (HUUUGE) so Im ordering a bunch of that as well as some 6105 for my buddies neck I put a new board on, and few more gadgets.

[RobRR]

Alright heres some info on the tools I used...


This pic is of all the tools I currently have: Fret levels, fret end beveler, neck caul, fret end nppers, fret pullers,
fret press caul set, fret bevel file, fret end nipper, hand fret bender (dykes with a slot cut in one side) and the fret bender.


Here are my home made fret pullers and end nippers. The large blue one was bought at Sears for $4, and the smaller one came in a set for $10. To make them flat, I used a grinding wheel until flat. Then I sanded with 220, then polished on a buffing wheel with white rouge. The finish comes out like chrome if you do it right! Now for the end cutter, I heat treated it as well (not needed on the puller). Heat treating is basically heating it up until its red, then rapidly cooling it off in water. This just helps realign the molecules and makes it a bit harder. All in all, it takes about 10 minutes to make each too from start to finish. The end nippers go through frets like butter... the dents you see in the teeth are from my dumb ass trying it out on things that are much harder than they should have been. Frets will not damage the teeth at all. :ROTF:


This is my fret end filing block. Simple to make, works good. I used pine because its a soft wood and wont scratch the frets. This was really simple to make:


This is the fret bender... again very simple to make. This one is just the test bender. Im making it out of hardwood, but I figured Id use some extra MDF I had laying around to make sure its right. Its a modified version of some plans floating around the net. REAL simple to make and use, costs about $15.




And last but not least, are my fret leveling blocks. Not wanting to spend $130 for a set of 3 from Stew mac, I decided to make these. Start off with a 48* MACHINED carpenters level. They must be machined on both sides, extruded ones just arent straight enough. Then, with a metal cutoff saw or a metal cutoff disk on your compound mitre saw cut the different sizes you want! I went with 22", 12" and 4". This perticular level was bought at Home Depot for $30. Make sure to clean up the metal edges that you cut... it can get very sharp!

[Spivonious]

Question: For the fret bender, isn't this where you set the radius of the bend? How can you do that on such a small wheel? Wouldn't you need something 24" across?

[RobRR]

No see, you run the fret wire through it. How high or low the wheel on the right is dictates how much of a radius is being put on the wire.

[Spivonious]

Ahhh, I see how it works now. That's a neat tool!

[Bengal65]

Very Nice work there Rob! And good thinking on making your own tools. Me, I'm too lazy. I just buy the StewMac stuff

[Cygnus X1]

Just my style. I underestimated you, Rob.
Great work! I have worked for years using homebuilt tools and fixtures,
including a tensioning fixture like Earlwine's, only much stronger.
I don't buy into the "tilt" feature, the indicator only moves maybe .005" when the whole thing is tilted, so it's not enough to worry about.

[RobRR]

Thanks Cygnus... I love making all my own stuff. Not JUST to save money, but for the fact that I did it myself.

If you count up all the tools I made and ordered them through Stew Mac, the total would be $358.46. On the other hand, I spent about $65 on materials and a little bit of time. Thats about $300 that I saved.

[j2379]

so Rob how much for a level crown & polish