Using a Stew Mac fret saw

Posted by Clark Huffman on February 12, 2016 at 10:11pm

Hi, I have built 4 instruments and used a fret saw from stew mac. My question is: Has anyone used one of these? And How did it work for you? Myself I notice that I do not need a fret hammer to push the frets in and they can be pulled readily out causing me to use super glue. While this is a very accurate cut, it makes me wonder if this is how is it supposed to be. I only push the fret board through and then lift the sled to come back. Any ideas?

Clark

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Replies

  • Peter Otto February 13, 2016 at 9:53am

    One other thing; If the saw blade doesn't stay perfectly perpendicular to the fret board, the slots will end up too wide... Like Al said, a miter box should do the trick.

    • Clark Huffman > Peter Otto February 13, 2016 at 12:35pm

      Thank you all for the input! I use a newer Jet table saw and so that should be accurate. And I ordered the fret wire from Stew Mac when I ordered their saw. I will call Stew Mac and see what is up. 

    • Peter Otto > Clark Huffman February 13, 2016 at 1:28pm

      Clark, Sorry, confusion here, I'm not using the table saw blade, but a japanese hand fret saw of stew mac. I don't have experience with the table saw blade...

  • Dave Lynas February 13, 2016 at 6:31am
    Have you contacted Stew to get their answer? Are you using their fret wire? Maybe their tang is wider than other fret wire. I find different wood takes fretting better than others. My last wood board was oak and fretted easier than Black Walnut.
  • Paul Craig February 13, 2016 at 6:10am

    I used a Xacto saw for Stewmac wire without problems, but the slots weren't quite big enough for the Jesco jumbo wire that CBGitty sells. So you need to match up the wire to the saw. The saw that CBGitty sells will probably work with the Jesco wire, but I haven't checked it out yet.

  • Peter Otto February 13, 2016 at 6:05am

    I've been using the StewMac fret saw without problems. I agree with Paul; the tang of the fretwire should be the correct size for the thickness of the saw blade.

  • Paul Craig February 13, 2016 at 5:22am

    You need fret wire that has the right tang(width of the part that goes in the slot) measurement for the kerf(thickness) measurement of the blade. The wire tang should be a little larger than the saw's kerf.

  • Al Williams February 12, 2016 at 10:45pm

    I use a dovetail saw, which is exactly the same as the one sold by C.B. Gitty, with a miter box. It is perfect for the job, and you do need to tap the frets in with a plastic headed hammer... the frets won't come out.

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