first bound fretboard - question

[darren]

I'm trying a bound fretboard for the first time, and I seem to be having a problem with the over-hanging sections of the fretwire not staying down on the fretboard. I'm working with a Mad.Rose fb radiused to 20', pre-bent, standard/medium fretwire from LMI, and hammering them in by hand. I've done 4 or 5 and all but one have to come back out.

the slots are deep enough, as when I pull the frets, I can see indentations in the binding from the fretwire seating. It just doesn't stay down. :(

Is there a trick to getting the fret ends to sit down tight? I've tried overbending the fretwire but as soon as I hammer them in they seem to straighten back out. Any advise is appreciated. Thanks!

[johnnparchem]

I did not have this problem except on one fret end that I glued down with CA. If this was happening to me I would ckeck that I was cutting enough of the tang off, and that I was leaving enough on.

When I hammered the frets on I pound down both ends first and then work toward the center. I read somewhere that it drives the burr out toward the edges a little holding it in tighter. I read that some where. I would take it with a grain of salt.

[kencierp]

Make and use the fret clamping caul shown here:

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/fret.html

CA the ends on all frets bound or not -- you will not regret adding this little extra step.

[tippie53]

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... itars+fret
here is a video that may also help. A bit different so you can see another method

[darren]

I did not have this problem except on one fret end that I glued down with CA. If this was happening to me I would ckeck that I was cutting enough of the tang off, and that I was leaving enough on.

When I hammered the frets on I pound down both ends first and then work toward the center. I read somewhere that it drives the burr out toward the edges a little holding it in tighter. I read that some where. I would take it with a grain of salt.

John,
I'm cutting the tang just inside the width of the slot, and hammering the ends first, and then the middle. I think that is how Kincaid says to do it in his book.

[darren]

Make and use the fret clamping caul shown here:

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/fret.html

CA the ends on all frets bound or not -- you will not regret adding this little extra step.

Ken thanks for this link - I understand the thought process that a bit of CA can be added insurance, but in this case I would be relying on it to hold the frets in the proper place. That doesn't' seem right to me, and as JohnP noted above he was able to get his fret ends to stay down. I will be making a caul like you describe, and working on getting the frets to seat a little better.

[kencierp]

Teeter and others (this was posted elsewhere) actually glued the frets in place with epoxy. With this method the slot is routed a bit wide (I am not crazy about this method). Rick might have a comment -- I think it is very common/normal practice to CA the fret end to the binding to prevent the "E" string from wedging under and lifting the fret wire. Also, I actually bend the over hangs down a bit before installation -- this creates a pinching effect against the bindings. $.02

[johnnparchem]

John,
I'm cutting the tang just inside the width of the slot, and hammering the ends first, and then the middle. I think that is how Kincaid says to do it in his book.

I do it like you decribe. The fret wire I get is radiused tighter than the fretboard, basically howerver LMI ships it. Anyway when it is flattening toward the fretboard radius the ends are going to push toward the edges a bit. When you glued on the bindings if glue was going to bunch up anywhere it would bunch up right in the corner where the slot meets the bindings. It is hard to clean that area has well. I am wondering if the fret is just sligtly lifted at the end of the tangs where the tang moved into the corner.

[darren]

Is there a trick to keeping the ca just under the fret? It's kinda messing up my beautiful fretboard. I'm scraping with a razor and using steel wool to get the fb looking pretty again but it is slow going.

[kencierp]

Yes there is (well something that at least helps) you need a super fine "whisker tip" applicator -- it accurately puts down a very, very tiny droplet. I always shave the entire FB with a single edge razor blade used as a scraper as part of the dressing process. I get my applicators from Tower Hobbies.