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I am to the fretting stage on #1 and need some advice on how to proceed. Are the fretting saws at Stew Mac any good? What about their miter box? Being a newbie, I am not sure if the miter box is necessary or overkill. So I would appreciate any advice on tools and technique. I don't mind forking over a little bit extra dough for good quality tools, and I prefer tools made in the US of A.

Well, if you don't mind forking out the dough.,.
If you have a tablesaw, get the LMI power slotting system. Stiffeners are not part of the blade, and cheap replacement blades are available.

Here's my procedure...
1. Plane one edge of the board straight, to be the reference edge.
2. Use a square to mark a line across near one end... this is the nut line.
3. Lay a ruler along the board with one end at the nut line.
4. Go along poking an x-acto knife into the board at each fret position along the ruler.
5. Move the ruler over sideways and repeat step 5.
6. If you really want to be thorough, add a 3rd set of marks to make sure you don't get any slots angled at all.
7. Time for cutting. Clamp a squared up wood block at the nut line to use as a saw guide, and cut all the way through.
8. Clamp the block at the first fret marks, and cut half way through. Repeat for all other frets.

Takes a while longer than a miter box since you need to mark positions at least twice to get the guide block squared up, but one nice thing is that you can use the same procedure for fan fret fingerboards.

I use a StewMac fret saw.

And when you get to actually installing the frets, here's a recent post where I described how I press them in without an expensive fret press http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10123&t=30978

thanks for the advice guys. I want to cut the frets with a hand saw. Dennis do you use the regular fretting saw from Stew Mac or their Japanese fretting saw? How is it working out? I have seen some reviews that the regular saw goes dull quickly.

Japanese pull saws always seem sharper and easier to me, but it's a personal preference. It's easy to slot by hand, you need to establish one straight edge dead square with what will be the nut end of your fretboard. Mark your fret locations with a sharp knife on the edge of the board, that's the most critical part of the work. Then, put a stop to one edge of your saw blade to establish depth (with double stick tape), clamp the fretboard to your bench and use a small square aligned to your marks to saw your slots. Go slowly, and in 1/2 hour you'll be done.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

I've had the same Stew Mac fret saw for probably 15 years now. It's got the depth gauge setting on it, very simple device, to set your depth of cut. I've done at least 30 fret boards with it over the years and always use it to sure up pre-slotted boards which I tend to buy today.

Works for me.

Mixed reports over the Stewmac (or LMI) western fret saw. Some hate it. I did, until I decided to have a go at sharpening it. Transformed it. Even from new it was barely usable or at least a real struggle, endlessly rubbing in candle wax.
I no longer need the wax, effortless.

Ah now that you mention it, I did sharpen my Stew Mac saw as well. Forgot about that.

I got a stewmac too, I sawed one fretboard. madagascar ebony. It took me 3 days to cut the slots. It was so hard. It was my 1st guitar too. Well then my 2nd I did a pau ferro. Like butter. Sanding the taper sucks too. Blow alot of sandpaper. Now I find it easier to buy them from lmi if you have the right scale. It all depends if you want to be handcrafted like McPherson. LOL

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Jason Moe
LaCrosse WI 54601

Don't care for the SM mitre box. If I had it to do again, I'd get the LMI.

If you can build a guitar, you can build a simple miter box.

that allen wrench is filed down to a pin for the lmi or stewmac fret templates. Thought about turning the radial arm saw into a fret slotter since its never used anyways, but after seeing how quick it was to do it by hand, I'm happy!

Ummmm, so. I guess that means there's an easier way to do it?? ....the wax (I use beeswax) has been a very consistent part of this process for me.

And I guess I was looking at it as a plus, what with my forearms getting bigger and all. Well, not really. nasty job.

How do you sharpen a fret saw? Something I can do, or needs to be sent out?

I am wondering the same thing. I have that LMI saw and it would bind up so easily it was driving me crazy.

This is one of the best guides out there:

http://www.vintagesaws.com/library/primer/sharp.html

The one that I have is a western saw but with the blade reversed, so that it cuts on the pull stroke. That will confuse matters when using any saw sharpening methods. Might even confuse a few pro. saw doctors.
I said I sharpened mine. it was more like a 'touch up', the teeth were in very good shape - just not as sharp as they should be.
It's probably not the easiest saw to learn how to sharpen. Regular Rip cut with fewer teeth would be much easier. Good light and a magnifier is a must for the little teeth.

I decided to go with the western Stew Mac saw with depth of cut stop. I hope it gets here today or tomorrow and can start cutting this weekend. Micheal that's a great article on sharpening saws. Ill let you guys know how it goes!

I cut mine by hand with the LMI saw (I think), after using the Ibex fret ruler from Martin for lay out. Pretty low tech and simple, though labor intensive and tedious at times. I think some of us have varying degrees of saw control skill to consider too when attempting this by hand.

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"Preoccupation with an effect gives it power and enhances the error"
from "Your Owner's Manual" by Burt Hotchkiss.

I thought I would revive this topic and ask for some advice. I am cutting fret slots on #2 and I accidentally cut one of the slots too wide at one end while cutting a fret slot. The fret fits in fairly tight at one end but it's very loose at the other end. Will I be ok to just add a bit more glue to the loose end when placing the fret or should I fill the fret and start over? If so what do I fill it with? Titebond and wood dust? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.