Walnut Stratocaster - Number 8 - Fretting

Because of the wood binding on the fretboard, I had to take a different approach to fret work. Typically I would just bend the frets to match the radius of the fretboard, cut them slightly wider, then hammer them in.

For this build, I have to trim the fret tang, and then file the underside of the fret flat.

I ran into trouble when I tried to seat the frets.

When hammering the frets, the edges popped up slightly from the fretboard. I was unable to seat the frets without gaps.

I posted a question on the TDPRI Tele Home Depot forum. Between the responses to this query and a brief conversation with someone at Stewart MacDonald I was able to find a solution. It involved using a little glue and a fret press attached to my drill press.

After these results, I will start using the fret press instead of the hammer. I'm really pleased with the outcome. I had purchased the press a few years ago, but I was unhappy with the results. The problem was that the drill press table would give a little when I pressed in the frets. This time at the recommendation of someone from Stewart MacDonald, I secured the drill press table. Now with a firm base, the frets popped securely into place and stayed.

Number 6 - Fret Job

So in adition to having problems with the shellac finish, I also was not happy with the overall string height on Number 6. Unfortunately when I lowered the bridge, I discover that I had fret buzzes on the high E and B strings at the 7th and 8th frets. first I tried dealing with the buzz by going after the culprit - the 9th fret. I lowered, leveled, crowned and polished that fret. This cured the problem with the buzz at the 7th and 8th frets... but created a bus at the 9th fret, caused by the 10th fret... so i corrected that problem and... well, you can guess where this went. I was chasing a fret buzz.

I decided to take a different approach to fixing this problem. Armed with my copy of the Stew Mac 2nd Edition on Fret Work, digital calipers, a fret rocker, a fret dressing stick (sand paper), a fret crowning file, an iPad with Apple Numbers, and a finger-nail buffing block (found at the local drug store), I got to work on Number 6's fretboard.

I removed the strings and then used the digital calipers to take three measurements of each fret, on the high-E string side, one in the middle and one on the low-E string side.

I added all of this information into a spreadsheet on my iPad. I then created a chart showing the largest deviations between frets. This helped me come up with a plan of attach.

After pinpointing the problem frets on the chart, I taped off the fretboard and marked the tops of the frets with a red Sharpie marker. I then use the fret dressing tool to slowly sand the tops of the frets.

After sanding the frets, I check the fret height with the calipers. Then I use the fret rocker to check the height of the filed fret in relation to the fret immediately before and after the filed fret. If the rocker lays flat against all three frets, I mark the completed frets with a green Sharpie marker and move on to the next fret.

Once I've leveled all of the high frets, I use the fret crowning tool to round the top of the frets. I follow that by polishing the frets with the four-sided finger-nail buffing block. After completing all of the frets, I remove the tape, string Number 6 up again and test the frets.

LP Jr (or Six) Fretwork

So I'm closing in on the end for the LP Jr project. I've decided to refer to her as Six now, since she will be the sixth guitar that I've completed.

I have a few more tasks to complete before I can begin finishing the body. I wanted to get the frets seated and level them first. I had to bend the frets to tighter radius than the fretboard. The fretboard is a 12 inch radius (matching the bridge.) I bent the frets to close to 10 inches.

I over bend the frets because I will be using a hammer to seat them.  As the hammer forces the frets into the slots it also flattens the radius.

With all the frets in place its time to clean things up.

First, I remove the overhanging edge pieces with a flat nose wire cutter.

Then I use a fine file, smooth the edges even with the side of the fret board. (I didn't take pictures of this portion of the process. I promise I will do that on my next build.) After the edges are smooth. I turn my file to a 30° angle and run it over the edges again, taking off more of the fret edges. This makes for a smoother playing neck.

Next, it's time to level the fretboard. First I tighten the truss rod slightly (maybe a quarter turn.) I take 320 grit sandpaper on my 12 inch radius fretboard leveling block and level the neck. This flattens the frets taking off any high spots. While doing this I will hold a straight edge to the frets looking for high spots that need more attention.

After I level the fret board it's time to put a crown back on the frets, or round their edges. First, I use a Sharpie marker on the flat edge of all of the frets, this helps me view my progress. (Yes, I did slip and mark up the fretboard at the 24th fret. I'll have to sand that mark off later.)

Next up, I use my fret file. It is a concave file that will round the tops of the flattened frets. By checking regularly I can watch the red marker slowly disappear leaving a round yet rough fret.

Next up I use 400 grit sand paper with a school eraser as a sanding block to take out some of the roughness. I use a metal fret guard to keep from scratching up the fretboard. I will polish the frets after I finish the body.

So now it's time to put everything together and see just what she's going to look like, and test how well she'll play.

I place al of the electronics in the rear cavity. This is a tight fit. On future builds I will route a larger electronics cavity.
  

















The switches and knobs are a little closer than I would have liked. This would have worked out fine, except that I wanted to add two there-way coil tap switches for the pickups. I used two on/off/on DPDT switches for a Series/Single/Parallel wiring for each pickup.

Finally, it's time to string her up and see just how she plays. While most people might find the neck to be a little thick at the nut, I find that I like it that way.
I'll upload a video of me playing the guitar acoustically in a couple of days. It sounds and plays great, even at this rough stage.

