Official Luthiers Forum!

My inlay goes over two frets. I would like to inlay then cut my frets, I use a hand saw, then file a "V" groove as I normally do before hammering in my frets. Would this groove keep the inlay from cracking as I hammer on the frets? Will my fret saw cut through the pearl inlay? Clinton

Your fret saw will definatly cut through the inlay but as for the fret going in you might want to think about how deep your inlay is. if it is thin, filing the bevel could go into the wood and bypass the barbs of the fret wire. If not you can always file the barbs and glue the fret. What ever you are the most comfortable with.

MOP will cut fairly well as the blade passes with out chipping too bad. Abalone has a tendency to flake well past the cut. I find it far better to slot first inlay over the lot and hand cut the inlay out of the slot if abalone is used. Now if using ablam this is less of an issue. But as I have stated many time I don't use ablam on fretboards.

I prefer to do the same...it has worked well when I've had to straddle a slot with inlay.

Joe

If you have already inlayed the board and not slotted yet, you can saw through the inlay with the fretsaw.Then camfer the inlay to take the sharp edge off the top of the pearl before pressing the fret.Be carful to not crush the pearl with the fret as that will crack or buckle it.The wider the pearl under the fret, the more careful you have to be.

I haven't inlayed the FB yet. Ok, slot then inlay then hand cut the inlay over the slot and file my groove as ususal. I was a little worried about hammering the frets over the inlay, I'll use a smaller sledge hammer. Thanks for the feedback ! Clinton