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Hello to all. I'm not new to the forum but have been inactive since before it changed hands. I'm working on my third guitar, this one is my first scratch build. My question is about arcing the frets. The wire I purchaced is much flatter than the 16' radius of my fret board. Also the rosewood fret board is bound so im especially concerned about the ends not staying down. Stew Mac sells a tool for this but it is pricey. What are you guys doing for this. I tried bending by hand but it doesn't want to stay true. Thank you for any advice or suggestions. Joe in Charlotte, NC

Welcome and we hope you like the new forum . We want this to be like the old places just more user friendly. Now as for your question , I do get my fretwire in pre arched. You can make any thing that will do the same job. The offset rollers works well as will a slotted curve .
http://www.onpointradio.org/2010/11/craft-guitar
check this out

I guess it as just a rookie question, only 1 reply. Its only my 3rd build. It seems logical to me to want the fret wire to be at least as curved as the fretboard radius, preferably even more.
I ended up just bending it by hand. It wasn't easy, bending against the stiffness ot the fret tang, it wants to twist. Im sure the offset roller tool would do a better job.
I may try pressing the frets in next time if it will give me more consistant results.

"Heyyyyyy Joe, what you doing with that fretwire in your hand"
Ahem.........oh, I got lost in a bit of nastalgia there for a second.
I buy my pre-arched too.
I say, try working it back and forth with a little pressure over a pipe, I imagine you can induce a curve, or arch into the wire adequate for our needs. Good luck,
oh, and welcome to the forum.

Kevin

JOE G wrote:Hello to all. I'm not new to the forum but have been inactive since before it changed hands. I'm working on my third guitar, this one is my first scratch build. My question is about arcing the frets. The wire I purchaced is much flatter than the 16' radius of my fret board. Also the rosewood fret board is bound so im especially concerned about the ends not staying down. Stew Mac sells a tool for this but it is pricey. What are you guys doing for this. I tried bending by hand but it doesn't want to stay true. Thank you for any advice or suggestions. Joe in Charlotte, NC

I made one like this. It's cheap, easy to make and so far has worked like a charm.

http://terrydownsmusic.com/technotes/fr ... bender.htm

Tim B

oh man that is sweet.

thanks for the link!

darren wrote:oh man that is sweet.

thanks for the link!

You're welcome:) I agree pre-bent is best but it only comes in bulk doesn't it? I don't do enough work to afford to buy bulk. This has worked good for me. It did take me two tries to get the wheel to my satisfaction but they both came from the same cutting board so it was only additional time invested. Since then it has work like a charm. Attention to detail is a must. If you download the template when you print it off I think you need to set your printer so it doesn't scale or "Fit to Page." Otherwise the template dimensions are off. At least that's how I remember it. Ken's idea may work well too. I'm going to find out anyway - I like to make things!!

Tim B

I've gotten all my fret wire from lmi and it has been radiused - 4ft sections I think.

darren wrote:I've gotten all my fret wire from lmi and it has been radiused - 4ft sections I think.

Thanks for the info, I'll check it out.