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hi guys just started my first refret and i made a arbour press out of a
reaaally crapy handdrill press ..anyway was on fret 1 and the thing shattered
completely ive got the caul and insert and
im really dying to get fretting and was wondering
did anyone here make an arbour press
or could you push them in yourself if you made a handle for the caul
thanks again tomas

You could make something like this



This was posted on the MIMF Dwain Wilder in 2003. Simple way to press frets.

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thanks very much im gettin to work
tomas

I've built one very similar to that. I used a piece of closet rod, some scraps of oak, a few nuts and bolts and I bought the fret press inserts for like $5 from StewMac. I just epoxy in the the inserts to a piece of wood that gets bolted on to the press. It works really nice. You can actually feel the fret sinking into the wood.

Make sure your lever piece is set up so that the flatsawn edges are on the sides to provide some strength against breaking.

Good luck.

Darrin

Honestly, why not a hammer? I don't get it.

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Seems to me, you could use clamps to press them in. I've seen people do that on the upper frets any way. Why not all the way up the board. Might have to make a little caul to get a good press.

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Waddy

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Waddy, I saw a one ton arbor press at Harbor Freight for $30-$40. All one has to do is drill a hole in the press bar and a locknut hole to hold the caul in. Or you could buy the similar (already drilled) one from stew mac ($160??). I keep meaning to get by HF and pick that up.

Glad you did not injure yourself!

Mike

Don't need it! "I have a hammer!"!

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Waddy

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Anyhow, my point was that if you are building a guitar, you must have a clamp or two lying around. You can use a clamp to press the frets in.

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Waddy

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I like a hammer too, unless using stainless steel frets, then I prefer to press since the ends never want to stay down. I use Stew Mac brass inserts and a clamp.

Chuck

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Yikes! For some reason I assumed Waddy was the OP. Wolfsearcher, sorry about that.

I like the press myself. I used my drill press last time, but not again. Too much bending in the table.

Mike

George (woodenspoke) over at the projectguitar.com forums has been doing some very interesting work designing a low cost fret press similar to the jaws design Stewmac offers. You might want to check that out.

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index ... opic=39920

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David Morris

Grumpy also has a pretty neat fret press he designed using toggle clamps and fret cauls for the pressing. I know he showed it on MIMF, I can't recall if he posted it here.

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Waddy

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Sound Clips of most of my guitars

If you have ever ordered anything off the harbor freight site, or given them you email addy, you should have recieved a 20% discount coupon for this weekend. Might be a good time to go and buy there 1 ton arbor pres and save another $10.

Mike