Fixture for pressing fret wire into place. The silicon (caulking) between the aluminum plate and the wooden body is flexible enough to work across the varying radii of the frets as you work up the neck. Without this, pressing frets into a compound radius fretboard is tough.

Note that this is if you press frets in with a drill press, which we don't do here.

Neck extension shim with threaded inserts for bolting the neck extension to the body.

Before doing fretwork, nominally level the fretboard from the first fret slot to the 14th fret adjusting the truss rod so theneck is dead flat. Check with the tri-square along the length of that section of the neck (e.g. don't worry about what happens after the 14th fret).

Jig for holding the neck during fretting. The neck must be supported solidly across its entire length. Note the V shape for holding the neck, the hole in the jig for the heel block, and the adjustable support for the fretboard extension.

Use the V-shaped support and heel block to fret all the slots up to the point where the heel would joint the body. Then slide the neck assembly back to get support from the adjustable support block.

Fret press

Fretting the NeckWednesday, January 16, 2013

10:31 PM

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Rear block has gross adjustment with the bolt and handle and fine adjustment using the screws (not visible, in the routed channel). The screws contact a metal plate at the bottom of the jig interior.

Checking the adjustment for the fret board extension.

Adjusting the screws.

Interior of jig.

Neck support for fretting

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Leveling the fretboard using a heavy metal bar with #80 sandpaper underneath. Every stroke has a longitudinal and lateral component. This avoids flats and maintains the compound radius we created with the belt sander jig.

Don't chase any (white) pencil marks between the 1st fret and the nut. Also, don't worry that the fretboard extension won't sand flat. Just concentrate on the portion of the fretboard over the neck.

Checking fret depth with a "hockey stick" shaped piece of fret wire with the tangs filed off the foot of the stick. Individual

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fret slots can be deepened (below).

Deepening the fret slots using a fine cross-cut saw with a depth stop. Frets must be deep enough so the wire does not hang up anywhere.

Tools for fretting: end nipper, fret hammer and thick super glue.

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Chamfering the fret slots with a small rectangular file. This allows the fret wire to be more easily inserted (and removed) by keeping the end fibers away from the face of the fretboard. Work from one side, then the other.

Chamfering helps compensate for any irregularities in the frets themselves. Fret wire is made in large batches and it isn't perfect.

This file is a 3-corner file with the end filed off so there are no teeth there.

When chamfering is complete, blow out slots with compressed air before gluing!

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Hammering in fret wire after a line of (thick super) glue has been drawn across the fret slot. Use dead blow strokes. Begin at one end of the fret, move to the other end and then hammer the middle. Tap repeatedly along the length to insure the fret is completely down.

As you approach the tail end of the fretboard, it may be wise to start at one end and work towards the other end. Occasionally fretboards will crack at that point, perhaps because of the accumulated pressure and forces when the middle of the fret is hammered down last.NOTE: never buy soft fret wire. Stainless is a great material, but is hard to work with. LMI's product (FW74) is good.

Inserted frets. Wipe off excess glue as you go with a paper towel.

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After initial fretting.

Fret removal with soldering iron and end nipper whose nipper has been ground flush to the face of the tool.

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Fret Dressing

Leveling the frets: color the fret faces with a marker pen. Sand using #320 attached to a piece of plate glass. Roll the glass sideways with each stroke to preserve the compound radius. Sand until all marker has been removed from the crown of every fret. Don't worry about excess marker elsewhere.

File the protruding fret ends down to the ebony. The file must be well controlled at a right angle to the side of the fretboard so as not to remove ebony at this point.

Fret ends after filing flush (above) and then file a bevel at about a 30-degree angle. A bit of ebony will be removed in this later process. You'll know you're done when you see a bit of ebony sawdust. A bit of ebony should show when looking down at the fret ends.

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Fret leveling setup.

Fret dressing: step 1 is to roll the file over the end of the fret. The eventual fret end will end up with a hemispherical shape.

Fret ends with a bit of ebony showing.

Put color back on the frets. This time, crown the frets so there is no color left.

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Step 2: file each side of each fret end at a 45-degree angle to remove the bit of metal stick out. Don't turn the fret ends into darts! Use a downward stroke with the rounded fret file.

Small (needle) fret file for working the ends. Use a 45-degree stroke or 2 at each corner.

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Step 3: start at the side of the fret. File in an outward direction across the fret and roll the file over the top of the fret end. Go for the hemispherical shape.

Rolling the fret file over the end (wish I had a video).

Step 4: sand frets lengthwise down the fretboard with #600 paper. Sand fret tops and ends.

Also use the #600 paper on a curved file down the length of the fret to prepare for buffing/polishing.

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Tape fretboard for fret polishing. Mask fretboard side, but expose fret ends. Mask the top of the fretboard as well. Tip: as the frets get narrower than the tape, slice the tape lengthwise into thirds and use the two straight sides of the tape to mask up against the insides of the fret wire.

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Polishing machine. Use polishing compound made for use with soft metal. Anything fitting that description should do.

Angle the neck toward the polisher at 45 degrees. Polish fret ends on both sides of the neck and both sides of the fret ends this way (pass neck across in both directions on each side at 45- degrees).

Polish fret faces both horizontally and vertically with respect to the polishing wheel.

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Polish fret faces both horizontally and vertically with respect to the polishing wheel.

Horizontal polish step.

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