Fretwork on oversized slots (plus some other curve balls)

[n~dl]

So, I'm doing some work for a guy and I need to find a way to do them quickly and cleanly, and so far the two methods I've seen being used achieve one, respectively, at the cost of the other. The hurdles:

1) Because they're being glued down, he just leaves the slots oversized. The barbs aren't much use so we're relying entirely on CA to keep them seated, keeping them held down with a press while the glue cures. One solution I've seen is to glue just the middle, let it dry, then do the ends with a tighter radius caul, but this adds extra steps and it all takes about twice as long. This much reliance on glue worries me some but I don't see myself convincing him to fundamentally change the way he builds, so I am probably stuck trying to work around the slot issue.

2) Heavily compounded fingerboard. Like 7.25"-12" from nut to the last fret. Normally on a compound board I would just hammer them in before wicking in some thin CA and wiping the excess away with some acetone, but again the tang has no teeth here. And since no cauls for the press accurately fit any one position on the fingerboard, just letting the glue dry while the press holds the fret down isn't a great approach either. (Even if some work well enough for a small number of frets, switching cauls is bothersome and time consuming, not to mention how many frets are going to seat poorly on the tricky fingerboard radii between caul sizes?)

3) Pretty much all the fingerboards are bound. Not much to say about that, just another bump in the road.

SO. The best idea I can come up with is to invent some sort of flexible caul that will apply adequate pressure across the entire length of fret, on all positions on the fingerboard, and that will give me access to wipe away any CA that squeezes out after pressing them in. Just need to figure out how to make it If it works well enough I can maybe even ditch all my brass inserts for my Stewmac press I use here at home.

Well that's one idea, any others would be much appreciated!

[Nick]

You could try Stewmac's solution Nate http://www.stewmac.com/shopby/product/4900 & recrimp the tang to fit the wider slots. Why has the original maker made the slots wider when the frets come equipped with barbs for just such an occasion, i.e gripping? Not as if you can't add a bit of Titebond or CA to the equation also if you are worried about loose frets down the track. Perhaps a bit of retraining is required
I seem to remember back in the foggy recesses of my brain, seeing or reading (It may have been in one of stewmacs "Trade Secrets" volumes), Dan Erlewine gluing in frets into a deliberately widened slot (cut with a dremel) after the originals had been wrecked by several refret jobs, but I can't remember what glue he used ( ), it was either the thick CA or an epoxy.

[n~dl]

Yep, I was thinking about that fret crimper, too. Problem at the moment is I don't have 70 bucks! Also if the speed's not there I'm not sure I can convince him I should spend all that time crimping every single fret when the glue's been his solution for so long. My preferred solution would be take the time to crimp them or really just change how he establishes the slots so they're a more useful size, but I'm not sure either will be an option. \o_o/

[nnickusa]

Just as a matter of curiosity, why is this fellow having you do the frets if he's done them in the past? It seems that he ought to know the best way, if it's his normal approach. Ask him....

[n~dl]

The guy who used to do this end of the fretwork no longer works for him. He used the slower two-part method and the boss man wants me to see if I can do it faster. If things go well I'll hopefully land a more permenant position in the shop, but for the time being I'm just coming in on my free time doing what I guess you would call contract work.

[n~dl]

Did a little digging and unsurprisingly I'm not the first person who ever wanted some kind of universal caul for their fret press:

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showth ... p?t=935872

[nnickusa]

Ah, gotcha. Good luck. Can you suggest that he just cut smaller fret slots?

[simso]

Im kind of confused,

Are you wanting to refret faster or fit initial frets faster.

Is this a specific line of guitars or generic refretting

[n~dl]

These are a line of instruments. I am going to push for better slot preparation but if he isn't into that idea I need other when I go into the shop next week.