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Fretting Nightmare!!!
http://mowrystrings.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10123&t=37571
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Author:  Harold_Donn [ Tue Aug 28, 2012 3:20 pm ]
Post subject:  Fretting Nightmare!!!

Attached you'll see my latest cigar box guitar. It came out nice if I do say so myself. Well, with one little problem...

I've built several ukuleles and one other electric. The fret boards on those instruments were all flat. On this new guitar I decided to try making a radiused fret board. I got high spots and buzzing all over the place!

And as you can see from the close up I didn't tape off the fret board so it got all scratched up in the process of flattening out, and making a disaster of, the frets :-/

I bought the fret wire a long time back at cbgitty.com. It was all I had laying around since the stuff I bought from Stew Mac was used up.

So while I'm sure this fret job is almost all my fault can cheap fret wire add to the problem? I've put it aside for the moment while I try to figure out the best way to handle the problem.

What I'm considering doing is pulling all the frets, sanding down the fret board and just starting from scratch. Making sure I protect the fret board before I take a file to it if I have to.

Before I did that I thought I'd see what you guys had to say. Any thoughts before I jump back a few steps?

Author:  Chris Pile [ Tue Aug 28, 2012 3:47 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Fretting Nightmare!!!

Well, you might be able to clean it up carefully with sandpaper - but tape over the adjacent spots next to the fingerboard where you are working. Good luck!

Author:  Quine [ Wed Aug 29, 2012 12:38 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Fretting Nightmare!!!

Do the frets work OK as is?? They look very flat on top and not much left to re-crown them.
If they are OK, I think you can sand out those file marks with some patience. If they are deep gouges then maybe fill with some ebony dust and CA. Very easy to hide mistakes in ebony.

Author:  Harold_Donn [ Wed Aug 29, 2012 4:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Fretting Nightmare!!!

No, I'm still getting buzzing dang it :-( The scuff mark are all surface, in the finish, and will probably sand out easy.

It's that some of the frets are really flat on top and still need to be adjusted. That's why I'm thinking of pulling everything, sanding down the fret board and starting from scratch.

Author:  dzsmith [ Sat Sep 08, 2012 9:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Fretting Nightmare!!!

Just wondering if your fret wire was bent into a nice radius before you put the frets in.
The last fret wire I bought was already radiused and the frets went in nicely without too much hammering.

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