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Brad


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Optimist Primed…

I don't know why to use them horizontal and not vertical.

I split the difference and do mine at a 45, with the bottom of the diagonal cut (closest to the bench and furthest away from FB) pointing toward the tail block. I reason that it will direct any torque on the fret wire from the file teeth, down, toward the fingerboard slot, and not up and away from the fingerboard slot. I may be incorrect but at least it is purposeful.

I'm all ears! The construct of that sentence is kinda funny. It could imply that I am an OLF tub of lard..... except that I didn't guess correctly...

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Measure Twice,

Karl Borum

OK you use the nippers horizontally where possible, it's not possible on the fret board extension on an acoustic so that as the jaws squeeze the fret before the metal fractures and cuts "fangs" do not form on the fret end. Fangs are like the name implies two fang like points pointing downward that look like crap, will go proud of the neck and even cut hands if a neck is severely dried out and they require us to remove them with files concentrating on the fangs.

With the nippers horizontal the fangs do not form or happen solving the problem before it occurs and eliminating the unnecessary step of filing the fangs away.

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Yeah it doesn't matter if there is tang or not we cut with the jaws of any nippers horizontally to prevent the formation of "fangs" which result from cutting the the nippers vertically as the jaws distort and bend the fret wire prior to fracturing it. The fangs are an added step to get rid of that can be completely avoided with the jaws horizontal where possible.

I don't have a pic of fangs but they look like two little fangs sticking down as a remnant from fret wire distortion prior to fracturing. They can be felt, they look like **** and when the neck dries out they go proud and can even be sharp enough to cut hands.

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Brian, you're right that I am using the Jescar nippers in the video which require the horizontal cutting. I love these nippers but they do have a learning curve. You can see that I tape the edge of the fretboard to (hopefully) prevent any dings.

Like Hesh said, we were taught to cut them horizontally in the class an AAG and that is the way I always did it, even with the SM cutters. Hold them horizontal, slide the jaws up until the bottom jaw touches the fretboard, rock them left and right to create just a bit of space, and snip. It works really well.

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Thanks for the explanation guys!

I guess I switched to the Summit nippers about the same time I switched to stainless fret wire almost exclusively. Love those Summit nippers, almost cut flush with the fingerboard and even almost cut an appropriate angle on the fret end, great tool!

With nickel wire the little extra fang was not much of an issue.

I also grind my old modified nippers to a pretty sharp angle which didn't leave much fang. It did reduce lifespan of the nippers but left a pretty flat fret end.

My thought was, a $20 pair of Channel Lock end nippers may only last 3-4 fret jobs but $5 per neck wasn't a deal breaker for me.

I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.

Thanks, Brian

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Brian R, Wood Mechanic
N8ZED

I always try to avoid cutting flush and will rock the nippers as I hold them horizontally to make sure I'm not going to contact the neck and finish when they start to slice through the fret. So then I rely on my files that we make for taking the fret ends down flush while not damaging the finish.

There have been several iterations over the years of StewMac nippers based on the Channel Lock tool. Dave's from 20+ years ago have cut stainless for maybe a couple hundred fret jobs and are still sharp. Mine from 18 years ago also cut stainless and although not as much use as Dave's mine are still sharp but have other differences from Dave's.

His have a greater bevel angle which was originally intended to get under a fret and "lift" it out of the slot with the wedge of the bevel and flat face in contact with the board. Never "pull" a fret upward as that damages the fret slot and takes wood with it. Mine have less of a bevel and don't "lift" a fret as well.

So originally if you talk with some of the career folks you will learn that the tool had two purposes one to cut fret ends and the other to "lift" frets out of the slot when we refret while holding the flats of the face firmly against the board preventing chipping. Close the jaws under a seated fret and the bevel gently lifts the fret as the flat face of the tool presses against the board preventing chipping.

Over time this second function has been lost to time and the current unavailability of nippers with a proper lifting bevel and flat face.

We should get Dave some of the Summit nippers they look great to me but if I advocate for them he won't like them...

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Ann Arbor Guitars

I had one shot of a freshly nipped stainless fret, cut with the Summit/Jescar nipper. Just in a block of maple flooring I had handy while testing the nipper.

Straight from the nipper, no filing.



Hopefully you can see why I like them.

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Brian R, Wood Mechanic
N8ZED

Yes! I had a repair person from North Carolina reach out to me after I posted the video to instagram asking for a close up. Here is what I sent him….



That’s just the nipper!

Brad


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I was trying to see if I could search the OLF rooms for a picture of fangs since I don't and won't own a single guitar with them and I did not find a pic. But I did find one of the first times we discussed fangs and how Dave Collins uses the nippers horizontally to avoid pinching the fret sides and creating fangs in the first place. The entire thread is a good read if you are interested in the details.

What I did not mention this time when discussing fangs Dave brings up that the pinch also pushes the fangs into the wood of the side and top of the fretboard creating a visible defect/dent forever more.

http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=44767&p=591819&hilit=fangs#p591819

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Fretboards, headplates and bridges for the batch of four I’ve been working on. The unfretted board is waiting on me to decide whether or not I’m going to do the inlay I posted about last month…I’ve been playing around with a couple different ideas but haven’t quite hit the mark yet.

Glued the first of the fretboards to a neck yesterday…excited to be nearing the finish line on these guitars and finally getting to hear them!










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Assembling my new buffer. I made the base this morning from scrap. I spent a ridiculous amount of time removing the old motor from the sander. Ended up breaking out the angle grinder to remove the last rusted screw. Now I'm exhausted and will get back to it tomorrow.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!