Shop Made Fretwire Benders

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PSmill
Posts: 111
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2018 12:23 pm
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Shop Made Fretwire Benders

Post by PSmill »

Hi, Does anyone have photos, plans etc. for shop made fretwork benders? Thank you. P
Cbstark46143
Posts: 43
Joined: Sat Aug 30, 2014 5:49 pm

Re: Shop Made Fretwire Benders

Post by Cbstark46143 »

If you’re looking for a radius bender, it doesn’t have to be much more than utilitarian.
Mine was cheap to make and works fine.
The wooden wheels have a groove in the edge for the fret wire to follow and although it is concealed by the washer, the top wheel is adjustable vertically.
There are no plans, but if it helps, my 2 stationary wheels are 2 1/8” apart center to center.
The small block of wood is my super low tech crank.
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PSmill
Posts: 111
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2018 12:23 pm
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Re: Shop Made Fretwire Benders

Post by PSmill »

Great thanks!
BEJ
Posts: 171
Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2012 12:38 am
Location: Seattle

Re: Shop Made Fretwire Benders

Post by BEJ »

One of the few tools I have bought for this operation, got one off E Bay for not much more than buying parts and putting it together. Considering the time and hassle of building it seemed like a good investment.
PSmill
Posts: 111
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2018 12:23 pm
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Re: Shop Made Fretwire Benders

Post by PSmill »

I made this one with 3 bearings I got at the auto supply for about $10, the upper one servers to hold the wood cog in place, it has a regular kerf cut into it. Seems to work! I may add a machine bolt to the top to allow precise raising/lowering of the middle bearing.
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MaineGeezer
Posts: 1714
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 12:14 pm

Re: Shop Made Fretwire Benders

Post by MaineGeezer »

I've made a couple. As others have said, they can be pretty crude and still work. I think the important details are a well-fitting groove for the tang in the center rolller and lined-up grooves in the other rollers to generally match the fretwire crown so the wire tracks straight when it goes through.
Don't believe everything you know.
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.
When things are bad, try not to make them any worse, because it is quite likely they are bad enough already. - French Foreign Legion
Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3252
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: Shop Made Fretwire Benders

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

You did a nice job.
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
Kevin Sjostrand
Posts: 3716
Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2008 8:06 pm
Location: Visalia, CA

Re: Shop Made Fretwire Benders

Post by Kevin Sjostrand »

I have never seen a need for a fret bender. The wire I buy from LMI comes in a loose coil, and has just the right amount of curve to it. The wire I've bought that is straight, like what Stewmac sells I just run it over a large dowel to put some slight curve in it, and Bob's your uncle!
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