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12% or 18% Nickel silver fretwire.
http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=43341		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Colin North [ Wed Apr 30, 2014 1:25 pm ]
Post subject:  12% or 18% Nickel silver fretwire.
I believe the 18% is harder and I've always used SM's so far
What is 12% used for?
Author:  Hesh [ Wed Apr 30, 2014 2:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: 12% or 18% Nickel silver fretwire.
If you have enough of it it's used to hold down your trash can until the truck comes.... :D

18% if NS is your bag is what you want not 12%. We inherited a LOT of the lower percentage NS stuff and pitched it, it's awful and at least the stuff that we had could be tied in knots by hand with little effort.

What's it suitable for - beats me, seems way too soft to last well. It's easy enough to spring a fret when hammering (tapping....) with 18% so the 12% must just dent, twist, do what ever it wants....

I was just looking at Jescar's site, Jescar is my favorite, and they are now selling fret wire in one guitar sets already precut which means that hobby builders or anyone not wishing to break the bank buying fret wire can purchase small, inexpensive quantities. I think that you, Colin want more of a stock pile but for other OLFers this link may be useful:

https://www.jescar.com/?product_cat=nickel-silver

We only use Jescar and buy it by the pound and a typical order for us is thousands....
Author:  John Arnold [ Wed Apr 30, 2014 7:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: 12% or 18% Nickel silver fretwire.
I'm looking for 30%. Let me know if you find it.
Hardness is not so much a function of the nickel content, but how much annealing the metal has undergone.
Some of the older fretwire (which supposedly is 30% nickel), is very easily bent.
I see the 12% mostly on classical guitars.....and cheap imports.
Author:  theguitarwhisperer [ Wed Apr 30, 2014 8:00 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: 12% or 18% Nickel silver fretwire.
Makes me think one could go about annealing their own wire somehow.

But if that's true why are you looking for 30% wire?
Author:  Eric Reid [ Wed Apr 30, 2014 9:34 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: 12% or 18% Nickel silver fretwire.
Annealing softens fretwire. The only way to make a given alloy of fretwire harder is through work-hardening (cold rolling, hammering). I don't know what all goes into the selection of fretwire alloys. (Metal prices? Die wear? Ease of forming?) Jescar makes the nicest fretwire I've used. I don't think they're cutting any corners. This site suggests that other alloy ingredients are as important to obtainable hardness as is nickel content: http://www.nealloys.com/cupro_nickel.php (Notice Rockwell B values) (Fret wear may not correlate perfectly with fret hardness.)
Author:  John Arnold [ Thu May 01, 2014 7:34 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: 12% or 18% Nickel silver fretwire.
Quote:
Makes me think one could go about annealing their own wire somehow.


You can. Heat it up and quench it. The bar fret wire that Martin used started out round, and was rolled flat. The wire must be annealed between passes through the roller. But that was not my point.

Quote:
But if that's true why are you looking for 30% wire?


Durability. Even when soft and easily bent, the older fretwire lasts forever. I have seen many prewar guitars with the original frets. With the modern fretwire, I have had to replace frets after 8 months of daily use. If this superior durability is not because of the nickel content, I am ready for the real answer.
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