Taki Re-fret

[dnic]

Hi all, here's a re-fret job that is not getting video recorded. And a little into it I dicided to go all old school and shoot some stills. So the pics start after I pulled the old frets.




These two pics are after I sanded the fretboard flat/level and radius blocked it to make sure the 16" radius was still intact.




This pic is showing the tools I used to clean the slots. The file is for chamfering the slot top to ease the new fret in. This step is also important for making sure the fret will lay flush with the board.






And two shots of the frets after I banged about half of them in. I prefer to press frets in but holding a guitar up while pressing frets is asking for damage.

[antares]

Nice clean removal of the frets Dane. Perfectly understand re: the still images. We have been spoiled rotten with all your excellent videos, and folks probably barely give a second thought to the time spent in post production, editing and uploading. I seem to recall you did a Takemine a few years back? An F360 I believe?

e&oe ...

[dnic]

yes recording and editing are time consuming but I don't record everything I work on. When I need to get stuff done I just motor through it. This Taki was a saddle and set up when it came in. But it had a 12 string nut so I cut a new one. The frets were just very bad and low so a level was out of the question. So a fret job added onto what I thought would be a quick in and out.

I vaguely remember another Taki.... Id have to look it up if I did video on it. It just occurred to me that I should have a very long list of clients and repairs in a ledger somewhere. Seems like something you might do but I have zero organizational skills.

[Deleted]

It's been hard on me to make another video to put on YT. I have some friends that keep asking me when I'm going to do another one. But, I just can't seem to make myself do it. Maybe that will change now that my doc, put me on a new med.

 It's always good to see still pictures. In videos some of the things we do get passed over or in some videos the full processes gets edited out and leaves one thinking, "how the heck did they do that?" 

But I know I sometimes get so involved with what I am doing and I forget to take a picture, or I left my phone in the hose and I don't want to go get it. LOL!

 I don't see how you and others do it. I know way back when, I use to make videos, I use to hate the editing part. It took so much time trying to get things to look good. But I guess the editing may be a little bit better than way back then. But it still takes a lot of time going through videos and splicing them in a way that makes it easy on the eyes.

 Glad to see you post this Dane. I sometimes think I am the only one doing anything. I wish more people would post their builds or fixes. I know we may have seen it all before, but then there just may be that one person that is wanting to get into building guitars and has not a clue on what to do. So, it would all brand new to them.

EB

[antares]

I don't have the space to house the kind of equipment you guys do Eddie, and my "building" days (screwing parts together!) are done. I still do little bits and bobs though- I did a thin CA drizzle fix on a loose sixth fret on my 1980 bitza Esquire just last week, but no one's interested in that!

The way I see things is I maintain that "those that play together, stay together", and there's no scope for doggedly following a fully focussed "get it done" approach within that kind of family-centric mantra. But, it's in my blood and I kind of get my fix enjoying the ride that you guys provide so altruistically. I try to let the things you do sink in, and respond with largely pertinent comments. It is my hope that by doing so I contribute to a wider awareness of what you guys are about.

At the risk of repeating myself, frankly I've simply no idea how Dane undertakes a full time job, building and repairing guitars, making celebration cakes and video editing let alone things like cutting grass and other maintenance and playing in ocasional bands together with the associated rehearsals ... Some sleep perhaps too on a good night. Flip!

e&oe ...

[dnic]

I gotta say right now things are piling up and I'm starting to worry about getting it all done in time.

[dnic]

So these few pics are just showing the board taped off and leveled. Different color tape is about width, less splitting of tape that way.

My favorite file for crowning is still the three corner with the safe edge.

Fret erasers, I've tried to like these things but they never quite do the job. I'll explain later.

[antares]

Those fret erasers look just like "Garryflex" blocks. I have a number of "Wine" graded ones here. (The Wine colour refers to the degree of abrasion. Nice tool the triangular file with a safety edge. I made one on the linishing belt from a "Swiss" or "needle" file. I just wish I could make a good job with it!

e&oe ...

[Deleted]

I don't like the erasers. I have them, but I too don't like the way they work or make the frets look.

 Do you find it better to do a whole refet on an acoustic guitar? All of my dealings with an acoustic guitar is I wind up replacing (Most of time) the first 5 frets. Most acoustic players don't make it up any higher than that! LOL!

 I guess it would be easier to do all the frets so that you don't have to worry trying to match them up. As I am setting here thinking, I did do one complete refret on a Taylor, It was because someone got hold of a file and filed all the frets. Not one of them was done right. Had file marks, and were left flat. Some of the fret were all the way down to the fret board. I think once I had them out I had to re-level the fret board. It had high and low spots all up and down the fret board. You sometimes have to wonder how guitars get the way they are. But I was able to save that one. I think it played better than when it was from the factor. LOL!

EB

[dnic]

I only safe edged one corner on my file. But the two sides adjacent to the safe edge seem to be getting a bit dull. So I will safe edge the others before long.

I have done partial re-frets it's not a big problem to blend things in. But this guitars frets were down in the .027 range with heavy where on the nut end. Leveling those would have left around .020. Just way too low. Therefor complete re-fret. I did a partial re-fret on an old Hammer, first five or seven frets. Grabbed something that was the right width but they were taller. No biggie right? Just burn off a little extra on top and crown um good. Well they turned out to be stainless. Ouch, took a long time to burn those in.

I thought I was starting to like the fret rubbers but even after using the coarsest one on the top of the frets there were still scratches on top. Had to fall back to my tried and true sand paper method.

Here's a pic.

[Deleted]

Seen that before!

 I find it kind of funny that these little bits of metal can be so frustrating to get them to work and look right. I use to work with all kinds of metals back when I was building cars and other things. I don't remember metals getting me as frustrated like fret do. HA!

 But now that I have done hundreds if not thousands of frets, I have my way I do them and the tools I like to do them with. It now take me 20 to 30min to level them and do all the things needed to make them shine. Use to take me all day when I first started doing frets. So, now they don't bother me nor do I get frustrated with them like I did starting out.

 I have like 4 of the triangle fine files. I took one out a few weeks ago and sanded/grinned the edge off of one of the files. I thought I would try it. I see so many people using them. I don't think I have the technique down just yet. But, I'll keep at it, maybe someday I will like it. But for now I like my recrown file the best for me.

 I do not like the diamond files that I have. The cut deep into the frets. Even on SS frets. SS frets are hard enough to work on without getting deep file marks in them. I have this one flat file that works so good on frets. I can level the frets with it and it leaves fine file marks that are so easy to get out.

 The frets on a guitar is one of them things that it's in the details. Not only do fret have to do their job, but they have to look great!  For me I like shinny frets. There is a guy on another FB forum that he says he does not like shinny frets. I seen some of his work and never makes frets shine. They look unfinished to me. I think he is lazy and don't want to put the work into it. But to each their own. But I do think dull frets makes the guitar look cheap.  

 EB

[antares]

As an "outsider", I have the perhaps unfounded impression that only a neck reset trumps fret work as a black art!

e&oe ...

[antares]

After reading about Eddie's woes- scratch that comment about black arts!

e&oe ...

[dnic]

Here's some pics after the polish. Don't know why I didn't clean the stuff off before the picture.

[dnic]

Also replaced the nut and saddle on this one.

instead of clapping the little nut vice down to the bench I tried just clamping it in my parrot vise. It worked out great.




Just roughed out the nut shape and cut the slots



these files are good to start out the roughing in process. They cut more aggressively than the round bottom ones.