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Stewmac sells two types of refret saws. I need 0.2” slots. The Japanese Saw is compact. I like it. A bit more expensive. The other one has two blades separated on a bar. One for push, the other for pull. The Japanese one has same feature, but in a compact form. The Stewmac version looks risky for over the body work. Thoughts? I’m leaning towards Japanese Saw.

I have the StewMac refret saw (0.020, not 0.2) and it works fine on bound fretboards. On unbound boards you don't need it, a standard 0.020 saw will clean out the slots. I also use an Xacto knife to get right in next to the binding and I took a piece of fret wire, bent it in an L shape, filed the barbs off and use that to make sure the slot is deep enough and completely cleaned out.

Any time you are working over the body you should protect it - tape at least, cardboard or something more durable. However I think the file is perfectly safe if you are careful

Clearly. Thank you. I guess what I’m asking is if the Japanese refret saw is good. Liked. With it, u don’t have a unused sawblade threatening the top. Frankly, I do not understand the stewmac design for that very reason.

I have the excellent Hosco Japanese Fret Slot Cleaning Saw, (looks exactly the same as the SM) quite a bit better than the old modded hacksaw blade I used before, but can't say for the other SM one.
Can't recall offhand the thickness of cut, can check for you after coffee...
Off the net, 0.4mm, or 0.016 inches in old money.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

The blade segment at the tip of the Stewart MacDonald Refret Saw cuts on the pull stroke, while the second segment nearer the handle cuts on the push stroke, so the natural tendency to lift the handle on the pull stroke (to start the saw on the 'back' tooth) and to allow it to drop on the push stroke (starts the 'back' teeth) keeps the unused blade segment out of the finish. It's easy enough to grind off one set or the other if desired, but in use, I have not seen much of an issue.

If you spend as much time as I have the past few years crawling through web sites and looking closely at any and all shop shots, you will have noticed that most repair shops have an array of guards to protect the top from damage during repair. Fret slot cleaners and saws jump out of fret slots, just as bridge slotting saws and files do on the bridge. One repair-generated ding on an instrument can erase any potential revenue - let alone profit - on a job, so the time spent fabricating guards is repaid many times over on avoiding repairs. Needless to say, avoiding damage to the shop's reputation is every bit as important!

If working the fret slots over the body, the bare minimum in this shop is a cork-backed piece of high pressure laminate butted up against the fretboard, or - where the extension is very, very thin, some 24 gauge (0.020") aluminum sheet backed with heavy gauge (0.010?) plastic laminating film.

The other repair people here will likely have some photos handy of these guards and top protectors, and I would certainly enjoy seeing what others use for the job.

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A constellation only takes shape when one maps the whole.
- Beth Brower

The best source I stumbled on is a picture framing shop. They sell scraps of every imaginable backing material for next to nothing.

I just bought a box of poster board. I trace the outline of the guitar on it and then tape it to the top with 3M 233+. They get recycled and trimmed down until I can't use them anymore. Cheap, keeps crap off the top and protects it too. Might have to check out the framing shop I go by on the way to work every day and see if they have scraps of mat board that are large enough to use; that would be even better protection.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I have the japanese version that SM sells and it works great! The last tooth in the push or pull direction is set a little taller than the rest. This allows me to get in close to the binding similar to using an exacto.

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Tony Thatcher
Bozeman, Montana

I’m just curious. Every tool has its advantages and disadvantages. Both of these tools have the potential to damage the top. If the stew Mac tool is meant to provide more leverage and control, why did they not opt to mount both blades on either side of bar, even with a small offset? The idea of the unused blade hanging over the body makes no sense to me.

Guess I’ve convinced myself which one I will get.

I use the StewMac refret saw all the time and don't have a problem with it. No different to me than using drills, files or any other tool over the body - always a risk so cover it with something.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Mike - what one did you decide on?

Any thoughts?

I had a chance recently to use the StewMac Japanese-style fret slot cleaning saw on a 1944 D-18 refret and 190s Yamaha neck reset/refret - definitely my new favorite! Much less time with the 'claw' needed, and the slot width seemed to work well for our supply of Jescar oversized fret wire. The tool is a bit pricey at $35, but I've already ordered one for myself.

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A constellation only takes shape when one maps the whole.
- Beth Brower