Official Luthiers Forum!

I need to radious some fret wire but do not have the "store bought" device to do that. Is there another method I can use to radious fret wire? Hopefully this is the approperate place for this question! TIA

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Steve Leonard
SEleonard

You can make your own. Here’s mine, all the parts are from my local hardware store.
Works well.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

In a pinch, you can just bend the wire in your hands and get it to an appropriate radius. Bend a long length to keep the curve fair and without kinks.

Steve,
You might get more responses in the General Building category, but Jim and Barry's responses are right on.

We buy our wire from Jescar by the pound and have every size they offer. It comes in spools already radiused.

As such we don't need to radius it because the spool radius is perfect for immediate installation. You want the radius to be tighter than the radius of your board that helps keep the ends down during installation especially with stainless wire that is much less flexible.

So with all this said if you can befriend a local luthier in your area chances are they may also purchase their wire from Jescar (good stuff our favorite wire) and perhaps you can purchase it already radiused from you new best friend local luthier. We don't sell anything to anyone and avoid it at all costs but I know that some others in the trade will sell to others at times.

This is what I did before I entered the repair business and was just building I purchased my wire, often with a nice lunch for the luthier from my local luthier.

When I was getting started in the late 70's, I used needle nose pliers to impart a curve to my fretwire. It was many years later that I purchased a StewMac fret bender. My technique and handtools changed a bit, but judicious use of tools and a sharp eye for me through. I'll admit - the fret bender does make it a breeze. I've even used it to straighten already curved wire...

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince