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| Bending fretwire to a 10 ft radius http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=30767 |
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| Author: | ernie [ Tue Jan 18, 2011 3:49 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Bending fretwire to a 10 ft radius |
I just finished fretting an acoustic nylon folk guitar with a 14 ft radius . Some of the frets are high , bowed etc. This is an older fretwire that seems soft and does not have any barbs. the tang is 1.5 mm deep and about .021 thickness. I would also like to use this fretwire ( sorry no photos0 to refret an old harmony archtop, rebuilt with an osage orange fingerboard. My question is , what techniques do you use for bending the fretwire to the correct radii. I have been using a 12 oz plastic hammer . I have seen fret bending tools on e - bay . Your suggestions and opinions would be appreciated |
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| Author: | Sondre [ Tue Jan 18, 2011 5:52 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Bending fretwire to a 10 ft radius |
I just make one convex and one concave hardwood block with the appropriate radius. Then I cut a slot for the tang in the convex block, place the fret in the slot and squeeze the blocks together. Simple, but it works for me |
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| Author: | Jeff Highland [ Tue Jan 18, 2011 6:48 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Bending fretwire to a 10 ft radius |
Soft and no barbs, sounds like a receipe for difficult installation and early wear. Good fretwire is cheap, using this seems like false economy. |
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| Author: | Quine [ Wed Jan 19, 2011 1:29 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Bending fretwire to a 10 ft radius |
I just bend it by hand with the tang pressing into my thumbs and use all fingers to bend. Seems to work well for me and I get a nice smooth bend with a couple passes. I bend the whole strip before cutting. I over bend it slightly so the ends of the fret touch the fingerboard and the middle is a few thousandths high |
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| Author: | Dan Pennington [ Wed Jan 19, 2011 1:48 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Bending fretwire to a 10 ft radius |
The old bar fret material came with no barbs. Installers would sometimes hammer a bunch of V shaped dents into the tang side of the bar every half inch or so. With a hammer kind of like a rock hound hammer. The V's would spread out a little and act as barbs to hold the fret in the wood. Give that a try or buy some tanged fret wire. |
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| Author: | ernie [ Wed Jan 19, 2011 9:34 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Bending fretwire to a 10 ft radius |
thanks everyone for the input. |
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