Official Luthiers Forum!

hey guys
does anyone have a half ton arbor press
im just about to buy one and wondering if its going to be strong enough
because im gonna cut it in half so it can slide on 2 rails
does the 1 ton have thicker or stronger steel?
thanks again
tomas

thank you todd so much thats exactly what i
wanted to know
you wouldnt belive the amount of trouble blood sweat and tears
ive went through in my quest for the ultimate fret press system
thanks again

Some half ton press i have seen don't look like they have enough room between the base and the press for fretting. Harbor freights 1/2 ton looks to small to me. Has anyone here used their half ton? I plan on buying the 1 ton they sell.

Thanks Todd.

This is so annoying. Anyway, Has anyone used the HF or similar with a fretting caul?

_________________
Pat

I have Pat I haven't used it in a couple of years but it worked just fine.

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Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
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The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

I also used the HF 1/2 ton press and it worked fine. I would still use it if it hadn't been taken the last time my shop was broken into. The steel of the press ram was soft enough to drill into to mount a home made fret caul device. If they go on sale locally I may buy another.

We have an inexpensive 1/2 ton press works just fine. The success of your process has more to do with your adapters and holding details as opposeded to the pressing device. I've heard of makers getting good results using a drill press.

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Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/

No worries I use my HF 1/2 ton arbor press with stew- mac brass caul inserts to seat frets. Coupons and sales are your friends. They (HF) have coupons online and on their flyers as well as an occassional multi- extravaganza sale of tools from CHINA

I have used my drill press with the Stew Mac caul with no problem, but I have gotten so I prefer to simply hammer in the frets...

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

I was looking at arbor press at HF 3 years ago , but then realized an old screw I had (sold as veneer press screw) around would work fine. Now I use it on my fox bender; but I move it around. You might fabricate something out of maple to go with it.

Hi Bob,
I do have some veneer press screws and thought about using one to press frets but haven't quite figured out a good way to use them for this application. How did you do it?

I was working on several projects at once which could use one and about to pull the trigger when I decided to put it off and use what I had.

One was pulling bearings out of my lathe and then removing the lathe shaft. Then putting it all back. There was something else but it is not coming to me now. The HF model was not expensive but I am jammed for space and holding of buying stuff. More may come to me later.

That screw has been useful through the years.

I used my drill press (Ryobi 12" bench model) to press frets once. There's drill presses and there's drill presses. I feared for the damage I might be causing to this nice-but-light-duty drill press by hauling down on the quill hard enough to push a fret into place. I got the idea that the drill press didn't like it. Bought a HF 1-ton arbor press with a coupon and drilled the ram to take my StewMac fret caul holder. Small enough to put away and not clutter benchtops unless I'm installing frets.

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Peter Havriluk