Official Luthiers Forum!

Last time I worked with stainless steel fret (which makes you swear you won't work with it again) the biggest problem I had was installing them in a bound fretboard and cutting the fret after it went in.

I can of course use a large wire cutter to cut the wire, but after it's on the fretboard the large cutter only goes so far, and any standard flush fret cutter would be destroyed by the super hard fretwire. I tried grinding it off but the heat ended up destroying any glue used to hold the fret, not to mention being hot enough to scorch the maple binding!

Has anyone used a dremel cut-off wheel without superheating the fretwire?

I now understand why Warmoth won't offer stainless steel frets on any bound fretboard...

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I haven't used Stainless Steel frets, but why not finish the fret ends prior to installing them on the bound fingerboard. It takes a bit more work to do because every fret must be precisely cut for proper width (start with the lower frets so if you cut one too short, you can use it further up the neck), but I know a few builders use this method to make some very nice looking rounded end (I can't remember what the final consensus around here was regarding the "proper" name of such treatment: semi-hemispherical, half-round, quarter-spherical, Somogyi style, etc., etc. . . . ? ) frets. I think there is a tutorial describing the process in the tutorial section. Just a thought.

_________________
Aaron Craig

I cut the frets just slightly larger than the FB with a Dremel cutoff wheel. I cut off the necessary tang with Stewmac's tang nipper. After installing, I simply clamp the FB on its side in a vise and file them flush to the binding with a metal file. After that, I file in a 35* bevel as easy as can be. Never had a problem...I can't understand why anyone would decline to offer bound frets with SS! I actually don't even offer standard fret material anymore on new guitars.

_________________
JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Im with this guy!
Cept I file the tang with a jig similar to the lmii setup instead of tang nipper ( just an old fretboard chunk that holds the wire while I file it with a mini file... no guides... works great....)
and I use GIANT end nippers to cut the fretwire to size.... bought the biggest ones i could find and it's still a bit of a bear.... but the end result is worth it....

I cut SS fret wire with a hardware store pair of diagonals and trim on a bound fretboard with a flush ground pair of hardware store nippers. Then use a file in a kerfed piece of hardwood to make them flush and bevel. They are harder but manageable.

Chuck

_________________
_________________

I trim the tang off with the tang nipper from Stew-mac and file the bottom smooth with a small file. Once installed, I never have a problem trimming the fret with a fret end nipper.

_________________
Old growth, shmold growth!

Can the stewmac nipper cut the hard SS fret without wearing out prematurely? They are a bit expensive.

Also, how do you make sure that you pre-grind the frets to the exact width of the fingerboard, so that once you install it no further work is necessary? I ask this because you generally have to over-radius the frets so that it will be slightly longer than the width of the fretboard once installed.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I do mine this way and I only over radius a small amount. In an over-sized fret slot (so the fret can be fully seated) the center of the fret is only about 0.025" proud of the surface. The fret doesn't get much longer when it is installed. I make my fret lengths about 0.040" - 0.050" less than the width of the board. I don't measure it though (although maybe I should), I just do it by eye. You might try making a dummy piece of radiused fret board with over-size slots so you can practice getting the frets the length you want using your setup and technique.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I have the LMI fret end nipper and the stew-mac fret tang nipper. I only nip about 1 milimeter at a time off the tang. My frets overhang the fretboard slightly, like a normal nickel silver fret job would be and I use the fret end nipper to cut the fret flush to the fretboard edge like normal. I bought my fret end nipper 5 or six years ago, it's still going strong. You have to be careful when you nip the steel fret not to pull on the wire as you cut it, nor twist it, otherwise you may chip the cutting edges.

_________________
Old growth, shmold growth!

I cut mine with a long handled pair of wire cutters I got off the Mac tool truck. I've got the LMI fret tang removal tool. It's expensive, but works great, especially with SS wire. http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdproducts.asp?CategoryName=Fretting&NameProdHeader=Fret+Tang+Removal+Tool




I tired that and created alot of heat. I believe you (or maybe Mario) told me specifically which cut off wheel to use, but I've lost that information.



I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who prefers bound boards.

_________________
I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

I tired that and created alot of heat. I believe you (or maybe Mario) told me specifically which cut off wheel to use, but I've lost that information.

quote]

Woody...Mario recommended a wheel that he uses on his angle grinder. I still use the Dremel cutoff wheel. If you cut the fretwire all the way through it will definitely get red hot...not a good thing metallurgically nor physiologically. I cut it partially through and just bend & break it the rest of the way. It has jagged edges but we're going to take a file to it anyway. Wear leather gloves!

I'm leaning toward a better method for tang removal...even though the SM nipper works, it's hard on the hand and I may go the LMI route. Thanks for the tip.

_________________
JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com