For the life of me, I can't get my frets seated well on my fret board. I'm using an oak fret board with StewMac medium jumbo frets and I cut the slots with a Stanley pull saw. I do bend the fret wire before installing it. When I tap the wire down, the tang on the fret wire doesn't seem to be grabbing the wood well enough. Either one end will raise up a little or the wire will not seat consistantly. Would another hardwood be any easier to work with?
Any advise is greatly appreciated.
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With my limited experience fretting,it sounds to me like what I experienced when I was practicing on a scrap piece.
My slot saw cut too wide but when I switched to a regular coping saw and bowed the frets they popped right in.
I'm no expert. My first thought was that the frets weren't arched enough, but you said you were bending them. The ends go in first. Start tapping at each end and work your way back and forth toward the middle. If the fret is arched the right amount, when you hammer the treble side, the bass-side teeth are sliding in at an angle, and vice-versa. In other words, the teeth don't go straight into the slot, but sort of downward and sideways toward the edge of the fretboard. If they went straight down, they'd easily slide back out. Don't hammer on the middle till the ends are almost all the way seated. (I hope that makes sense. It's hard to describe.)
It could be the slot is too wide. The Stew-Mac saws are set for a .023" kerf, but maybe the Stanley saw cuts wider. You could check the slots with feeler gauges.
Even if the slots are too wide, you can still make it work. A few drops of water in the slot will swell the end grain on the sides of the slot and temporarily make the slot narrower. It may be enough to hold the teeth in there, even after it dries and shrinks back to normal. Or do the same thing with thinned wood glue. Another option is to not hammer the frets in, but press them in with a drill press or clamps, and a little glue to keep them there. A web search on pressing frets should give you some ideas. I've never done that, but it seems pretty straightforward.
Something I always forget until 3 or 4 frets into the job is that the fretwire is shipped with a thin coat of oil on it. It might help if you clean it off with some kind of degreaser (I use bike chain cleaner).
Replies
I agree with Doc, The saw width is perhaps too thick. You may try and carefully squeeze the teeth in a vise.
Don
My slot saw cut too wide but when I switched to a regular coping saw and bowed the frets they popped right in.
It shouldn't be that difficult. Line up tang, whack it in.
It could be the slot is too wide. The Stew-Mac saws are set for a .023" kerf, but maybe the Stanley saw cuts wider. You could check the slots with feeler gauges.
Even if the slots are too wide, you can still make it work. A few drops of water in the slot will swell the end grain on the sides of the slot and temporarily make the slot narrower. It may be enough to hold the teeth in there, even after it dries and shrinks back to normal. Or do the same thing with thinned wood glue. Another option is to not hammer the frets in, but press them in with a drill press or clamps, and a little glue to keep them there. A web search on pressing frets should give you some ideas. I've never done that, but it seems pretty straightforward.
Something I always forget until 3 or 4 frets into the job is that the fretwire is shipped with a thin coat of oil on it. It might help if you clean it off with some kind of degreaser (I use bike chain cleaner).
Good luck.