Re: 2 new bar fret guits
Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 8:39 pm
Well, I felt better than ever today, so spent about 6 hours in the shop. Dug around and sorted through a bunch of wood that folks are wanting (yes, I am on it, everybody), but mostly worked on guitars.
Finished sanding the fingerboard radius on the 2 necks and put in the position markers
Just MOP dots, nothing fancy
Then I polished up the phosphor bronze frets
I took a block, put on double sided tape, stuck on 2 frets, and rubbed the whole shebang on a sanding block. Then turned them over and did the other side. Took about a half hour and they ended up clean and perfect thickness
Then I cleaned up the fret slots on the neck
and lightly chamfered the edges of the slots with a triangular file
First 4 frets in
They fit snug enough so that they almost press in by hand. I give the bottoms a light bead of glue and tap them down tight with a smooth faced cobbler's hammer
All of the frets are in
Now, I try to have the fret slots the same depth and the fret blanks all the same width, since they bottom on the slots instead of the fret board surface like conventional frets. But, no matter how fussy you do it, they still always need a certain amount of leveling
So here they after about 15 minutes with file and sanding blocks
They are mostly leveled and about 0.062" above the fingerboard surface. I will take then down to just under 0.060" and clean up the ends and crown the tops and polish. A bit taller than most frets, but it gives a good feel and allows plenty for future dressing
One final task was to polish the beryllium copper frets
Got a start on them and will finish and install them next time I am in the shop
Tomorrow I have cardiac rehab in Brainerd, so I get to play on all of the fancy exercise machines and hang out with the nurses So I might not get back into the shop until Tuesday.
Stay tuned.
G
Finished sanding the fingerboard radius on the 2 necks and put in the position markers
Just MOP dots, nothing fancy
Then I polished up the phosphor bronze frets
I took a block, put on double sided tape, stuck on 2 frets, and rubbed the whole shebang on a sanding block. Then turned them over and did the other side. Took about a half hour and they ended up clean and perfect thickness
Then I cleaned up the fret slots on the neck
and lightly chamfered the edges of the slots with a triangular file
First 4 frets in
They fit snug enough so that they almost press in by hand. I give the bottoms a light bead of glue and tap them down tight with a smooth faced cobbler's hammer
All of the frets are in
Now, I try to have the fret slots the same depth and the fret blanks all the same width, since they bottom on the slots instead of the fret board surface like conventional frets. But, no matter how fussy you do it, they still always need a certain amount of leveling
So here they after about 15 minutes with file and sanding blocks
They are mostly leveled and about 0.062" above the fingerboard surface. I will take then down to just under 0.060" and clean up the ends and crown the tops and polish. A bit taller than most frets, but it gives a good feel and allows plenty for future dressing
One final task was to polish the beryllium copper frets
Got a start on them and will finish and install them next time I am in the shop
Tomorrow I have cardiac rehab in Brainerd, so I get to play on all of the fancy exercise machines and hang out with the nurses So I might not get back into the shop until Tuesday.
Stay tuned.
G