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I am refretting a classical guitar. I think it was already refretted once. The problem is that all the slots are quite oversize. Something like 0.028. The biggest fretwire I found is .0235. How would you proceed? Is there a way of reducing the slot size? What else? I have the fret crimper from Stewmac but I did not have good results. Mainly because after I tried to make the tang bigger, the fretwire becomes crooked. I got some good result by sizing the slot with some superglue. What else? thanks

Glue them in. Use Fish glue or HHG. You will need to clamp them until the glue dries. Just use a G clamp and a wooden caul on the frets. 0.028 (0.7 mm) is the kerf that I cut in new fretboards, so I know it works at that width. More than that (0.8mm) using HHG/Fish does not work. You need a bit of grip from the board as well.

Michael, why not superglue? also, why do you saw so big slots?

Superglue is much harder to clean up. It also stinks. It's also a lot more expensive than Fish Glue. If I stick my hand to the Neck I'll be going into Hospital looking very stupid. I don't like looking stupid. The Doctors and Nurses would pss themselves laughing. Why would I use superglue when I can use something much more benign and cheaper?
I cut wider slots because the method works. I can tap the fret in with the end of a chisel. No problems over the body. No danger of a backbow. The disadvantage is that it takes longer and you have to let the glue dry.

I use epoxy or thick CA. I use electricians tape on either side of the fret slot, squeeze in a bit of glue and use an appropriate feeler gauge to spread the glue in the slot. Remove the tape and press in the fret. Clamp in place until the glue dries. You can do 4 or 5 frets and clamp using an appropriately curved caul. I believe I picked this technique up from a Dan Erliwine video.

Hide glue - hot or cold. It's dark and blends in with the fingerboard. Works great.

And he didn't saw out the slots - someone else did.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

I made a fret tang expander tool similar to the one Frank Ford has here
http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luthier ... nder1.html
Takes a bit of practice to get a feel for how much pressure gives the right fit. I simply hate gluing in frets unless there is no other option.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

The ancient method is to ding the tang with the edge of a mill file.