I'll upload a video of me playing the guitar acoustically in a couple of days. It sounds and plays great, even at this rough stage. 

Next up, I will block sand the body flat, and seal the walnut pores with shellac. I mixed up a nice thick  4 lb. cut of shellac tonight. I had to go back and re-read this post in order to make sure that I had the correct ration of flakes to alcohol - 4 oz of shellac flakes mixed with 8 oz of alcohol. 

2012 TDPRI Tele Build Challenge - more fret work

More fret work photos:

I taped off the fretboard before leveling, and polishing the frets. Here you can see one of the professional tools that I used for polishing the frets - a beauticians buffing block. (What? Beauticians are professionals.) 

This is my first fretboard that I've leveled the frets on. I'm eager to finish this up, just so I can see how I did. I'm sure I've got a great deal more to learn about fret work. Just hoping this is a good start.

2012 TDPRI Tele Build Challenge - Frets

I have just a little over two weeks left on this challenge, and I still need to get started on the finishing and clear coating. This weekend I'm making a very important step in that direction - Fret work. After posting a question on the Telecaster forum, I've decided to seat and level the frets before applying a finish to the neck. Yes, I thought the other way around seemed more practical, but it turns out that it isn't. So this weekend I'm doing fret work.

First I bent the frets using my home-made fret bender (not as pretty as the $90 fret bender from Stew-Mac, but constructed for less than $10.) I over bent the frets to about a 12 inch radius instead of a 14 inch. Hammering will flatten the frets out, so the little extra bend is to make up for that hammering.






















Then, I cut my frets to size (surprised that the guitar supply companies haven't created a handy-dandy fret organized with holes for each fret priced at $49.99 yet.) and prepped for hammering.

Followed by hammering the frets into place.

I lost a good bit of time yesterday due to a headache, but returned to fret work in the evening (no photos yet). I cut off the excess fret-wire from the sides of the neck. Filed the edges down and filed them to a 30° angle. I taped off the fretboard, leveled it with 320 grit on and sanding block, then started cleaning and polishing the frets.

2012 TDPRI Tele Build Challenge - gluing fretboard and cutting headstock

Over the weekend I worked on gluing the fretboard to the neck, shaping the fretboard to the profile of the neck and shaping the headstock.

In order to help properly glue the fretboard to the neck I used a technique that involved drilling small holes in fret slots and using straight pins. The line on the left of the is the position of the zero fret. In order to line this up properly I drilled two small holes in the zero fret slot. Pushed the straight pins through, lined them up on the line on the neck, then drilled tow small holes there as well. I repeated this process at the twelfth. I checked the placing of the straight pins, measured their distance to make certain thy all matched up.

I removed the fretboard and pins and covered the neck with Titebond glue (removed the masking tape that protected the truss-rod.) I then carefully placed the fretboard over the neck lining up all of the straight pins. This was followed by my somewhat obsessive clamping process (this is actually fewer camps than I used on previous necks.) I allowed this to dry for about an hour, then removed the clamps. I then called it a night.

The next day I used my table router to clean up the edges of the fretboard and cut it flush to the neck. I followed this by sanding the headstock smooth to 120 grit and cut it's shape.

One-Piece Neck Progress

Fret Slots

Today's progress: cutting fret slots and gluing the truss-rod in place. First I very slowly and carefully cut 22 fret slots on the face of the neck. Remember there is no fretboard here. Since the truss-rod is sitting about 6mm behind the face of the neck, I had to be careful not to cut the slots too deep. I marked both sides of the neck at approximately 3.5mm. And as I cut the slots I checked both sides trying to insure that I did not cut too deep. I also used two clamps and a block of wood along with my fret miter box to keep the angle of my cuts straight.

Before I seat the frets I will radius the neck to 16 inches using sand paper and a radius block.

Skunk Stripe

After I slotted the frets, I ran a thin line of regular household caulk down the truss-rod channel, before setting it in place. The truss-rod that I am using on this neck is a double action rod that I purchased from LMI.

I then prepped my skunk stripe - a 1/4 inch strip of maple 17 1/2 inches long and 1/2 inch deep. I rounded the edges using my table router. I roughed  up the sides with 120 grit sand paper, and then covered it with Titebond wood glue.

I then very slowly pushed it into the truss-rod channel. Covering it with wax paper before applying the clamps. I let this sit for about 30 minutes.

 

After the glue dried, I used the scraper to take off the excess glue and wood. The final shaping of the neck will smooth the back out further. I'll get to that in a couple of weeks.

Next up, I will drill the holes for the face position markers and side dots. I'm also eyeing another piece of maple as another potential one-piece neck. This was a very satisfying process for me - very little frustration on this neck.

Latest Update on the Firebird and Headless Necks

Today was a great day to work on a couple of necks. I glued the fretboards to both the Steinberger-type headless and Firebird necks and cut them straight with the router. On the Firebird neck I also cut a piece of curly maple as a truss rod cover. I followed all of this with marking off the position for the dots on the face of the fretboards. I have not drilled the holes for them yet.

Bellow are photos of the latest update. (note to self: I'm a professional photographer, I really should pay attention the the temperature of the lights. Seriously, it's not that hard to match lightbulbs. I guess I'm just lazy?)

Firebird progress

Steinberger-type Headless Progress